How you drive dictates how much petrol your vehicle will devour and over the long haul determines how fast your own car depletes your pockets faster than a gold digger. Luckily, there are a few very simple tricks that can help you to save petrol. When you start developing these habits, you will begin seeing significant decrease of funds-erosion in your wallet.

 

• Revving – Stop over-revving like a maniac. One of the best practices is to keep your rev counter under 2.5 (or 2,5000rpm); This has been studied extensively and found that keeping the needle beneath that mark practically saves you a cool 20% of your petrol expenses. Keep glancing on your rev meter. Remember your Probox is not a race car; cut the fantasy.

 

• High Gear – ( Sorry automatic guys, this is not for you, jump to the next point). When you are in high gear-from gear 4 and above, you are basically riding on the momentum of your car. This means that you actually don't have to step on the gas pedal as regularly. In this case, if you are driving a manual transmission it is to your advantage to switch to higher gear as quickly as possible. At low gears, you are straining the gear box and burning much more petrol on the go.

 

• Braking – Kenya drivers are a crazy lot; they like to jam on the brakes unnecessarily. You will see a guy at full throttle 2 seconds to a speed bump then jam on the brakes like a sadist. Those brakes will spit on your face one day in protest. But before then you are already paying for your sins; this madness is not only a waste of energy but also fuel. When you come to a speed bump or traffic lights, allow the car to slow down gradually before venting on the brakes.

 

• Defensive Driving – This is how royalty moves about, they are always aware of their surroundings when driving. Knowing what cars are doing and their intentions can help you to save fuel because you will avoid braking unnecessarily or accelerating abruptly. Don't tail-gate others, leave yourself about 4 second space to the car in front; I know what you are thinking "wataniingia mbele, then I'll look like the only idiot in the whole of East Africa", come on! You won't die! in a steady moving traffic another car can get in front on a defensive driver without him needing to touch the brake pedal at all. If someone is constantly on your tail and flashing their stupid headlights on you, encourage them to overtake. If they just won't go away, touch on your brake pedal very lightly, your car won't slow down but your brake lights will light up on the rare causing your bully to slow down thinking you are crazy. He'll then seek to change lane, I've used it many times, it always works. Always.

 

• Engines off – Some new cars(like the new-shape Toyota Vitz or Yaris for American market) have the 'Stop-Start' system where the engine switches off whenever you are on handbrake and automatically starts(within seconds) when you disengage. You can make use of this feature on heavy traffic or when you come to the lights. I hope this has helped change your attitude towards the good little bug.

 

• Air-conditioning – This practice is simple. When you are cruising on Thika Superhighway, use the AC. When you are crawling on Mombasa Road traffic, switch it off. It is a myth that AC makes your car a guzzler. Truth be told, when cruising on the highway having your windows down and AC off actually consumes more fuel as the car needs more power due to air resistance. Now you know when to use AC and when not to.

 

If you have other great tricks please comment below..