How to figure your FUEL consumption
Up ! Up ! Up! Goes the price of fuel. When will it end? Your guess is as good as mine. “I wish the price would vaporise like the gas in thin air,” says Sophia Dean, early childhood educator, who has to do pick-ups on a daily basis. Can you figure fuel consumption in your motor vehicle? Calculating your vehicle’s fuel consumption could better help you understand how much of the expensive gasolene is being gulped up. Additionally, you will be better able to budget accordingly.
Anthony Brown, an experienced Kingston-based auto mechanic, says that calculating fuel consumption accurately requires a gas-per-mile gauge. But“its use takes a considerable amount of time and, therefore, costs a considerable amount of money.” However, motorists have an alternative. They can estimate the amount of gas their car is consuming by following these four steps.
Step 1:
Fill your tank. The tank has to be ‘topped off’. When gas gets near the filter neck, pump gas slowly to prevent loss and to allow air in the tank to escape.
Step 2:
Drive the car 1,000 miles or more. Keep accurate records of how much fuel you add. Record the odometer reading at the beginning of the test period.
Step 3:
During the test period, drive the car for maximum fuel economy. If you use your car mostly in city traffic, it will use much more gas when you are stuck in morning or evening traffic.
Step 4:
After the test period, calculate the results by subtracting the initial mileage from the final mileage and then divide the results by the litres of fuel consumed. Simply put, that is, the final mileage taken away from – starting mileage, divided by the total litres put into the tank, which equals the fuel consumption in miles per litres.
NON-MECHANICAL CAUSES OF FUEL CONSUMPTION
The following is a summary of driving habits and other factors that can contribute to higher fuel consumption.
1. Take your time – Moderate consistent driving will significantly improve your fuel economy record.
2. Stop and go passing – To pass another vehicle, avoid rapid acceleration. Instead, start your pass well to the rear so that you can swing out smoothly and execute the pass without braking and then hitting the accelerator pedal.
3. Tailgating – It is both dangerous and uneconomical to tailgate. From a fuel-consumption standpoint, a tailgator is alternatively hitting the brake pedal and accelerator pedal. This action wastes valuable fuel.
4. Speeding – There is no doubt about the fact that speeding wastes gasolene. Gas consumption increases with speed. When a motorist is driving at 50mph, approximately half of the fuel used by a car is used to push air out of the way.
5. Unnecessary idling – An engine that idles for three minutes uses as much gas as a car that is driving one half-mile at 30mph.
6. Unnecessary braking – If you can keep rolling, don’t stop. This means trying to time traffic lights. If a light in the distance is red, coast up and brake slowly. If the lights turn green before your car reaches the intersection, apply steady pressure on the gas pedal.
7. Improperly inflated tyres - Keep tyres inflated to the correct pressure and have your front wheels properly aligned. This reduces the friction that puts the drag on the car. The engine will work harder with improper inflation. That means consuming more gas to overcome drag. Radial tyres have less rolling resistance than bias pliers and therefore improves fuel mileage.