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The Retail Motor Industry federation has said that petrol prices are "going crazy", with panic buying predicted to continue until the weekend.
So what are you doing to avoid spending a fortune? Have you turned to jerrycans? Are you leaving the car at home? Or are you carrying on regardless?
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8I am already driving slowly and have the minimum in my car. I can't see what else people can do
if they rely on their cars to get to and from work. Car share, public transport, working from home or a bike is not an available option for me.
I can't afford an electric/smaller engine car at the moment.
I cringe when I have to fill up my car and so try and save elsewhere to make up for it.
I am appalled at the government for not doing at least something to help businesses with fuel to keep the economy going.
Haulage companies/shipping lines etc are increasing their costs to their customers which is not helping our economy.
Posted on 03 April 2012 |
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879As we have no buses in the village and the train effectively only goes in one direction because we are near the end of a branch line, we have to use a car to get around.
We are now reducing the number of trips by waiting until we have several visits to make in a particular direction and then thinking what we are likely to need there over the next week or two.
Cutting the number of journeys is a big saver. Apart from the milage reduction, petrol evaporates from fuel lines between trips so those evaporations are reduced by the reduction of trips.
When I started driving petrol cost the equivalent of 20p per gallon (4.5p per litre) so I have seen a lot of difference.
Mike
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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4I have discovered a way to save about 20% on my petrol costs at any pump worldwide (works on diesel too). One tablet per tank makes the fuel burn quicker but at a much lower temperature. I now get an average of 46mpg rather than 39mpg.
Not only does it save me a fortune but GFG claims to "Reduce Harmful Emissions by up to 77%)". A pack of 28 tablets costs me $26 (about £16) but as I get an average of 70 more miles per tankful it pays for itself and helps the environment (1,960 extra miles for £16 cost!).
Lastly my little 1.2 Nissan Micra has now increased Horsepower & Torque nearer a 1.6 engine! Oil somehow stays same colour when filled and never goes black. Carbon reduced?
I was very sceptical but it works ...take a look. They guarantee money back if not convinced.
http://greenfootglobal.com/lowercosta
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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1I car share & make fewer journeys but due to the fact every time i fill up the price has risen again it has little impact. It also effects the price of everything else you buy as delivery firms are obviously spending more on fuel as well. It will be even worse when the 3p litre fuel duty rise takes place in August ( 16p a gallon sounds much worse doens't it? I presume that's why it's quoted in litres)
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 1 love
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57
1Get behind FairFuelUK at www.fairfueluk.com. They are campaigning against the high fuel prices and are backed by the RAC, the Road Haulage Association, the Freight Transport Association and The Fuelcard Company. They need more support to get the message across to 'non-listening government ministers' that motorists are fed up with the fuel increases.
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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23Waste veg oil saves me a good sum of money... although a little time needed to be invested in building a heated veg oil tank (heated from the water cooling circuit, so its just waste heat from the engine being recycled) - and the necessary heat exchanger (also heated via cooling circuit) prior to the injector pump (direct injection engine). Its hard to get waste veg oil for free nowadays, ebay sellers typically charge 50p per litre... [I get about the same mpg on veg oil as diesel].
Sorry CheekieCharlie but those tablets are snake oil. Petrol burning too quick was the reason lead was added, and the meaning of high-octane (resistance to detonation) still neccessary for high performance cars due to high compression ratio. Even in lower performance cars, if the fuel burns too quick, you will not get the full power delivered in a stroke. The common experience people have with these "revolutionary" additives (which have been coming on the market, then disappearing for as long as the combustion engine has been around) is that people automatically start driving more cautiously, adding to the perception that they are actually getting a benefit. Worryingly the makers of those tablets are claiming to be behind the 1973 Nobel prize. It was awarded to Ernst Otto Fischer and Geoffrey Wilkinson for their work in organometallic materials (not related to fuel at the time) at totally different institutions Fischer at Munich's Technical University and Wilkinson at Imperial College London. The basis of the research lead to some compounds used in lead-free fuels - but to inhibit detonation - i.e. make the fuel burn slower.
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 1 love
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4Go to ASDA generally the cheapest and fill up so at least your not pouring money into BP's pockets etc.,; these big petrol companies make billions and why is it people just think its politicians - its petrol companies who have hiked prices unrelentingly in the last few weeks and no one can tell me there is not profiteering - that's what the CONDEMs should be looking at.
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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12I'm planning my journeys more efficiently. I don't really have a choice much of the time about whether to use my car for work, as the buses don't run where / when I need to go. I've taken everything superfluous out of the car, and when driving on A roads and dual carriageway, have been keeping to a steady 50- 55 mph instead of my usual manic 80 (yes, I know I shouldn't!). However, curiously this doesn't seem to have had any effect at all on petrol consumption. I was previously getting 40.9 miles /gallon in my micra , but after a recent journey of around 40 miles when I kept at a steady 55 mph the whole way, it made no difference at all according to the computer, which was slightly disappointing. I've checked the tyre pressure, and they're ok, so I'm at a bit of loss to understand why.
On a different note, I've noticed that the independent petrol stations have been complaining in the past of losing custom as they can't compete on price with the supermarkets. I went to an independent station the other day and got shouted at by the proprietor who was complaining about all these people panic buying. I would have thought she would have been grateful for the extra custom!
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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643Petrol most certainly does not 'evaporate from fuel lines' with fuel-injected vehicles. Evaporative losses are minuscule, even from fuel tanks. Modern vehicles have sealed vapour recovery systems with absorption canisters.
LPG will be my next option. I've given up (for now) on my 3 litre V6's and mostly drive a little Kia - but life goes on and business improves so I won't be on a scooter any time soon.
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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23More on the Envirotab "miracle":
CEO is Ralph Flynn, formerly CEO a number of companies, including LifesMiracle, a company that peddled “electrically-charged ionic mineral compounds that activate all life processes including those essential to limitless physical well being”, and "Mitogenx" - which produces a liquid "formulated to restore energy, vitality and reduce the effects of aging" - fruit & veg put through a blender. There is nothing, that links him to any of the research and development work conducted in Ferrocene and other organometallic compounds - nor for that matter, anybody else associated with the Greenfoot Global company. What they all have experience in, however, is MLM / Multi-level marketing [pyramid selling].
Fischer & Wilkinson's Nobel prize-winning work lead to the development of Ferrocene: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrocene - the compound is used to replace lead in petrol – far from “speeding up combustion” as marketed by EnviroTab, it is designed to decrease combustion rates, as adding lead did before, so that more power is delivered in a stroke. Its what petrol refiners put in their high-octane unleaded fuels. Octane rating is a measure of resistance to detonation, the higher the number, the slower it burns.
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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3Since the change to British Summer Time I can now cycle the 22 miles to work and 22 back before it gets dark. Doing this 1 day per week saves 20% on my fuel bill. It takes about 2 hours each way at first, but last year after a few weeks I got the time down to 1hr 25 mins and started cycling twice a week - giving a 40% saving and it only takes halfhour longer than driving (each way). Plus you can cancel the gym membership for a massive saving!
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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17No fast accelerating away from a standstill and no harsh braking, taught that years ago in Services, drive as though you have an egg between your foot and the accelerator pedal. Works for me.
I drive at a reasonable speed and keep within speed limits, my car best cruising speed is 62 mph on dual carriage ways, so I stay in left hand lanes and let the maniacs who seem to need to do 90 mph slide past in the outside lanes. So I get Twerp the Tailgater right up my exhaust pipe because I am doing 62 mph in the inside lane when he wants to do 70 or more. Well, Twerp, overtake when safe and leave me to save my fuel, I can see the 10p pieces dropping out of your exhaust pipe as you roar away making some weird signal with your middle finger.
My complaint is that the Govt is not slapping down the filling stations who profiteered on the panic buying, I went into one last week for my usual half tank, it was 139.9p a litre when I began filling up, and 142.9 when I finished. As I had started filling at the lower price I refused to pay the higher price on checkout. This was at a garage where I have been filling up over 35 years. Not any more though.
Final saving for me is to cut my lawn on the ride on mower less often. Saves on petrol, and also saves me getting abused by some strange woman who shouted at me that I was to blame for panic buying by filling my can clearly marked "Lawn Mower" last week. I suggested as she had obviously got a lot of lung power she might like to follow me home and suck on a siphon tube to fill my mower from my car tank so I would not have to fill the 5 litre can from the pump. Strangely she turned my pleasantly worded invitation down.
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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37Modern engines are far more efficient than those of years ago & about the only difference in MPG is whether it is petrol or diesel.
With either type of engine it pretty much remains the same ratio that to move a certain mass of metal at a certain speed takes the same amount of energy, ie fuel.
I found this when I changed from a V6 to the same car with a slightly smaller 4 cylinder engine. To drive at the same speeds the fuel consumption was the same if not worse as the smaller engine was being worked harder.
The only savings came on a long run because the smaller engine could not do the same sort of acceleration & top cruising speeds.
It makes me laugh when I see some of the cars that people buy with large bodies & small engines expecting to get something for nothing.
Apart from reducing the car's weight & driving slower really the only way to improve MPG is to improve driving technique, read the road & anticipate situations. For instance every time you brake, that is some fuel wasted as it took fuel in the first place to get you up to that speed. The harder you brake the more energy is dissipated as heat.
I know that in some circles they recommend the use of brakes instead of letting the engine slow you down as that is what brakes are designed for. However I have never found it to be detrimental to an engine or gearbox as in my opinion they are designed to go around whereas brakes are not.
Strangely when Shell brought out their petrol that was supposed to do more MPG it actually did work as the computer in my car showed about a 3MPG improvement.
Supermarket petrol on the other hand always shows a 4 MPG reduction.
Posted on 03 April 2012 |
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12Meanmachine2, thank you for your detailed and informative post. It explained a lot that I didn't realise about how cars actually work and fuel economy. I usually fill up at my local supermarket as its several pence a litre cheaper than Shell, and I also get loyalty points! Sorry to be pedantic, but are you referring to the Shell unleaded 95 octane, or the Shell V-power petrol? Either way, I can see I'm going to have to do some complicated maths to work out whether the extra expenditure would be compensated for by better fuel economy.
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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643Anyone who parks close to their house on a driveway should consider fitting an automatic block heater to their car. They are essential in Canada and Northern Europe so are available with a little searching for any vehicle. You can even set some systems to power up your heater fan in winter. The difference in fuel consumption in not driving away with a cold engine (and engine wear is about 90% caused when oil is cold too) can be massive. Even modern petrol engines can achieve less than 10mpg for the first few miles. Less wear on starter and battery are bonuses.
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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0I have a Honda Jazz and since reducing my average speed from 65-70 to 55-60 my fuel consumption has improved from 45mpg to 55mpg - mainly motorways of course.
Posted on 03 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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0I have to drive to and from work 85 miles ,I drive on the motorway at ca 65 mph and get about 50mpg ,but i needed to get fuel for my next shift and all was sold out,Had to take the day off and lost over 100 pounds in earnings,All i can say is dam you Conservatives making us panic to get fuel to get your taxes in before April. Just hope you lot do not get back in parliament after this session, Maybe i am wrong ,but since Cameron and co leads this country ,i seem to be very poor and struggling to make ends meet !! Cheers
Posted on 04 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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21As I am one of those people that doesn't listen to news (perhaps I should have done on this one) I ended up driving around for over half an hour looking for a petrol station that still had diesel left, which surprisingly was at Morrisons. It is the same price as Esso, but because of the contamination a few years ago, I wasn't happy to fill my tank up, but had to because of this damn panic buying...
My driving habit hasn't really changed, I drive according to how other drivers do on the road, and surprisingly, I have found that a lot of drivers are driving much slower (when you make the same journey 5 days a week at the same time, you do tend to see the same cars on the road too)
But our Sunday drives has definately got cut down, instead of once every two weeks, we do it maybe once every 2 months, so that sort of "leisure" has been cut down.
One thing I did find that surprised me was the fact that the local independent garage that usually is about 5p a litre more expensive than even the motorway services, it was actually 2p cheaper!
Posted on 04 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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643@smith1959
Cameron and Co. are cleaning up the mess of debts left by Blair, Brown and Prescott but if getting to work is so vital to you, why did you not have a couple of gallons in a can anyway? You can't blame your own lack of brain cells on the government. Suggesting some April tax deadline linked to VAT is the daftest suggestion yet.
Posted on 04 April 2012 | Love 1 love
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37Kittykatt
I meant the special 95 octane petrol that Shell brought out last year for a short time.
Somehow it disappeared after a short spell as people complained about Trades description act or something.
The V-power petrol I have never found to be any improvement.
Probably you have to have a high tuned racing machine & run at high speed to get any benefit from it.
Interestingly I have also tried putting Octane booster into my petrol on long runs (more bang for your buck) & never found any improvement in MPG.
I think that with modern petrol engine electronic controls that they are about efficient & economic as they are going to get.
Posted on 04 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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37From all of the above discussion most members will now have realised that speed costs money.
Do you remember last year when the government was on about raising the speed limit on Motorways.
Was all the talk about reducing travelling time just a smoke screen to increase their income?
Strange how years ago when there was a genuine fuel shortage the speed limit was reduced to 60 MPH
Perhaps I am just cynical.
Posted on 05 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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879Meanmachine, I don't think that the current engines are as efficient as they could be with a few more years of research, but I do think that they are set up as efficiently as they are able to handle the existing fuel.
By altering the fuel in some way you are likely to conflct with the existing settings. Those settings are likely to need changing to get the best out of any alteration to the fuel.
Fuel efficiency on motorways is dependent on the air resistance that the vehicle creates. That resistance goes up faster than the speed.
The most efficient/safest speed is the lowest speed that your car can easily accelerate from in top gear, which for many 5 gear cars is somewhere between 40 & 50 mph.
Cruise control can cut fuel consumption because it keeps your vehicle at a constant speed. But have you ever tried using cruise control on the M25? It is almost impossible before midnight!
Mike
Posted on 05 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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37Hi MikeGG1
I think that the engines can adapt within reason as the Lambda sensor in the exhaust keeps a constant check on the fuel /air ratio & the knock sensor advances the ignition timing as far as the fuel octane rating will allow.
There are also other clever tricks like inlet manifolds that adapt the air flow dependant to the load on the engine & EGR valves that recycle some of the exhaust gasses. Some engines also have valve timing that adjusts to the throttle so varying the torque.
Being old, I can remember when you were lucky on a run to get 25MPG out of a 2 litre petrol engine. Now it is nearer to 38 & even 40 MPG so I think that they are far more efficient
I can also remember when some cars only used 101 octane petrol & if I picked up a lousy load of petrol I had to re-adjust the ignition timing to get home.
With regards to Cruise control. On the M5 which I use fairly regular, on some of the lower sections it has now quitened off during the week in day time so much that I can now switch it on. Two years ago I couldnt even think of it.
Posted on 05 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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21@Meanmachine2
You've just reminded me about a Datsun 120Y that I had years ago, it has a "cut off" if you over revved the accelerator, so you could never go over 70mph on any road, which is a good idea, as there are just so many "powerful" cars on the road, and some just don't have any thoughts on other motorists. Maybe we should bring that back!
Posted on 08 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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30I can say what I *had tried* in the past, but to no avail re: reducing fuel bills. It was me against the old adage "You get what you pay for".
You might think at least one trick would've worked, but here's the real story.
I thought that supermarket fuel actually saves you money. Nope it doesn't, with all price reductions, as MPG on supermarket fuel is also worse than on a branded, Shell or BP fuel I use. It is actually frustrating that what seems like an obvious win, in fact isn't.
Then, reducing speed. While I can totally understand the reasons of a gleeful man in the left-hand lane doing 60 mph, such trip becomes boring beyond bearable, and I soon want to step on it a bit, up to 74 mph (120 kph) which is my cruising speed. I still miss my old 2.8l V6 528i which had optimal fuel consumption at about 75mph. My current C180 K has to go way slower to be optimal, to the point when you don't want to go 55mph on a motorway. You still have to arrive somewhere, and slowing down from 82mph to 55 increases travel time by 50%... thank you I don't have a life to waste on motorways.
Cycling. Har har. First I'd have to actually BUY a bike and riding gear (helmet, high vis jacket, etc), then ride to work for about 45 minutes, on A-roads full of cars (feeling lasered in the back by frustrated drivers who can't easily overtake me). Now it takes me about 8-9 minutes to get to work... Think also of time lost changing to work attire & showering, and it all becomes unfeasible: I don't have 2 hours a day to waste for cycling.
Rail may be? I live in about 4.5 miles from my station, and the station closest to work is on another line. Would've taken me forever.
Bus? Yes I could go by bus. 2 changes. 3 fares. (and 3 on my way back). Truck load of wasted time. All that vs. approximately £1.50 fuel costs each way to get to/from work and less than 10 minutes door to door (if I overslept and am in a hurry).
Buying a smaller (petrol) engine in a new car. I was thinking: yess! fuel economy! lower tax! My 2.8l V6 Beamer made me happy behind the wheel, with 22 mpg average. Now I have an 1.6l S4 C-class, which really has to be worked up to accelerate from 40 to 70 mph to get to outer lane on the motorway. It makes me in real life about 24 mpg or thereabouts. I am now driving much more fuel consciously, have good situation anticipation skills, turn off engine in jams, don't dash off like a rabbit. Yes, I know all the techniques.
... and you know what? Meet a traffic jam and there goes your economy. It happens where I am quite often.
To add insult to injury, as my car is now approaching 3 years old mark, its fuel economy is now worse. Used to be in the range of 28, now 24. Tyres at normal pressure, smart driving techniques all applied. Either fuel is becoming worse, or that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Trying a higher octane petrol, as engine supports it. You get better acceleration, true, the "pleasure" of driving a bigger car with small engine slightly increases. You even get 1-2 MPG better. The increased price cancels the benefit and I cringe paying £85 for a dam tank of petrol...
As for additives that supposedly "give better mileage" -- these have been proven again and again to be snake oil, yet Halfords still has them on display. Why not -- people pay for their dream.
I also found out I can't car share. I went to a site https://www.liftshare.com/uk/ where they invite people to share. Good idea. The 2 ladies ready to share the way with me work for a hospital as nurses and need to go by 7:30, maximum 8:00. I enjoy 10:00 as the start of my working day. Sorry darlings, I really tried... wouldn't mind a chat in the mornings.
Can't also share with colleagues, as nobody lives where I do, most go home north and I go south east. Cancelling that, too.
I already have cut my unnecessary trips. I order groceries online. I don't go anymore on shopping trips, just for sweets and giggles. I don't I don't I don't. Nothing to cut here anymore.
As I speak I saw my local garage displaying 143.9 for standard unleaded. Was 141.9 previously. This p-sses me off.
====
Whew. What is left? The only thing.
To get a better job, so the fuel prices won't bother me so much anymore. And I am dam serious about this. This is the only thing you can really do, and still preserve your quality of life. Drive an E350 CGI and don't get worried about the petrol costs or why can't you have a Sat Nav, heated seats, or why you have to wait before accelerating into outer lane, or why can't you drive 80.
Plus, the higher you climb, there are also more perks as well. Car allowance to pay for your car rental and automatic repairs, no MOT needed for a new car, each 3 years you normally get a new car to drive. Less hassle by not having to repair your car since it's new. Even a fuel card.
One of my division VPs just recently brought us his iPhone and iPad, then his Mac Pro laptop, so we would set his access to corp mail. - Is that a new third iPad? I asked. - Yup, said he. Look at the screen. It's Retina.
He already has found the way to his inner peace.
P.S. What about us who are still where we are and can't get anywhere? How do we save on fuel?
Tough, mate. You get what you pay for. If you don't have more of what you pay with, you only get that much.
Either you sacrifice your quality of life, or time, or effort - for money.
And the government has "fuel escalator" which is bound to squeeze you out of your breath. Keep squiggling...
Sorry for long rant.
Posted on 08 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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2Firstly, I only use the car for necessary travel, i.e. absolutely no leisure trips, AND secondly avidly avoid filling up at my local Tesco petrol station, as virtually every week since I can remember they add at least a penny to a litre of fuel. I wish I could say I swap out the increased cost of filling the car against other costs, but as every necessity continually increase what can you do? I used to smoke, now no! I used to like a pint or two in the local, now no! I used to like the odd meal out, now no! I now brew my own beer, make my own wine, save as much rain water as possible, keep the heating as much as possible, keep the lights off as long as possible, buy cheaper food, etc. etc. AND yet, even with all these cost cutting attempts I, as with so many of us, have less cash now than a couple of years ago!!
Posted on 10 April 2012 | Love 0 loves
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