Improving Fuel Efficiency on the School Run

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School runs are usually one of the least efficient uses of your car. There are several reasons for this, including the short nature of most suburban school runs and the relatively low speeds that you need to travel at when approaching a school. Remember that every school run in the car means you use up more fuel, but you can make things better for your budget by ensuring your vehicle is set up to run as efficiently as possible. Unless you live in a rural area and drive several kilometres each day to school, you will probably find the following tips helpful in making the school run — and other short trips — more efficient.

Tyre Inflation

When you only make short journeys in your car, it can be many hundreds of kilometres between checking tyre pressure. If you don't do this routinely and only pump them up ahead of long car journeys, then your car's rolling resistance will become ever greater. Simply looking at your tyres or kicking them to see if they are inflated won't do. All tyres progressively lose their air pressure, especially if you bump up and down kerbs as you might need to when parking outside of a school. Confirm your car's air pressure recommendations in the manual and check this against the inflation level every couple of times you refill with fuel. This will help your car to drive more efficiently at all speeds.

Avoid Traffic

Beat the other cars on the school run by leaving a few minutes earlier. If you need to slow down outside of the school because there are lots of other drivers dropping their children off in the vicinity, then you waste fuel going nowhere. Because most parents want to arrive at the last minute — just before the school opens — this is the worst time to get there. Arrive sooner or, alternatively, park a few hundred metres away and walk the last part of the journey.

Drive Efficiently

By driving with your windows done up, your car will use less fuel per kilometre travelled. Equally, if you get into the habit of pulling away in second gear and braking less sharply, then you will end up improving your fuel usage rate. A full car service should be conducted regularly to make sure that the rest of the car's systems help you to drive as efficiently as possible. This must include your air-conditioning system which can lead to inefficiencies unless it is in good working order.

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29 March 2017

Tires and Wheels: Tips for All-Terrain and All-Season Driving

Hello and welcome to my blog. My name is Holden, and I have been a lover of driving for as long as I can remember. I have taken driving trips across deserts and icy tundras. I have also raced on pristine roadways, and I have explored small dirt tracks through the mountains. The key to success, I have learned, is choosing the right tyres, making sure your wheels are in top shape and fixing your suspension. I love to write so I decided to create a blog on these topics. If you have questions, I hope you can find the answers you need here.