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We don’t know absolutely anyone who goes to a gas station and feels happy refueling at 2 euros a liter. The extremely high prices at which gasoline and diesel are trading these days sometimes lead us to resort to small saving tricks. All of this would be great if it weren’t for the fact that many of those “tricks” not only won’t make us save, but it’s also possible they might even lead us to consume more
In this short article, we will tell you about five very widespread tricks among drivers that are completely useless:
Inflating the wheels above the recommended level
Many people believe that the more inflated the wheels are, the better the car rolls and the lower the consumption. It’s a half-truth. Setting the wheels to the maximum indicated by the manufacturer makes the car drag less, and that’s how it achieves the lowest consumption. But of course, it is only recommended to inflate to this value if we are going to carry a fully loaded vehicle.
If we exceed that maximum value, problems begin. Excessive pressure causes the central part of the wheel not to touch the ground, decreasing the contact surface. And the latter can cause skidding and loss of grip in curves, which translate into braking. This forces corrections and maneuvers that also increase consumption. In short, what you gain on the swings, you lose on the roundabouts. It’s not worth gambling with the wheels for a negligible saving.
Putting the car in neutral on downhill slopes
Another common misconception is that putting the car in neutral saves fuel by eliminating engine consumption. But in reality, this practice has little or no positive impact on fuel consumption. In fact, it can even increase your consumption in some cases.
Modern vehicles are designed to maximize fuel efficiency. When you are not accelerating, even in an engaged gear, fuel injection is automatically cut off. The engine spins freely while consuming barely any fuel. It’s not magic, it’s simply that, with the wheels connected to the transmission, the engine moves with the very action of gravity. If your car has an instantaneous consumption meter, you will see it reflected as “0 l/100 km”
By putting it in neutral, you decouple the transmission and stop using the extra momentum of the wheels. You will lose speed much sooner than if you had a high gear engaged. And, moreover, you will likely end up pressing the accelerator a bit with a gear engaged so as not to lose excessive speed.
Turning off the air conditioning
Another very typical one is turning off the climate control because it supposedly uses a lot of gasoline. Since being hot in the middle of summer doesn’t seem like the best idea either, what we usually do is roll down the windows. Big mistake.
No matter how much they try to convince you otherwise, the consumption of the air conditioning when the car is moving is negligible. Driving with the windows open creates turbulence and aerodynamic drag, which increases consumption much more. Using the air conditioning properly and at a moderate speed has a minimal impact on performance, and we only notice it if we have a car with a small engine at times when we are heavily loaded or have to climb very steep hills.
Miraculous additives
There are numerous products that promise to clean the engine, improve combustion, and reduce consumption. But the reality is that commercial additives have a very limited effect. They can make you reduce consumption, but by a very low percentage.
Keeping the engine well-tuned and the injectors clean does make a real difference. But from there to believing that with an additive you will be able to save 20 or 30% of the fuel, there is a world of difference.
Turning off the engine at traffic lights or traffic jams
“If my car doesn’t have Start&Stop, I’ll invent it.” Many drivers turn off the engine to save fuel when they are stopped for more than half a minute. But restarting consumes more fuel than keeping it idling during that brief waiting time.
Let’s go back to that instantaneous consumption chart. Most cars idling spend less than 1 liter per hour. It is completely not worth turning off the engine! Therefore, barring very prolonged stops, it is better to leave it running.
As you can see, many of these tricks and recommendations that we usually hear on a daily basis are completely useless. It is much more profitable to drive in a relaxed way, without sudden changes in pace and with plenty of anticipation, as well as keeping the car always tuned up. Only in this way can we lengthen the time between refueling stops. If you want to know more about this topic, we recommend you take a look at our fuel consumption calculator.