KUALA LUMPUR: The government is set to do away with the fuel subsidies in stages starting with the cut in fuel subsidy in early September 2013.
Based on the 20 sen rise for the RON95 in September, a motorist who uses an average of 10 litres of petrol daily have to add RM60 to the monthly budget. The monthly expenditure will be higher if the domino effect on services and products caused by the higher fuel price is taken into account.
Samsudin Mohd Fauzi PKPKL
Therefore, it is time that Malaysian drivers reflect on their driving habits and look for ways to enhance their mileage using the same amount of fuel.
In fact, the Kuala Lumpur Consumer Safety Association (PKPKL) chairman Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi, 37, opined that the reduction in fuel subsidies is a blessing in disguise.
Higher fuel prices will encourage drivers to adopt prudent driving strategies to save fuel.
FUEL ADDITIVES NOT THE ANSWER
As for Samsudin, for a start, motorists have to start evaluating their driving habits and avoid unpractical solutions like resorting to fuel saving additives.
“Adding foreign substance to the fuel in the long run would only reduce the engine life span,” he said adding that fuel efficient driving is the only way to get maximum mileage for the money spent on every drop of fuel.
Samsudin believes that most drivers are unaware that they lose their fuel economy because of their poor driving habits.
EFFICIENT DRIVING TIPS
First and foremost drivers should avoid unnecessary or excessive weight in the vehicle by removing unnecessary items from the trunk or cabin and only drive within the stipulated speed limits.
“Think before adding accessories like skirting, spoiler, roof rack and others, as they not only add weight but also affect the aerodynamic factor of the vehicle.
“In fact, half of the fuel burned is to overcome the drag caused by wind resistance due to the aerodynamic factor,” noted Samsudin adding that the drag increases with speed and therefore more fuel is wasted at high speed.
Moreover, keeping up with the speed limits not only ensures optimal use of fuel but also assures the safety of the vehicle and other road users.
UNDERSTANDING THE GEAR RATIO CONCEPT
He adds that drivers should understand the gear ratios and take advantage of it to save on fuel.
Samsudin provided the bicycle with gears as an example in explaining the gear ratios.
“If one pedals a bicycle on a high gear, more energy is needed to accelerate to a certain speed, but with a low gear it becomes easier to accelerate to achieve that speed,” he explained.
This means, to accelerate it is better to bring down the gear.
“However, for automatic vehicles the gears are automatically reduced or increased based on the throttle input,” he added.
Nonetheless, Samsudin suggested that the drivers of manual gear vehicles keep an eye on their tachometer to ensure the engine revolution does not surpass 3,500 rpm until they have reached the high gear.
As for example a vehicle traveling at third gear with 3,500 rpm could only attain 70km/h while at fourth gear with the same engine rpm and burning the same amount of fuel it could reach 110km/h. This means one is just wasting fuel by accelerating the engine to 3,500 rpm at third gear when lower engine speed will suffice.
AVOID AGRESSIVE DRIVING
Aggressive driving and aggressive start/stops waste fuel. The same goes to tailgating where the driver could save 10 percent of the fuel if he avoids all these.
Samsudin also took to task provocative drivers who take to the road to display their ego saying the road is supposed to be shared by all road users and their bad attitude contributes to fuel wastage by other road users as well.
“The engine has to generate more energy to accelerate and therefore braking and accelerating unnecessarily only wastes fuel,” added Samsudin.
Doing away with aggressive driving also helps to extend the lifespan of the tires and brakes apart from ensuring road safety for all road users.
THE BASICS THAT DRIVERS OFTEN IGNORE
One of the basics that drivers often ignore is to switch off the engines while waiting.
“Switch off the engines if you have to wait for a while, by doing so you not only will be saving on fuel and money but also stop polluting the air,” Samsudin said.
Also, make sure there is sufficient tyre pressure to achieve good fuel economy and conduct wheel alignment periodically to reduce drag.
Insufficient tyre pressure not only burns more fuel and causes poor steering control, but also wears out the tyres faster.
Also proper periodical engine maintenance helps to save on fuel and extend engine life. Clean engine oil reduces friction within the engine and helps get rid of dirt and grime within. Also a clean air filter allows more air into the engine and increases fuel efficiency.
BY SAVING PETROL, YOU ARE SAVING THE WORLD
By adopting an efficient driving approach one not only saves on fuel and money but literally helps to save the earth.
Studies show every liter of fossil fuel burned by the engines, about 2.6kg of carbon is released to the atmosphere and this contributes to global warming.
In a nutshell, drivers stand to achieve a lot by saving on fuel. – Bernama