Wrong Tips on Fuel Saving

Everybody wants to save fuel, but there're lots and lots of incorrect advices I found on local and international motorcar forums on how to do it. Some of 'em make no difference, and some even worse! Don't know from where they got those 'advices' - I'm sure not from their own experiment/experience. Some of the 'advices' defy the laws of physics [and thermodynamics].

The following are a bunch of wrong advices on tips for fuel saving.

1. Fill-up fuel tank in the morning
I have read/heard 1001 times that it's best to fill car fuel tank in the early morning while the fuel is cold by making assumption that fuel are more dense at lower temperatures, so a liter of cooler fuel actually has more hydrocarbon molecules than a liter of warmer gasoline.

The fact is: The fuel stored underground has a very large heat sink which temperature is almost constant throughout the day. By touching the fuel pump nozzle while filling up the fuel tank one will 'feel' the temperature - it is warmer than the ambient temperature, in the morning and cooler at midday/afternoon. You don't need a thermometer to measure it.



2. Change air filter often
Maintaining cars is important, but a clean air filter isn't going to save any fuel significantly. Modern engines have computer sensors that automatically adjust the fuel-air mixture as an increasingly clogged air filter chokes off the engine's air supply. Of course engine power will decrease slightly as the air filter becomes clogged, but an increase in fuel consumption will be negligible. It takes cost less than the new air filter. Here I'm talking on fuel saving - not performance ya.

As far as fuel saving is concerned, installing after market maintenance-free air-filters will do more harm than good [in a long run] to modern engines. Think a second, if it is good enough why not car producers install 'em in the first place? If u r talking on performance alone, just tune the car without the air filter!

3. Use premium or higher octane fuel
A lot of drivers think because their owners' manual recommends premium, they'll get better fuel economy and performance with it. In reality , they may be paying more money for nothing.

Most modern na cars have Programmed Fuel Injection System, for which premium is "recommended" - but not "required" - won't suffer with RON95 or lower octane rating fuel. Modern engine technology comes to the rescue again. When sensors detect regular instead of premium fuel, the system automatically adjusts spark plug [and valve] timing. The result is a slight reduction in peak horsepower - but we never notice.

Always check owner's manual before putting anything into your car. And if the car runs badly on RON95, by all means, go back to RON97, or Wee-Power or what_ever.

4. Pump up tires
Of course under-inflated tires are bad for handling and can even cause a crash. Improper tire inflation also causes tires to wear out faster and to heat up more, which could trigger a dangerous high-speed blow-out. Under inflated tires also reduce fuel economy.

So proper inflation is important.
But never over-inflate tires. They'll get slightly better fuel economy because there will be less tread touching the road, reducing friction. But that means less grip for braking and turning. The added risk of a crash isn't worth the extra km a liter gained.

5. Reduce or do not use aircond.
True, air-conditioning makes extra work for the engine, increasing fuel use. But car air conditioners are much more efficient today than they used to be. Using the aircond will drop fuel economy by about 2 to 3% - to figure out the saving by turning aircond off is gaining around 10km [under RM2] when one drive fom KL to KB but one will pay more on cold drinks!

Meanwhile, driving at higher speeds with the windows down greatly increases aerodynamic drag. As speed increases, drag becomes more of an issue, making air-cond use the more efficient choice at high speeds.

6. Install fuel saving gadget and/or use fuel booster
Before even thinking of a device that's supposed to make car more fuel-efficient ask yourself:

Don't you think oil and car companies aren't doing everything they can to beat their competitors?

Car/engine producers are already spending billions of Ringgit if not Dollars to increase fuel efficiency/mileage. If a car producer could make its cars go significantly farther on a liter simply by putting a device into the fuel line, don't think for a second it wouldn't be doing that. Its car sales also would go like goreng pisang panas.

Similarly, if there really was an additive that made fuel burn up more slowly, it would have been bought by major oil companies already and wouldn't be sold through direct selling over the Internet/SMS one bottle at a time. If Brand A fuel company could add something to its fuel that made cars go farther on a liter of fuel, cars would be lining up at the company's pumps and drive right past rivals' fuel stations to come back to Brand A for more. Brand A stations could even charge more for their gas and still can sell. Click HERE for additional informations.

Borrowing a phrase from a friend's blog...
"kalau nak menurut biar berakal, kalau mengikut biar berilmu..."

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