Hertz UAE offers tips to save fuel costs
Fuel prices have gone up as much as 27% this year, so Hertz UAE says they have examined typical driving habits and compiled a series of tips which not only will help save on fuel costs, up to Dhs 600 per year, and incidentally cut pollution too, but also indirectly promote better driving habits and road safety standards in the UAE. Some of these tips we’ve mentioned before, some are common sense, but some are actually new.
- Take it steady: Reduce fuel consumption by cutting speed.
- Pressure point: Inflate tyres to manufacturers recommended levels. This reduces friction by reducing the contact area of your tyre to the road, helping to achieve a slightly improved fuel mileage.
- Plan your route: Avoid busy roads, heavy traffic, traffic lights and getting lost by advance route planning. The shortest route is not always the most fuel efficient if you have to stop a lot.
- Remove excess weight: Leave unnecessary tools and excess weight at home.
- Brake correctly: A car consumes most fuel as it accelerates. Keep the ride smooth, anticipate traffic and apply slow steady acceleration and braking to increase fuel economy by as much as 20%.
- Cruise control: It is recommended in steady traffic conditions. Keeping a constant speed helps save fuel, even if you don’t have cruise control.
- Shift into neutral when standing still to reduce transmission strain and cool off the transmission.
- Service your vehicle regularly: Proper maintenance avoids poor fuel economy related to dirty air filters, old spark plugs or low fluid levels.
- Purchase a fuel-efficient vehicle: When buying a new vehicle, examine the vehicle’s fuel efficiency rating. Usually a small vehicle with manual transmission delivers the best fuel economy. Of course, the DriveArabia.com Ultimate Car Buyer Guide is your best bet in the Middle East for fuel economy ratings.
Comments
shafiq
“Shift into neutral when standing still to reduce transmission strain and cool off the transmission.”
how many people do this?
Abdelaziz
I often shift to netural while standing, but I never knew that it’s going to cool off the transmission..
nice info!
Thanks.
kaiz83
hmmmmm when approching single i just get to manual mode and do couple of quick down shift to get engine braking up and rolling …brake are expensive for me so i prefer to burn some extra fuel for longetivity of brakes….i know it put strain on engine :P…but old manual days where like this…:P
Sahmed
Why not put it in Neutral when approaching traffic lights or roundabouts? Coast to a stop and when accelerating, quickly upshift (using tiptronic).
Sting316
Kaiz83, I wanted to ask this b4 but kept forgetting it. Can I change my gears while driving from 3 upwards to 4 and then overdrive in automatic. I mean I know I can but is it safe for my car?
kaiz83
@shamed,
with nuetral you lose engine braking as car is free floating….i changed my brake pad twice now so my concern is to use brake as less as i could while approching signal and its safe…offcourse
@String
hmmm let say i down shifted to 2 with 2 down shifts from 4 or 5th , and when i suddenly put to auto mode , car gets bit jerk as auto wants to shift to higher gears as soon as possible…
i think its quite normal…but mash can highlight
between mazda do not do upshifts by it self in manualmoode and can hold redline as much as you want , it does auto downshifts when the speed is to low only for higher gears…
Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury
There is never any issue with upshifts, whenever they’re done.
ROJ
Maintenance is priority 1… Some people dont even know that cars need maintenance until they break down..
Stream
well..i think Korean made cars are much better than japanese cars in fuel saving point, and after doing some search on Ultimate buyer guide on this webiste, if found…
Kia Picanto,Rio,Soul or Cerato 1.6
Hyundai Getz or i30
Cevrolet Aveo 1.4(Korean Made)
on the other hand from japan:
Honda Civic 1.8 (No.1 in honda for fuel saving)
Toyota Corolla 1.6
Mazda 2 (still new but can afford a very good for fuel saving.
All Toyota Yaris/Suzuki Swift/Honda City or Jazz/Ford Focus or Fiesta/Mitsubishi Lancer EX , these all have same rate in fuel economy.
Some cars like New Toyota Camry/Hyundai Sonanta has a little bit fuel economy improvment.
I Still feel that:
Audi A3,Mini cooper or VW Scirocco is the best choice for qality,fuel economy and also for enviroment too.
when the UAE will open the door to let some of diesal cars or electric cars come here then they will begin to save the enviroment.
Asif
Nissan’s Altima is very economical in terms of fuel efficiency. i travel to fujairah on a day to day basis from dubai. I filled my tank with 60 litres and as of now, my car has driven 580 kms and the fuel guage is just half tank. The distance to empty in the trip meter says it can still run another 480 kms. So, it looks like it gives you almost 900 kms for a full tank in highway which is supposed to be an excellent mileage. This was achieved with a speed range from 100 – 120 kmph. I think, i can go more that 1000 kms for a full tank if the car is locked with 95 kmph (cruise). Let me try in my next drive and see what happens. I don’t think accord or camry would be this efficient in terms of fuel consumption.
chetan
hi,
I feel this average is very high & unrealistic.I am driving altima for last 4 years.I think I achieve only 8 km/litre.My car is always agency maintained,i drive on 95-120 speed on sheikh zayed/emirate road.
Checked with service advisors also & they say only 8km/litre.
kaiz83
@Asif..
Quite Possible ….i got 700 Km on 3.7 but the speed u mentioned 95 kmph can be quite annoyingly slow for other drivers on highways… if you come in first and second track…and if you go on last right track u will be too fast for truckers and buses 😛
Shimmy
Always remember it’s cheaper to replace brake pads than get a new gear box. Take it easy with the downshifting on automatic gear boxes.
kaiz
hehehe that’s the catch here 😛
Transmission and engine has unlimited km warranty replacment but not brake pads and disc rotors :)…
and also mazda engine is rev happy …
but will keep that in mind thanks 🙂
Asif
Finally i got 920 kms for a full tank in my final run. I’m not going to try with a different speed to get 1000 kms. You get bored in highway.