Simple Ways to Improve Fuel Economy Around Town

Why Town Driving Is So Thirsty

Short local journeys are the hardest work your car ever does. The engine is cold, the catalytic converter hasn't warmed up, and you're asking for full power one moment and braking the next. On a five-mile trip to the shops, you might spend a third of the time stationary at lights or junctions, burning fuel while going nowhere at all. That's why the official fuel figures rarely match what you see on the trip computer after a week of school runs and supermarket trips.

The good news is that town driving is where a few small changes pay off fastest. You don't need a new car or an expensive gadget. You need smoother inputs, correct pressures, and a bit less clutter.

Smooth Inputs Beat Fast Getaways

The single biggest saving available to most drivers is how they use the right pedal. Hard acceleration from every set of lights can add 10–20% to your fuel use around town, and it usually gets you to the next red light no sooner than the driver who pulled away gently.

Aim to reach your cruising speed – even if that's just 30 mph – in a steady, progressive push rather than a surge. Change up early: in most modern cars, changing up at around 2,000 rpm in a petrol and 1,500–1,800 rpm in a diesel is plenty. If your car has an economy display or a gear-shift indicator, take it seriously for a week and see what happens to your average.

• Press the accelerator as if there's an egg under it – firm, but never stamping.
• Look far ahead so you can ease off early instead of braking late.
• Lift off the throttle well before a junction and let the car coast down in gear; modern engines cut fuel almost entirely on the overrun.
• Avoid racing up to a roundabout only to stop dead. Time your arrival to slot into a gap instead.

Braking wastes the momentum you've already paid for at the pump. Every time you can avoid touching the brakes, you've saved fuel.

Check Your Tyre Pressures Every Fortnight

Under-inflated tyres are the quiet thief of fuel economy. A tyre sitting 10 psi below where it should be can cost you a few percent in fuel and will wear out its shoulders far quicker. Yet it's the check most drivers skip, usually because it's cold, dark, and the airline at the garage is always busy.

Buy a decent pencil gauge or a small digital inflator and check pressures at home, ideally when the tyres are cold and the car hasn't been driven for a couple of hours. Use the pressures listed in your handbook or on the sticker inside the driver's door pillar – usually around 32–36 psi for a typical hatchback, with a higher figure for a fully loaded car. Check the spare too, if you have one.

While you're crouched down there, run your hand across the tread. Uneven wear across the face of a tyre hints at tracking or alignment problems, and a car dragging a wheel sideways is burning fuel to fight itself. An alignment check every couple of years is money well spent.

Lighten the Load

Every extra kilogram has to be accelerated and braked, over and over, on every local trip. That's why the boot full of golf clubs, wellington boots, and half a bag of cement from a job in March is costing you money all year.

Have a clear-out this weekend. Anything you haven't used in a month probably doesn't need to live in the car. Roof bars and roof boxes are worth removing between trips too – an empty roof box can add a noticeable amount to fuel consumption at speed, and even a set of bare bars creates drag.

Don't go too far the other way, mind. Keep the jack, the spare or repair kit, a warning triangle if you use one, and a basic first-aid kit. Safety kit earns its place; last summer's folding chair doesn't.

Plan the Journey, Not Just the Destination

Cold engines are inefficient engines, so a bit of thought before you turn the key goes a long way.

• Combine trips. Four separate cold starts use far more fuel than one loop that takes in all four stops while the engine is warm.
• Avoid the obvious crawl. Sitting in a queue with the engine idling returns precisely zero miles per gallon. A slightly longer route that keeps moving is often the cheaper one.
• Use the main road when it makes sense. Stop-start back streets can be slower and thirstier than a steady run along an A-road, even if the distance is greater.
• Park considerately. Nose out where you can – reversing out of a tight space with a cold engine is heavy on fuel and hard on the clutch.

Small Habits That Quietly Add Up

Idling is the easiest waste to eliminate. If you're waiting more than about a minute – at a level crossing, a long set of roadworks, or outside a school – switch the engine off. Modern starters and batteries cope perfectly well with it, and many cars do it automatically anyway.

Air conditioning is a genuine trade-off. Above roughly 45 mph, using it is usually cheaper than the drag of open windows, but on slow town runs the penalty is real. Use it to clear a misted screen when you need it, then turn it off and rely on the vents.

Finally, keep up with servicing. Fresh engine oil of the correct grade, a clean air filter, and properly gapped spark plugs all let the engine breathe and burn efficiently. A car that's overdue a service can easily use several percent more fuel than the same car looked after properly – and it'll feel sluggish into the bargain.

None of this requires heroics. Drive smoothly, check your tyres, empty the boot, and think about where you're going before you set off. Do that for a month and the difference at the pump will be plain to see.