How Your Driving Habits Are Affecting Your Car's Fuel Efficiency

Another way to save fuel is well, buying hybrid or electric cars and we've provided a list of those too.

But at the end of the day those prove to be a little heavy on the pocket and this is where driving habits come into play. In India, it's the traffic on the roads that dictate the driving habits of the person behind the wheel and the frustration of sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic makes one forget the basics and this leads to wastage of fuel. You might think this is just a blanketed statement, but we do have some statistics that we want to let you on, which might make you understand that 'the way you drive' can help build on fuel economy of the car.

We have to thank Ford for doing this survey which puts things into perspective for us. While there are those who claim that they know what they're doing (95 per cent according to the survey) there are a few major things that they didn't account for. The survey covered 9,500 drivers across 11 markets in the Asia Pacific region and 1023 were from India. The results of this survey show how drivers essentially think.

About 40 percent of Indian drivers did not know that harsh accelerating and braking negatively affect their car's fuel consumption, so yes, pedal to the metal does not help. The next one came to us as a surprise and we're glad that only a small portion of the crowd thinks in this manner. 26 per cent people believed that keeping the engine running while idling will save more fuel. We think that there are not only ads but school children who have been advocating switching off the engine at a traffic signal and it's time that thought about the harmful effects it has on the environment as also the cars.

A major feature in the car that helps in fuel efficiency is the cruise control and this survey in fact found out that 78 per cent of the individuals were unaware of this fact. We agree that it doesn't come in handy when driving within city limits but clearly out on the highway, it's definitely a boon. So, technology makes things better, doesn't it? Another such feature is a handy one - Navigation. We've seen big ads on hoardings by Google suggesting that we look before we leap and that comes in handy. Checking the traffic on the route at that given time is now easily possible thanks to GPS and many of us know but it's only 27 per cent people who put it to use and that's a grim figure. The traffic conditions are only going to worsen, so it is advisable to do what you can to avoid the peak traffic hours.

Weather conditions too play an important role in helping you achieve fuel efficiency. Many respondents were unaware that cold weather (73 percent) and hot weather (64 percent) affect a vehicle's fuel efficiency. Cold weather can reduce your fuel economy significantly as it takes longer for your engine to reach its most efficient temperature. In warmer weather, pay attention to when you should use the car's air-conditioner. The higher the speed, the more wind resistance affects mileage. At highway speeds you're better off using the air-conditioner, but at lower speeds drive with your windows down.

Besides that keeping your car clutter free and regular servicing also helps you get the best of your car and there were quite a few people who didn't know that. It's true that we want fuel efficient cars but while the machinery does its bits to help you achieve that figure, you have to take the efforts too to help in improving the performance of the car.