Following on from what we were saying last time about driving smoothly and steadily,to save fuel we could also try getting up to cruising speed and then backing off the go pedal until we're just holding that speed.Apparently a lot of us,oh alright,me as well, tend to keep the throttle just that little too far down.A bit like turning the central heating thermostat down a degree or so;you won't notice the difference,'cept in the pocket book area.Your car will appreciate it too because it's not getting hammered as much.I suppose we all heard the advice about getting the car in the highest gear so it rolls easier and saves fuel.However,taking that to the extreme can work against you.Stands to reason flogging your car up a 1in 4 hill in top gear is not going to do wonders for the fuel consumption;rather,the advice should be try to drive with the minimum throttle as much of the time as possible.Using a lower gear on a hill means the throttle can remain were it should be,fairly closed,while the engine works efficiently.
Digressing a little,I'm a little confused about going down long,winding hills.See,have you ever followed a car down a hill and its brake lights have been on all the way down? Anyone think that's perhaps something that needs working on.Maybe I was taught the wrong way but I was taught to use lower gears and save the brakes for the bottom of the hill,rather than get to the bottom and find out I haven't got any brakes due to fade caused by over-heating.Guess I'm just a dinosaur but I did learn to drive when technology was still finding its feet and brakepads seemed to be made from straw and yak dung.And they were the deluxe versions.
I suppose you could argue driving a car like that could burn more fuel while the engine is on over-run but we're also concerned with safety here.And well,I kind of like the idea of having brakes when I need them.
Anyway,what was I burbling on about? Oh,yeah.Saving fuel.If you put a roof rack on your car years ago,y'know ,when you were moving Aunt Mabel's wardrobe and it's still on the car,the roofrack,the roofrack! Least,I hope the wardrobe's off the car or brother,your fuel consumption will have suffered.But it'll still be worse than it need be,that roofrack could cost you up to 10% in fuel costs.I remember when I first used a rack,I thought the wheel bearings,gearbox and diff had all packed in.Took me a while to realise the humming noise was coming from the roof rack.Hadn't heard it while carrying the cabin cruiser canopy on the car.