How can I make my car more fuel efficient?

We can talk all day about why the price of petrol is so high, why it’s going back up and whether we’ll ever return to the days of $1.20 a litre.

I’m the first to admit that it can be therapeutic having a whinge and playing a round of ‘Whodunnit?’

But one thing we are all unified on is saving fuel. So, let’s get down to the dollars and cents…

The best way to save fuel is not using the car. Your car uses extra fuel as it tries to quickly warm up the engine and catalytic converters, strangely enough, burning fuel to save the environment.

So if you can get away with it, take a bike for short trips. It has the added benefit of keeping you fit.

Save pennies and the pounds take care of themselves. An easy way to save is to change the way you drive:

• Brake less, lift off the accelerator more (where you can). Brakes waste energy, lifting off saves fuel.
• Look further ahead so you can anticipate what the traffic, the road and the next set of lights will do.
• While cruising at the speed limit, don’t go on and off the accelerator – smoothly find the sweet spot. Steadiness is the key.
• Chose a higher gear (lower rpm) without labouring the engine if you are driving a manual. Stay out of sports mode in an auto.
• Go easy on the throttle – turbocharged cars especially are gas guzzlers when you get on boost, despite what it says on the emissions label.
• Keep to the speed limits – Speeding fines don’t make life any easier and aero drag goes up exponentially with speed.
• Avoid stop/start traffic – sometimes the longer route saves on fuel.

Car-makers go to great lengths optimising fuel consumption for emissions tests, so it isn’t easy to make them any better. Here are some tips for your car:

• Turn off the air-conditioner unless you need the demister. You don’t need air-con in wintertime unless it’s raining. You’ll be sweating in summertime but smiling at the servo.
• Lose some pounds – lugging your tools around in the back of the ute or anything else that is heavy will hurt at the pump.
• Aerodynamic drag hurts on the highway. Get rid of the roof rack when you aren’t using it, make sure your underbody plastics are intact, keep your windows up and ditch the fully sick spoiler you mounted back in 1999.
• Check your tyre pressures aren’t low. Consider fitting Eco tyres next time you need a change (but be careful in the wet) and don’t use off-road tread patterns if you never go bush.
• Make sure your automatic engine idle-stop (if fitted) is switched on. Most starters and ring gears will last 80,000 starts.
• Act on malfunction indicator lights (MIL) – the engine light means something emissions-related is up. You may have a bung injector, lambda sensor or exhaust. It may not be mission critical in an old dunger but it’s often bad for fuel economy.
• Stop the purge – Charcoal canisters keep your fuel from evaporating out of your tank while you are parked on a hot day.
• Keep her purring – don’t skimp on servicing and oil changes. It will cost you more in the long run. By the same token, don’t get ripped off. If you can, learn to do basic services yourself.
• Fill up on cheap days at cheap but reputable servos using apps like FuelMap or Petrol Spy.
• Don’t use premium fuel if your car doesn’t need it. If you are driving a McLaren, follow the 98RON sticker. If you are driving a Toyota LandCruiser 40 Series diesel you can probably run it on fish and chip shop oil, just make sure you strain out the battered savs first.

Buying a car probably isn’t on the cards if you are struggling with fuel bills, plus you need to consider transfer costs like rego and stamp duty, but…

• Diesel has fallen out of popularity because of Dieselgate dramas and particulates but they have miraculous fuel economy. My mum’s old 2.0-litre Ford Focus ran on the smell of an oily rag.
• LPG might be more trouble than it is worth, but, by George it’s cheap! Factory gas is the key to avoid reliability hassles.
• Hybrids offer a ‘best of both worlds’ scenario and have the benefit of regenerative braking and e-mode for city driving.

Hopefully, all that helps you save a few bob at the pump. Happy motoring.