Fuel efficiency for a small car on a long journey

We’ll show you some simple tips, tricks and hacks to keep your car as lean and fuel efficient as possible for your holiday.

It’s a pain paying for petrol, and even more so on a long trip! In this video Charl Grobler, former manager of marketing and product planning at Suzuki South Africa, shares his petrol-saving secrets.

1. LOSE WEIGHT A bulky, loaded car is not only tricky to drive but also heavy on fuel. On a holiday it’s tricky, but try to keep your car as lean as possible. During more regular driving times, even carrying an extra person makes a difference to fuel consumption.
2. DRIVE SMOOTHLY Aggressive drivers use more fuel with their speeding, rapid acceleration and braking. Remember, easy does it! Smooth driving and driving slowly near possible points where you’ll need to brake make a huge difference to fuel efficiency. There’s a lot of energy lost from unnecessary braking - you lose the car’s momentum and have to use up a lot of energy to get it moving again.
3. HIGHEST GEAR The higher gears use less fuel, so try to get into a high gear as soon as possible without ‘labouring’ the engine, or pushing it to warm up to a higher gear before it’s ready.
4. DON’T START AND STOP As far as you’re able, focus on smooth driving that prevents the need for braking.
5. STREAMLINE Roof racks have a shocking effect on your fuel efficiency! They add to the drag and affect the airflow around the car. As far as you’re able, add as much as you can to the body of your car and take off your roof rack.

Want more driving tips, have a look at our blog on driving a heavily loaded car or 13 driving tips that could save your life.

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