1) Get rid of any surplus weight from the car.

2) Check the tyre pressures weekly.

3) With misty or steamy windows, make you switch off fuel hungry heating and air conditioning. Keep windows clear and dry by cleaning the inside as well as the outside and by making sure that no wet clothes or footwear are left in the car overnight. This is especially important in periods of wet or snowy weather.

4) Accelerate in a business-like manner when pulling away, changing up a gear at 3,000 rpm (2,500 rpm for diesels)

5) “Block change” into the highest possible gear when the car reaches the maximum safe or legal speed for the road and conditions.

6) Keep away from the car ahead of you to smooth out your driving. (Two seconds behind it will greatly reduce braking and stopping.)

7) Don’t break the speed limit. Faster means thirstier.

8) Remove roof racks and “top box” when they’re not needed.

9) Reverse into your drive or your parking place at work. A cold engine uses much more fuel than when it’s hot, so minimise cold running. Combine a number of tasks into one trip, clear frost from windows and open driveway gates before you start the engine and reverse into parking bays or driveways so that you can drive straight out and warm the engine up as fast as possible.

10) Switch off the engine if you will be stationary for more than three minutes (level crossings, waiting for passengers etc)

Video report by Mark Atherton and Arion McNicoll

Explore Features

• Porsche

• BMW

• Mercedes

• Ferrari

• Bentley

• Audi

• Maserati

• Aston Martin

• Jaguar

• VW