No, it’s not your imagination, your fuel gauge really does drop faster in winter. The engine runs cold for longer, roads stay wet, traffic is heavier and you’ve the heater, lights and demisters working overtime. Add in short hops to the shop, the school run and a few frantic “one more dash to the shops” trips, and the tank seems to empty itself. The good news is you don’t need to turn into a full-time ‘hypermiler’ to cut costs; you just need a few good habits that stop fuel from being burned for no good reason.
If you pick three or four of the following tips and stick with them for a fortnight, you’ll notice it at the pump and feel it in how the car drives.
Before we get into it, though, one of the number one ways you can reduce motoring costs over winter is to get a service - yes, we know that’s not what you want to hear - but a winter service could improve your car's performance, leading to it using fuel more efficiently.
1 - Skip the warm-up idle
If you start the car on a cold morning and leave it ticking over for ages, you’re paying for fuel while going nowhere. Start it, scrape the glass, sort the kids, pick a podcast, whatever you do, then drive off gently. The car warms up faster when it’s moving.
2 - Cut down on cold starts
Short trips cost more in winter than people realise. This is because the engine is at its least efficient when cold. If you only drive five minutes to the shop and switch off, you’ve paid for the thirsty part of the journey and barely got to the efficient bit. Then you do it again an hour later, and again the next morning, and it adds up quickly. If possible, try to plan your day so you do one longer trip instead of several short runs, even if it means driving slightly further, because you’ll waste less fuel on repeated cold starts.
3 - Get tyre pressures right
Tyres lose pressure when the temperature drops, so a set that was fine in September can be soft by December without you doing a thing. When tyres are under-inflated, the car has to work harder to roll along, which means you burn more fuel, and you might feel the steering is a bit heavier and less sure-footed in the wet. Check the pressures when the tyres are cold, use the sticker inside the driver’s door (or the handbook) for the correct numbers, and don’t forget the spare if you have one.
4 - Drive like Carlos Sainz (bear with us...)
Winter driving rewards smooth operators (get it?). Keep a bit more space between you and the car in front, ease off the accelerator early, and let the car roll up to junctions instead of racing to the next red light and then jamming on the brakes. When you accelerate and brake hard, you are basically turning fuel into heat and brake dust.
5 - Keep revs down
Engines burn more fuel the higher you rev them. You don’t need to crawl along, but you also don’t need to wring the engine’s neck between every set of lights. In a manual, change up a bit sooner than you usually would. In an automatic, a lighter right foot helps it shift up earlier on its own.
6 - Use heat and demist smartly
In a petrol or diesel car, most cabin heat comes from the engine’s coolant system, so having the heater on isn’t usually what burns through fuel. Air conditioning is different; it makes the engine work harder because it runs a compressor, but it’s brilliant for clearing mist as it dries the air fast. Use it to get the windows clear, then turn it down or off once you can see properly. In an electric car, f you’ve heated seats or a heated steering wheel, use them, as they warm you straight away and you won’t be tempted to crank the blower and roast the whole cabin, which uses more battery energy.
7 - Declutter
Car boots can fill up quickly in winter. Wet sports bags, spare coats, old shopping bags, bottles of booze, Christmas presents, it all adds weight, and extra weight means the engine has to work harder every time you pull away, climb a hill, or get moving again in stop-start traffic. You mightn’t notice it day to day, but you’ll pay for it over time.
There’s another benefit to keeping your car clean: damp mats and wet gear keep moisture in the cabin, so the windows fog up more easily, and you end up running the fan and demisters harder and for longer just to keep the glass clear. Clear out the junk you don’t need and dry the mats if you can, and you’ll cut down on both the drag of extra weight and the hassle of constant misting.
8 - Remove roof racks
Roof bars, roof boxes and bike racks are great when you need them but are dead weight when you don’t. They also add drag, and drag costs fuel, especially at higher speeds. If they’re not doing a job this week, take them off. It’s one of the quickest “free” savings going.
9 - Be clever with parking
Ok, we are pushing it with this one, but every little helps, right? Fuel gets burned in car parks too by creeping along in first gear, stopping every few metres for pedestrians, then doing a few tight turns because the “perfect” space by the door was never really a good idea. That stop-start crawling is hard on fuel, and it’s even worse when the engine is cold.
The easier (and often quicker) move is to park for your exit, not your entrance. Head a bit further out where there’s space to swing in cleanly and reverse into the spot so you can drive out in one smooth move later. What’s even better is if you can nab a space on slightly higher ground, because when you come back to the car and start it cold (at its least efficient), you can roll out gently using gravity instead of sitting there manoeuvring and revving just to get moving, which puts more stress on the engine. It’s a small habit, but it saves fuss, saves fuel, and takes stress out of busy car parks, especially over Christmas.
10 - Slow down (it saves fuel, and lives)
The fastest way to burn more fuel on a winter run is to sit at the top end of the speed limit, because wind drag climbs sharply as speed rises, so even dropping your cruising speed a touch can stretch a tank further. Driving at 115km/h uses up to 15 per cent more fuel than driving at 80km/h, for example. Reducing your speed is also one of the simplest ways to keep yourself, your loved ones and other road users safe this winter.