I have some obsession with driving economically.

Jostyrostelli said:
aqualung said:
I estimate 2700-2800 euros per year fuel costs.

But you have an income?
May be not very much for your standards but I study and don't really have that much money. I NEED the 500 euros now..for books :thumbsdown:

I am a student too. I have a part-time job in addition to the monthly 350 euros I get from the government. Also, living with my girlfriend helps keeping the living expenses down.

While running a car is damn expensive, it's cheap compared to the public transport system and the time consumed utilizing it.
A month's pass costs around 100 euros, and by bus, oneway trip to work or school is 50-60 minutes. I drive to those places in 10-15 minutes.
If I set a price for my "work" of standing (in the rain) and waiting for a bus (~5-10 minutes per trip) around 10 euros/hour, the 40-50 trips each month amount to 400-500 euros worth of personal boredom and lost time each month.
On the other hand, driving to school and work is often a thrill. Plenty of nice corners and places to overtake slower vehicles.
 
Petrol costs around 0.40USD per liter = 1.50USD per gallon. Cheap.
 
US petrol is like dirt wrt octance levels.
 
Mischief007 said:
Damn you. Damn the 401 though. Past 4 days I've average 130 km/h and have hit 160 once and 150 on more than one occasion. True, mileage goes way down. This week I'll be taking the back roads which means 100 to 110 km/h and I'll see what the mileage will be.

That's why I haven't seen much of you :lol:
 
I drive a Mazda 626 1.8 1991 model.
I can get 600 KM's on highway if I drive at about 80 Km/h that about 1800 Rpm.
And if it reaches 140 when it's aroun 3000 Rpm the fuel consumption is much-much higher.
 
I can get 600 km to the tank doing 120 km/h. My tank is 55 L big.
 
Hmm, wow. You guys put it into perspective. So far since I got the car, I've spent $558 on fuel (since 25th Oct 2004). True, our lowest grade is much lower than the lowest grade elsewhere. I can regularly get 700kms plus in the city. I jsut filled up at 760.5kms today. (some guy got 818 miles :shock: there's no way I'll reach that)

Anyway, things I keep in mind

Check oil level. Make sure it's not overfilled
Check tyre pressure
Coast whenever possible
Anticipate traffic lights
Don't carry unnecessary weight in the boot
 
AFAIK accelerating fast from say 20kph to 60kph saves more fuel than accelerating slowly. So fast acceleration helps the fuel ecconomy.

Also I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but engine breaking, anyone do that?
Also whenever I see that a light ahead of me is read, I immediatly let go of the throttle, and just glide towards the stop light, when closeish and it's still red, I shift down to 2nd or 1st gear and lift the clutch while gently pressing the break, to use both the engine and breaks to stop.
Traffic lights(atleast here) are fitted with sensors, if there are no cars at the intersection and I'm coming towards a red, it changes to green when I get close enough, allowing me to go without stopping.
 
I get roughly 50 Miles / gallon (4,7l / 100KM) on my car applying the engine break when possible and trying not to use unnecessary components (switching off the fan when not in need for it ect.). I partly do it because even Diesel costs a fortune these days and partly because I'm curious about how high (how low) I can get.

However, I wouldn't recommend applying the engine break for slowing down the car in first gear as the gearbox will suffer quite bad.

And forget about sensors at traffic lights over here - there are a few exceptions, but you're usually better off switching the engine off at traffic lights.
 
Maxi said:
AFAIK accelerating fast from say 20kph to 60kph saves more fuel than accelerating slowly. So fast acceleration helps the fuel ecconomy.

Hmmm, that's new. I suppose it's possible, if you keep the engine revving at it's optimum range, avoiding stressing the engine too much at the higher and lower rev ranges...

Maxi said:
Also I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but engine breaking, anyone do that?
Also whenever I see that a light ahead of me is read, I immediatly let go of the throttle, and just glide towards the stop light, when closeish and it's still red, I shift down to 2nd or 1st gear and lift the clutch while gently pressing the break, to use both the engine and breaks to stop.
Traffic lights(atleast here) are fitted with sensors, if there are no cars at the intersection and I'm coming towards a red, it changes to green when I get close enough, allowing me to go without stopping.

Yep, I try to follow that too - except for putting my car in 1st, as I can't. My car has some kinda restrictor which doesn't allow me to put it into first unless I'm at a dead stop - surprising for a car with no electronics except for simple light switches...

Just out of interest, last few months I've been keeping a log of my fuel usage, including the cost etc. I don't know what my car initially had in terms of mpg, but at the moment I'm averaging 38mpg with a couple of times at 45mpg, and usually around the 35mpg mark... Luckily I don't drive too far so don't cover that many miles a month, (especially good given the fuel prices here) but it's difficult to be economical in my car. My speedo ain't great and I don't have a rev-meter. Plus it's only a small engine (1.3L) and I tend to do quite a bit of motorway driving recently which doesn't help (as I usually try to keep up with traffic as opposed to travelling at the car's optimum speed).
Oh, and I thrash it on the country roads as the car's handling ain't that bad - for a budget car...
 
monkeymax said:
Oh, and I thrash it on the country roads as the car's handling ain't that bad - for a budget car...

As long as you don't brake and accelerate too often fuel economy shouldn't suffer sufficiently :)
 
mautzel said:
monkeymax said:
Oh, and I thrash it on the country roads as the car's handling ain't that bad - for a budget car...

As long as you don't brake and accelerate too often fuel economy shouldn't suffer sufficiently :)

I guess you guys have a different definition of thrash where you are from...
 
mautzel said:
monkeymax said:
Oh, and I thrash it on the country roads as the car's handling ain't that bad - for a budget car...

As long as you don't brake and accelerate too often fuel economy shouldn't suffer sufficiently :)


Ummm... unfortunately the roads I drive on, accelerating and breaking is a necessity... and if you're really going for it (what I meant by thrashing it) then this is obviously even worse...
 
monkeymax said:
mautzel said:
monkeymax said:
Oh, and I thrash it on the country roads as the car's handling ain't that bad - for a budget car...

As long as you don't brake and accelerate too often fuel economy shouldn't suffer sufficiently :)


Ummm... unfortunately the roads I drive on, accelerating and breaking is a necessity... and if you're really going for it (what I meant by thrashing it) then this is obviously even worse...

That's exactly what I thought of :) :) :)
 
I guess I'm in the wrong thread... :unsure: ;)

Driving in city traffic today I was averaging 22 l/100km, that's ~10 mpg! After leaving the city and driving on the Autobahn, it went down to 13.5 l/100km, or 17.5mpg, by the time I got home. Average over the last 3000km/2000miles is 11.8 l/100km or 20mpg. Lowest figure I've ever seen, 9.5 l/100km or 25mpg.

Even though I'm not actually trying to drive economically, fuel consumption on the R32 really is disproportionately high. :|
 
monkeymax said:
mautzel said:
monkeymax said:
Oh, and I thrash it on the country roads as the car's handling ain't that bad - for a budget car...

As long as you don't brake and accelerate too often fuel economy shouldn't suffer sufficiently :)


Ummm... unfortunately the roads I drive on, accelerating and breaking is a necessity... and if you're really going for it (what I meant by thrashing it) then this is obviously even worse...

Ah, thrashing it. Awesome fun. For the Aussies, check out the Alpine Way in NSW, it's better than the GoR :thumbsup: Mind you, next week I'm having a trash on the GoR :D
 
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