Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004 at 07:49
AND
for the skeptics out there...
that is over the whole 70,000 kays, accurately logged and calculated manually occasionally AND on a computer spreadsheet program which can give me averages over any selected time period. Forget about an ACCURATE average over one tank- it's usually too hard to fill the tank to the brim both times. Also, how accurate is your odometer/speedo-
check with a GPS and you may be surprised.
The worst I've ever had between fills from memory (towing a van/headwind) was about 16l/100kays.
A few other things to consider:
1. "Dead" weight in the car will increase consumption. Keep those unused items out of the car when not needed. I even removed the extra two seats in the back because my kids have grown up and I don't need them any more.
2. Low tyre pressures likewise use more fuel.
3. Wider tyres likewise
4. Roofracks ditto
5.A radiator fan running all the time will also use a lot of fuel! (When i first added extra silicone to my fan it ran all the time- nice and cool but economy suffered considerably!)
6. Some people leave their engine idling at various times for lengthy periods- this wastes significant fuel- even more so in a petrol.
7.Your aircon uses fuel. If it's not too hot, leave it off. (One of my sons used his all the time on his Commodore. I talked him into leaving it off a lot and even he was amazed at the extra klms he got from a tank!)
8. Dirty air filter, bad injectors, restrictive exhaust all are bad news.
9.Obviously low ratio, serious four wheel driving guzzles gas!
10..Finally and most obviously.... if you're first off at the lights and also drive fast, you will use WAY more fuel.
Most of this is very obvious stuff, but with fuel at over $1 a litre, and quite possibly closer to $2 a litre very soon with the mess in the Middle East, (eg:If the Saudi government is tossed out, which the militants are trying to do, expect $2 or more a litre almost overnight) every drop counts!
Cheers
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