With the cost of living crisis hitting hard and petrol prices at a record high, making small changes to our everyday lives including the way we drive can add up and lead to significant savings! Although you might not feel this is important when you are taking driving lessons, getting into good habits with your driving style now will help you when you have passed your test and have your own car.

Below are some of our top tips to help you save :

  1. Look around locally for the best petrol prices, but don’t go too far out of your way to fill up at a cheaper station. Supermarkets are often cheaper than the well-known brands, try and avoid expensive motorway service stations and fill up locally before you travel.
  2. If you fill up regularly at the same filling station signup for any loyalty schemes if they have them. For supermarket petrol stations the points you accumulate can give you discounts on your shopping.
  3. A regularly maintained car will run more efficiently.
  4. Unless you drive a high-performance or imported car that specifically requires premium or super unleaded avoid the premium pumps. There is no harm in using these fuels, but they typically cost more per litre than normal unleaded and there is usually no benefit.
  5. Speed and driving style does affect fuel consumption, drive smoothly, accelerate gently and avoid unnecessary or sharp braking. Try to maintain a steady speed, the faster you travel the more fuel your car consumes. Pay careful attention to when you need to change gear, if you have a gear-shift indicator the car will tell you when is the most economical point.
  6. Regularly check tyre pressures, underinflated tyres develop more resistance and your engine will need to work harder, increasing fuel consumption as well as causing the tyres to wear prematurely and possibly unevenly. It is also a safety issue as underinflated tyres affect your braking performance.
  7. Driving in hot weather can be uncomfortable, at lower speeds it is more economical to open the car windows, at higher speeds use air-con.
  8. Remove all unnecessary items from your car, especially things like roof boxes or racks and bicycle carriers, don’t forget to check the boot.
  9. When your car is icy use a scraper instead of leaving the car running and relying on the car’s heating.
  10. When they are not needed turn off the headlights and demisters.