Fuel cost: How to save petrol and diesel

Sorry if it's getting repetitive to chip in with another "my car does such and such" comment ...

But it will coast with the DSG clutches disengaged, either with the engine running, or the engine stopped, it's not easy to predict which it will chose to do, but presumably it wouldn't do it unless it improved overall economy?

If the DSG disengaged its clutch every time you lifted off the power, they'd be forever engaging and disengaging, and there'd be risk of the clutch snatching if you suddenly applied power, whereas if it remained in gear until near stalling point there'd be no engage-clutch-in-response-to-applying-power.

Then you've got electric cars which have the option of a single-pedal mode where lifting off the power automatically retards the car, either by engaging regenerative braking or by applying the footbrake gently, so you have to keep slightly throttle pressure all the time to maintain a constant speed. A feature that I would definitely switch *off* ;-)

Yeah, some EV drivers seem wedded to it and it can be handy around town, but I don’t think it’s the most economical way to drive.

It can be quite nice to drive around town without ever moving your foot from the go pedal, but that’s all it is, quite nice.

Tim

That's half the truth, it's more complex than that. Fuel consumption depends whether the engine is running above or below idle, and in gear gives engine braking, which is not always wanted. And etc etc

VW T2 bus had better aerodynamics than an E-type Jag.

Tell me if we start using Hydrogen, does the car gradually get heavier as you use it up?

Brian

Make and model ?

I just leave my Astra display set on dynamic fuel consumption, so that I can see that driving away from cold, it does 11 mpg (or less), while bumbling along at 55 on an A road it is doing 50 mpg, and going downhill it does 999 mpg.

I suspect owning a torque converter auto petrol car and doing a lot of short trips in somewhere like Edinburgh is likely to be a tad expensive in fuel.

Or you could get to some places with a free bus pass if you are either over 66 or entitled to one for other reasons (and have plenty of time on your hands).

By staying at home you simply substitute fuel costs for excessive hobnob and/or other nibbles.

Or starts off nose-down and ends up nose-up :-)

Andrew

Get a hybrid (self charging). Son was giving a lift to one of his workmates and she was saying how quiet it was (in full electric mode)and wanted to know what the fuel consumption was. We went into the energy usage page of the car information unit and looked at the average and it was:-

wait for it, wait for it,

It records in two minute intervals I have seen this reach 150 MPG downhill using regenerative braking but as stated above the AVERAGE is

The boss at his work (well he calls it his work it is more of a volunteer/training placement) pays for his fuel so he is not to worried about the price yet he still puts in unleaded not the super unleaded

Waiting for mine to arrive (due to the chip shortage, mucho delay). Ford S-Max.

The price has gone up twice since I ordered it, but I have a locked in guaranteed price.

The price has *just* tipped over £40,000, and the road tax is on the list price at delivery. So that's £355 a year extra for several years. Ford have said they will give me £1,065 cash on delivery!

Only if the hydrogen is in a bag on top, at atmospheric pressure.

Some people ran their cars on town gas in WW2 in this way due to petrol rationing. That's partly hydrogen.

You could fly if there was enough in the bag.

Not every time, but it's not shy of doing it, you can be travelling on the motorway at 70, and provided it's not uphill, within a second or two of lifting off, the engine will stop.

Remember the Dad's Army episode?

First they fitted gunports in the roof of Jones van for anti-aircraft use. Then they put a gasbag on the roof. Then they did "fit bayonet" practice. They they put the guns through the ports...

Andy

Woo hoo. 12 pence per mile.

Think I’ll stick with my full EV. Less than 2p per mile on home charging.

Tim

I've been driven many times by ARW and I can assure you that he drives with great anticipation and as a result is rarely hard on the brake.

Bill

Doesn't cost me that, son's boss pays for fuel

...and how long do you think all the subsidies that full EVs attract will last once EVs are the majority? Government needs a certain amount of money,and they will tax whatever they can at whatever rate they need . Remember at one point they even taxed the number of windows you had, so EVs are not safe once everyone [1] is an EV owner they will start taxing them

Besides I cannot charge one there are no charge points in my cul-de-sac indeed there are none in the whole estate nor in the two local(ish) garages (maybe in others slightly further away I haven't looked), in fact I don't know where any charge points are.

I can't use the extension cord out the window method either as I am not fully on the street, there are two grass areas and two pavements between my house and where I park the car.

Still if it works for you, go for it.