Tips for fuel-efficient driving

After take-off, drive off immediately

When cold, every engine needs more fuel. Therefore, gently warm up the engine to operating temperature. This protects the environment and the wallet.

Driving with foresight and as consistently as possible

If you keep enough distance from the vehicle in front, you are safer on the road, can compensate for speed differences more elegantly and are fuel-efficient. Rolling phases can be better used and wear on the brakes can be minimized. Frequent braking and unnecessary acceleration cost fuel, time and money.

Correct cruising speed

The harder the acceleration, the more energy is absorbed in friction and tire slip. In addition, you often accelerate beyond the target speed and then you have to slow down again. Consider inclines and descents, only maintain speed uphill, but accelerate more easily on downhill sections.

Avoid unnecessary gear changes, skip gears if possible

The motto is: "Shift up early, down late". The vehicle has the right gear for every operating condition, loaded or unloaded, with and without a trailer, uphill and downhill. When accelerating, select the gear that best utilizes the vehicle's torque range. This area can be found in the operating instructions of the vehicle or from the vehicle manufacturer.

Driving in the highest possible gear

Avoid unnecessarily high speeds, because they cost fuel and increase wear. You should drive at the lowest possible speed. With a large number of vehicles, the highest gear is possible in the local area! This reduces consumption and noise pollution.

Use rolling phases

When the vehicle is coasting, it does not need any fuel. By consistently exploiting rolling phases, you save the most fuel and protect the brakes of the vehicle. As a general rule, "the higher the gear, the longer the rolling phase, the lower the gear, the greater the engine braking effect." On open roads, you can take your foot off the accelerator up to 500 m before the local area in order to reach the maximum speed allowed in the local area without unnecessary braking. With anticipatory driving, you can also make optimal use of rolling phases in urban areas, for example at red lights. In doing so, one should neither become an obstacle to traffic nor obstruct the flow of traffic by rolling too long and slowly.

Switch off the engine when stationary

If the engine is at a standstill, switch off. In the case of short waiting times, it should be borne in mind that every starting process causes wear and tear on the engine, starter and battery. If you have to buy a new battery after many start-ups, this purchase will incur more costs than you may have saved. If, for example, you have to wait longer in the car at the level crossing, you should turn off the engine. Running at the stand senselessly consumes fuel and pollutes the environment. Before you are stuck in a traffic jam for a long time, you can also plan other travel times or routes or drive to the next rest stop and wait out the traffic jam.

Refuel at the beginning of the week

Prices tend to rise towards the weekend. It is usually cheapest on Sunday or Monday morning.

Refueling just before noon

Price increases are only allowed once a day (at 12 noon). However, price reductions are possible at any time.

Avoid expensive petrol stations (motorway petrol stations)

As a result, a considerable saving of tens of euros is possible on a tank of gas Even if you drive to a gas station with average prices instead, the savings potential remains high.

Compare prices of petrol stations

No, of course, that doesn't mean checking them all. This is quick and easy, e.g. via the ÖAMTC app or under www.oeamtc.at/sprit.

Air conditioning

Air conditioning, seat heaters and parking heaters should be switched on if your "well-being" during the journey requires it. You should switch off the devices when you don't need them. These devices are safety factors, because when a driver is doing well, he is more concentrated and therefore safer on the road. In this way, costly and time-consuming damage can be avoided.

Use cruise control sensibly

If a vehicle has cruise control, it should be used for steady driving. The cruise control has the task of keeping the speed constant. However, be careful on mountain stages or hilly roads, where cruise control costs fuel unnecessarily. In order to be fuel-efficient on the road, you should use this device on the motorway or flat roads, for example.

Use the navigation system

These devices help the handlebar to find the shorter or optimal route. You save time, unnecessary stress and can concentrate better on a more economical driving style and traffic. Thanks to the information provided by the "navigation system", you can, for example, apply rolling phases despite an unknown route and save wear, time and fuel.

Using the on-board computer

Many vehicles already have an on-board computer with consumption and average speed indicators. The instantaneous or average consumption provides feedback about one's own driving style. If you don't have these displays in your vehicle, you can pay attention to the trip meter and find out how much further you can get with a tank of fuel if the time of refueling remains the same.

Tire pressure - the success factor

The tire pressure should be checked more often. Too low pressure causes the tire to wear out faster and drives up fuel consumption. Especially with loaded vehicles, for example before a holiday trip, you should adjust the tyre pressure according to the manufacturer's instructions. If the manufacturer's tyre pressure is maintained, rolling phases are used better and fuel is saved!

Disassemble roof racks after use

The advantages of modern, aerodynamic bodies are lost due to the roof rack, air resistance and weight increase and consumption increases significantly.

No unnecessary burdens "take a walk"

Fuel is saved by clearing out the car from time to time and, for example, removing the snow chains in summer and other unnecessary weight from the trunk. When it comes to tyres, it should be borne in mind that unnecessarily wide tyres increase weight and rolling resistance and thus fuel consumption.

Regularly check the car to ensure that it is in perfect technical condition

A dirty air filter, old spark plugs or faulty electrics reduce engine performance and drive up consumption enormously. In diesel engines, misaligned injection pumps or worn injectors lead to more fuel consumption. "Therefore, carry out a service at least once a year or have the optimal motor setting checked," advises the ÖAMTC expert.

Leave the car at home

Leave the car at home and carpool with colleagues.

Choose other forms of mobility

If possible, also use other forms of mobility: cycling, walking, choosing public transport.

Only with a constant single drive on the motorway can a speed reduction from 130 to 100 km/h save around 25 percent fuel under ideal conditions. However, the mandatory introduction of a 100 km/h speed limit on motorways would only reduce the total amount of fuel consumed in Austria by 1–3 percent.

The reason: Passenger cars on motorways and expressways account for only 34% of the total mileage of all vehicles. More than half of this traffic already takes place in sections with 80 or 100 km/h – not even counting variable speed limits. But even in the other areas, 130 km/h is not driven uniformly. The average speed – and only this is relevant – is significantly lower in practice. This results in a savings potential of 1–3 percent of the total fuel quantity.

The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) has also come to the same conclusion, calculating a reduction potential of around 2 percent for 100 km/h on a CO2 basis in the "Mobility 2019 Status Report". The question is therefore not whether you save money and fuel with 100 instead of 130 km/h. The question is whether a legal requirement is needed in view of the manageable overall savings potential.

And wouldn't we then have to call for laws and state sanctions on other issues, such as the excessive consumption of beef or the unnecessary burning of lights? Therefore: Convincing is better than punishment! The more people participate in saving fuel, the better!