Lifestyle

11 Tricks to Lower Your Petrol Consumption in S’pore

2019-06-23 , 1:00 pm

Last Updated on 2024-06-08 , 1:53 pm

If you read the title and thought to yourself “Ha, another one of those pumping petrol, get free insurance but the insurance turns out not to be free type of promo, ah?”

The short answer is of course, no, this is not one of those phony promos.

What we’re looking at here is how you can save enough money on your petrol expenditure each month in order to cover your insurance premium annually.

Unless you’re super young or you drive a super car, the average rate for an insurance premium in Singapore is about $800-$1,000 per annum, and sometimes more if you’re a high risk driver.

This means that you’ll have to save at least $65- $85 per month on petrol costs in order to offset your insurance costs.

You may think that this sounds impossible, but do try out these tips and tricks for minimizing your petrol consumption. Keep in mind that whatever little you can save will help offset your insurance and therefore make it more affordable!

Don’t Drive in Jams
We’ve got plenty of help from Waze and Google Maps nowadays and we can know immediately which roads are congested and should be avoided. The reason for not driving in jams is that the frequent stopping and acceleration consumes more petrol than say, cruising at a fixed speed.

The trick is to check Google Maps before driving, and let it suggest the best route. Why leave everything to fate when you can leave it to Google?

Close Your Windows and Sunroof
All cars are aerodynamically designed to be as sleek as possible and to minimize the ‘drag’ caused by the wind, especially when you’re driving on the highways. Opening your windows will increase this ‘drag’ effect and more petrol is needed to push the car along. Closing your windows will also make your air-conditioning more effective, requiring less energy to function.

Don’t turn off your air-con
Some people think that switching the air-con off would help offset some cost: they’re wrong, man. Yes, you save a little but remember the previous point? You’ve got to keep your windows open. That drags your vehicle and hence makes it use more energy.

Clear Off Your Car Boot
The less weight you carry in your car, the less petrol is needed to move it. Make sure you’re not carrying anything like golf clubs, bicycles around and remove them when you’re not on the way to the golf course or the park. One piece of advice: don’t remove your spare tire. You never know when you’ll need it.

Check Your Tire Pressure Regularly
Make sure your tires are properly pressurized, not over or under pressured. Tires that are under-pressured will consume more energy to move, meaning that your car will burn off more petrol if your tires seem softer than they should be.

If possible, do it every two weeks, especially if your tires are old.

Don’t Stomp on Your Accelerator
Always accelerate gently and keep a constant speed. No matter what gear you are in, pressing far down on the accelerator is going to cause your petrol consumption levels to speed up dramatically.

Consider Car Pooling
There’s no better way to save petrol than to drive less. If you have a friend, colleague or family member that works and lives in the same area you do, try working out a schedule where you all take turns to drive, thereby cutting down on the days you actually need to take your car out.

Don’t Leave the Engine On
When you’re waiting to pick someone up or stopping somewhere to answer a call, try not to leave your engine switched on as this will inadvertently consume a small amount of petrol that’s not actually doing anything productive, as in, it’s not moving you anywhere.

Use Cruise Control
With Singapore’s traffic, getting a person to use cruise control is like asking a Singaporean to buy cold wear: it just doesn’t make sense. But it does when one is driving at night: firstly, you won’t be changing your speed so regularly so you’ll use less petrol, and secondly, you won’t need to worry about any speeding ticket.

However, of course not all cars have cruise control.

Use More Engine Brake
People who drive an auto car might think there’s no way to use an engine brake, but here’s the thing: when you let go of the accelerator, you’re essentially doing an engine brake. You might need a longer distance to stop, but add all your engine brakes together and you’ll save a lot!

Don’t fill up to full tank
The logic here is simple: with less petrol, your car will weigh less and therefore require less energy to run. If you live near a petrol station, why not just fill up to, say, $40 every time?

Now, while every point just saves a bit of money, it’ll accumulate to a lot throughout the entire year. It doesn’t hurt to try, and it doesn’t hurt to have free insurance coverage, isn’t it?

You can watch this video to understand why cars are so expensive in Singapore:

11 Tricks to Lower Your Petrol Consumption in S’pore

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