Learn to drive more efficiently with Drive Sense and the Energy Saving Trust (From York Press)

Learn to drive more efficiently with Drive Sense and the Energy Saving Trust

9:41am Monday 28th September 2009 in Features By Stephen Lewis

LAST Tuesday was car-free day in York. Hands up all those of you who chose to leave your car at home that day to walk, cycle or take the bus to work?

Hmmm… Council bosses have hailed the day a success, and there were perhaps slightly fewer cars on the roads. But there were still an awful lot around. The truth is, many people need their cars.

For some, it is a matter of convenience: the car is quicker, cheaper or more direct than the train or bus. For some, it is habit. And for some it is necessity: in a rural area such as North Yorkshire, public transport often cannot be relied on for the daily commute.

Even if you do need to use your car, however, you can cut down on the amount of fuel you use. And that’s not only good for the environment – less CO2, less air pollution – it’s also good for your pocket.

Which is how I came to be sitting in a nippy two-litre Fiat diesel car being told off by John Hughes about my bad driving habits.

Nothing to do with the fact that I tend to break the speed limit, or forget to look in my rear-view mirror as often as I should. The bad habits I was being told off for were all to do with wasting fuel.

John, an instructor with Drive Sense, which teaches motorists to drive economically and save fuel, had taken me on a five-mile jaunt from Walmgate out to the A64 roundabout on the A19 and back. I drove as I normally do, then parked up back in Walmgate and braced myself for the criticism.

John looked at me. “There are some good aspects to what you’re doing,” he said. “But there are some that are not so good.”

I tended to coast a lot with the car in neutral, John told me. What did I think that was achieving?

Um, surely it was saving petrol?

Just the opposite, John told me. When you are in gear, the car’s own motion helps to keep the engine turning. Shift out of gear, and immediately you have to start burning fuel to keep the engine ticking over.

That wasn’t my main problem, however. My worst habit, John said, was driving too close to the car ahead – and always rushing up to traffic lights even when it was clear they were on red and not going to change any time soon.

“I can’t see any point in driving quicker, only to have to wait longer at the lights,” he told me.

The secret to economical city driving, he said, was ‘slow to flow’. And what does that mean?

Always keep a good distance behind the car in front, instead of rushing to fill the gap, John said. Then you will have a better view of the road ahead, and can anticipate more. You will be able to see if traffic lights are on red, for example, or whether, as you approach a junction, you are likely to be able to move out without stopping, or will have to wait for a queue of cars to pass.

If you know you are going to have to stop anyway, slow down earlier, keeping the car in gear but taking your foot off the accelerator, and approach the junction or lights slowly. Ideally, judge your approach so you never quite have to stop, John said. “What you want to do it try to keep the vehicle moving.”

But if you do have to stop, especially if it is at traffic lights where you know you may have to wait for a while, switch the engine off. “If you don’t, all you’re doing is burning fuel to go nowhere.”

John checked the readings on the car’s dashboard. In my first jaunt out to the A64, I had covered the five miles at an average of 15mph, stopping and starting all the way, and my fuel consumption had been 40.6 miles per gallon. Time to try to do better.

We pulled out on to Walmgate again. The lights at Walmgate Bar were on red, with a short queue of traffic behind. Normally, I would rush to join the end of the queue, coasting the last few yards with the car in neutral. Take it easy, John told me. There’s no point rushing to get there just to have to wait.

I drove steadily up to the lights, gradually changing down, keeping the car in gear all the way, until coming to a stop. Then I switched the engine off.

Once the lights changed we moved off, heading down Cemetery Road. I tend to stay in low gears for city driving, building up my speed while in second and third. Change up earlier, John said: ideally, when the rev counter reaches about 2,000. The car is more economical in higher gears.

At the end of Cemetery Road, a couple of cars were waiting to turn out on to Fulford Road. Normally, I would have rushed to join in behind them.

Take it slowly, John said. “What’s the point in rushing there to wait?” I did so, trying to time my arrival so that I wouldn’t have to wait at all, glancing to my right up Fishergate as I approached the junction to see if there were any cars coming.

There weren’t. I slowed almost to a stop, checked again, the moved out on to Fulford Road, smooth and easy.

It was the same all the way to the A64 and back: smooth, easy, changing up gears quickly, not crowding the car ahead, trying to anticipate lights and queues and time my arrival so I wouldn’t have to wait It took a bit of getting used to – rushed driving has become a habit – but when we got back to Walmgate, I had a surprise in store. My average speed for the trip had been 18mph – quicker than before – but I had improved my fuel economy to 53.9 miles per gallon. That is a saving of 33 per cent.

I used a third less fuel to cover the same distance more quickly, in other words. A third less fuel. Good God. Extrapolate that out to a whole year and that’s a saving of… well, hundreds of pounds, anyway.

As I got out of the car at Walmgate, York Council leader Andrew Waller was just preparing for his own economic driving test with John.

Um, but didn’t he cycle everywhere?

“I do usually in my day-to-day work,” he said. “But there are times when I use a car, for moving items and giving lifts around.” If he could do that more economically, so much the better, he said.

I caught up with him again when his lesson was over. How did he do?

He improved from 39.2 miles per gallon to a 49.6 miles per gallon. Not as good as 53.9mpg, I pointed out with a straight face, but pretty respectable anyway.

How did he feel he had done?

“I was surprised at how much impact just a few changes in driving patterns can make,” he said.

Key advice to him was to take his foot off the accelerator earlier when coming to a stop at lights, keep more distance between himself and the car ahead – and, like me, to use a higher gear and keep the revs down. “Though this is all sounding a bit too much like Top Gear for my liking,” he said.

Top Gear or not, if we all drove like this, we’d save ourselves a fortune – and help cut down on greenhouse gases too. Now surely that makes sense?

Win a smarter driving lesson

• Drive Sense only offers economical driving lessons in packages tailored for business. But if you would like to learn more about fuel efficient driving, call the Energy Saving Trust office in York on 0800 512 012. Any Press reader calling to ask for advice will be entered into a draw to win a free smarter driving lesson.

Choose the right kind of car

FUEL-EFFICIENT driving is one way to cut down on bills and reduce CO2 emissions. Another is to choose the right kind of car to drive, says Ellie Roach, of the Energy Saving Trust’s York office.

Whatever kind of car you want – whether it’s a three-door hatchback, a family saloon, or a luxury car –some makes and models are more fuel efficient than others, Ellie said.

Even if it’s a BMW you’re after. There is a four-litre petrol-driven 5-series BMW that has a road tax of £500 a year and a fuel efficiency of 29mpg, says Ellie’s colleague Denise Hall. And there is a two-litre diesel that looks exactly the same – but does 56mpg, and has a road tax of £120 a year. “And they look the same!” Denise says.

If you want to choose a fuel efficient car, call the Energy Saving Trust office in York for advice on 0800 512 012.

How to save fuel

• Anticipate road conditions and drive smoothly, avoiding sharp acceleration and heavy braking

• Change up gears earlier, keeping your revs at about 2,000 to 2,500rpm

• Cut your speed on motorways. You use about 25 per cent more fuel at 85mph than at 70mph.

• Remain in gear but take your foot off the accelerator as soon as possible when approaching a junction or red light. Don’t rush to get there only to have to wait.

• Switch off the engine if waiting at a traffic light for more than a minute or so. In York, we all know which traffic lights those are going to be…

• Check your tyre pressure. Under-inflated tyres increase fuel consumption

• Use the air conditioning sparingly – it makes a big difference to the amount of fuel you use

• Reduce drag by removing roof racks, bike carriers etc when you don’t need them