Get more out of every drive
Regular maintenance and smart driving habits can make a big difference to your vehicle’s fuel efficiency, safety, and lifespan. Discover how small changes, like checking tyre pressure and lightening your vehicle’s load, can help you save fuel and money.
Smooth running every day
Regular maintenance will help your vehicle last longer, as well as use fuel more efficiently to save you money.
- Get your vehicle serviced regularly — Have oil and air filters changed when they’re due and keep your engine tuned.
- Ask for eco tyres — Tyres with a lower rolling resistance can improve fuel use by up to 7.5%.*
- Check tyre pressure every month — Low tyre pressure increases fuel use and can speed up wear and tear on tyres.
- Have your wheels aligned — Proper wheel alignment helps to avoid rapid and uneven wear on your tyres.
- Look at tyre tread depth — Bulges, lumps or cuts are signs that a tyre may need replacing. Although 1.5 mm is the legal minimum tread depth, the grip of tyres in wet conditions reduces more rapidly once tread is below 3 mm.
- Don’t forget trailer tyres — These are often poorly maintained or under-inflated, but significantly affect fuel usage. Check them as often as other vehicle tyres.
A well-maintained car can use 10–20% less fuel than a poorly maintained one.
Get your tyre pressure right
All tyres gradually lose air. Many newer vehicles have a monitor that alerts you when the tyre pressure falls below a certain level.
If yours doesn’t have this feature, then check the pressure every month to make your tyres last longer. Your vehicle will handle better and be safer.
- Find your vehicle's correct tyre pressure — It's usually on a label inside the driver's door, the fuel flap, or in your vehicle handbook.
- Check pressure when your tyres are cold — Either after the car has been parked for at least 3 hours or driven less than 2 km at low speed.
- It's easy at a service station — Most have a pump with a built-in gauge. Enter the correct pressure into the air pump and keep the tyre gauge pressed into the valve system until the air pump beeps.
- Check all your tyres — Don't forget the spare.
- Add extra air if you're towing or carrying a full load — Check your vehicle handbook, or as a rule of thumb add 4 psi (28 kpa or 0.28 bar) to the recommended pressure.
How fuel efficient is your vehicle?
Find out, along with the safety rating and more, by entering your number plate on the Rightcar website.
Drive smarter to save fuel
The way you drive has an impact on your fuel usage and the general wear and tear on your vehicle. And of course ― safe driving is better for everyone.
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Stick to the speed limit — Or even a bit below. If safe to do so, reducing your speed from 100 km/h to 80 km/h can lower your fuel use by about 15%.**
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Anticipate slowing by looking ahead — Take your foot off the accelerator and let the car slow down gently, rather than braking hard.
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Save the air conditioning for the motorway — Using air con can increase fuel use by 10%.*** Instead, open windows and use the fan when driving 50 km/h or below.
- Take out what you don’t need — Remove unnecessary items from the vehicle, including roof racks/boxes and cycle racks if you're not using them.
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