Petrol prices have slowly been creeping towards record levels again. According to petrolprices.com, unleaded is now an average of 128.5pence per litre (ppl) and diesel is 131.6ppl. It’s currently a little way short of some of the highest prices we’ve ever seen – it hit 138ppl for unleaded and 145ppl for diesel in 2013 – but it’s certainly not cheap. So at times like this – and with the cost of living in general going up all the time – is it time to look at driving economically? And if so, how much can you save? Plus, is there anything else you can do to make your car (not to mention your money) go further?

Looking at some economy driving figures

Let’s assume John Smith has an each-way commute of 20 miles and drives that route Monday to Friday, every 52 weeks of the year. He owns a small shop, so struggles to take holidays. That means he drives 40 miles a day, 200 miles a week, or 10,600 miles a year – slightly above the national average of 7,900 miles a year (according the Government’s 2015 annual traffic survey.) He drives a petrol car that typically gets 30 miles per gallon (mpg), but which can get 35mpg if he drives more economically.

Driving ‘normally’, getting 30 mpg, John spends £7.75 each day on fuel. That’s £2,105 per year. But if he drives smoothly, and manages to make his car reach 35mpg for every journey, he spends £1,729 on fuel each

year. 

That’s an annual saving of £286. (All calculations carried out using the fuel calculator on this link.)

How can I drive more economically?

There are a lot of simple measures you can take to reduce the amount of fuel your car uses – even if you drive a car with a large or high-powered engine. Simply sticking to the speed limit is the easiest measure – it’s safer and will help to preserve your driving licence. The AA claims that driving at 80mph instead of 70mph can use up to 25 per cent more fuel, and offers a range of other useful tips to reduce your fuel consumption, which can be found at this link.

Is there anything else I can do?

TerraClean is a service that cleans the inside of your engine and which can have a positive impact on your vehicle’s efficiency. You can read more about how TerraClean works to improve efficiency here. We can’t quote exact improvement figures, because the way your vehicle responds to a TerraClean will depend on its age, mileage, make and model. But if you are looking to extract more efficiency from your vehicle, especially if you feel it’s using more fuel than it used to, then it may be worth speaking to one of our dealers.

Speak to your local dealer – pop your postcode in the search bar above to find them – before you pay out for costly replacement parts.