Changing gear
Change gear early, around 2500rpm for a petrol-engined car and 2000rpm for a diesel as it saves revving the engine too hard, reducing emissions and fuel consumption. But do not labour the engine by selecting a higher gear too early as it wastes fuel and increases engine strain.
Read the road
Try to read the road and anticipate obstacles so that you can avoid heavy braking and sharp acceleration as it wastes momentum and therefore fuel.
Non-essential electrics
Use your car's air conditioning system sparingly as it can knock between one and three miles per gallon off your fuel consumption. Check that the heated rear window is not on unnecessarily as it has a high power consumption.
Get moving
Drive away as soon as possible once you have started the engine from cold as it warms up more quickly, reducing consumption, emissions and engine wear. But don't rev the car excessively when it's cold as it is bad for engine wear.
Aerodynamics
Always remove roof-racks, bicycle racks and ski-boxes when they're not in use as they increase aerodynamic drag, especially at speed. Driving with the car's windows and sunroof open also increases drag.
Avoid short journeys
Avoid trips of only a few miles as fuel consumption and emissions output heighten considerably during the warm-up period.
Speed control
Consider your cruising speed on motorways - a change of speed from 70mph to 65mph can reduce consumption and emissions considerably.
Journey planning
Plan your journey as going the long way round, getting lost and running into roadworks can mean using unnecessary fuel.
Check your tyres
Check your tyre pressures regularly. Running them under-inflated can increase fuel consumption and emissions.
Don't idler
If you're stuck in a traffic jam, switch the engine off. Apart from reducing fuel usage, you'll be cutting the output of other pollutants.
Remove unnecessary weight
People often use their car as a mobile office/store/room and end up carrying kilos of additional weight. Extra weight means extra fuel is required.
Don't coast in neutral
Coasting in neutral won't save fuel as modern fuel injection systems cut off the fuel supply when you lift off the accelerator and only use the car's momentum to move.
