8 tips to save fuel: How to spend less at the petrol station

The federal government stepped in with a temporary halving of the fuel excise from 1 April, which took around 26 cents per litre off the price at the pump. That’s welcome relief, but it’s temporary and prices are still elevated compared to where most of us were budgeting just a few months ago. The situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains volatile, and analysts are cautioning that costs could stay high well beyond the excise cut’s June 30 end date.

So while we can’t control what’s happening on the other side of the world, there’s plenty we can control closer to home. The good news is that a well-maintained car driven with a bit of intention can use noticeably less fuel, and those savings add up fast when prices are this high. Here’s some suggestions to keep your costs down.

1. Keep your tyres properly inflated

This is one of the simplest fuel-saving steps you can take, and it costs nothing. Under-inflated tyres create more rolling resistance, which means your engine has to work harder to move the car forward. Even a drop of a few PSI across all four tyres can measurably increase fuel consumption.

Check your tyre pressures at least once a month and before any longer trip. The correct pressure for your car is usually listed on a sticker inside the driver’s door or in your owner’s manual. It only takes a few minutes at a servo and it makes a real difference over the course of a tank.

2. Don’t carry weight you don’t need to

Every extra kilogram your car carries requires more fuel to move. It sounds obvious, but a lot of us are driving around with boot loads of gear we don’t actually need day to day. A bag of sports equipment, old tools, a pram that rarely gets used, roof racks that are only out for holidays: these all add up.

Remove anything from your car that you’re not actively using. If you have a roof rack or roof pod that you only need occasionally, take it off when it’s not in use. Roof-mounted accessories create significant aerodynamic drag even when empty, which directly increases fuel consumption – especially at highway speeds.

3. Smooth driving saves more fuel than you think

The way you use the accelerator and brake has a bigger impact on fuel use than most drivers realise. Rapid acceleration burns significantly more fuel than gradual acceleration, and heavy braking means all that energy you’ve built up is wasted as heat. The smoother you drive, the more efficiently your engine operates.

Try to read the road ahead and anticipate what’s coming. If traffic is slowing, ease off the accelerator early rather than braking hard at the last moment. On the freeway, use cruise control where it’s safe to do so. Maintaining a steady speed is far more efficient than repeatedly accelerating and backing off.

4. Watch your speed on the highway

Fuel consumption increases significantly at higher speeds. Most cars are at their most efficient somewhere between 80 and 100 km/h. At 110 km/h, aerodynamic drag becomes a much larger factor, and fuel use rises noticeably. Dropping your highway speed by even 10 km/h can reduce fuel consumption by around 10 to 15 per cent.

We’re not suggesting you hold up traffic, but sitting at the speed limit rather than nudging above it is one of the more effective fuel-saving habits you can adopt right now, especially with prices where they are.

5. Use your air conditioning sensibly

Air conditioning puts an additional load on your engine, which means it uses more fuel. In Sydney’s cooler months, you often don’t need it at all. On milder days, try opening the windows and letting fresh air do the work instead. When you do need the air con, use it efficiently rather than running it on full blast continuously.

That said, at highway speeds, open windows create drag that can actually offset the fuel savings from turning off the air con. As a general guide, use windows in city driving and air conditioning on the freeway, and you’ll find a reasonable balance.

6. Service your car regularly

A poorly maintained engine works harder and burns more fuel. Dirty air filters restrict airflow, old spark plugs fire less efficiently, and degraded engine oil increases internal friction. All of these reduce fuel efficiency and, left long enough, cause more serious mechanical problems on top of the extra fuel costs.

If your car is due for a service, now is genuinely one of the better times to get it done. Fresh oil, a clean air filter and a properly running engine can improve fuel economy by several per cent. Over the course of a few tanks at current prices, that adds up to real money.

7. Use a fuel price app to find the cheapest servo

Petrol prices can vary by 20 cents or more per litre between stations in the same suburb, especially during volatile periods like right now. NSW drivers have access to FuelCheck, a free government tool that shows real-time prices at stations near you. Similar apps exist for other states, including FuelWatch in Western Australia.

It only takes thirty seconds to check before you fill up, and choosing a cheaper station over the course of a month could save a household $30 to $50 or more, depending on how much driving you do.

8. Combine your trips where you can

Cold engines use more fuel than warmed-up ones, which means several short separate trips burn proportionally more petrol than one longer combined trip. If you have errands to run, try to batch them together into a single outing rather than making multiple trips throughout the day.

It’s a small shift in planning that requires no extra outlay, but it does make a consistent difference to how much fuel you get through each week.

Beyond your own driving habits, it’s also worth knowing where things stand on the bigger picture. The federal government’s decision to halve the fuel excise until 30 June provides real short-term relief. The ACCC is monitoring closely to make sure retailers pass the savings on in full, and most major metro areas have seen noticeable price drops since 1 April. But the excise cut is temporary, and the global situation driving these prices remains uncertain.

Building better fuel habits now means you’re better positioned regardless of where prices go from here. And keeping your car in good mechanical shape means it’s using every litre as efficiently as it possibly can.