It was a Holden Barina which was actually a re badged Suzuki swift. This car was running on petrol and was costing us about AU$40-50 a week in fuel costs.We ended up going to a ford falcon with a 4.1 liter in line 6 more then double the capacity of the Barina with an auto gearbox instead of a manual and we are not spending anymore in fuel costs.
Our usage is about $40-50 a week and if we do a bit of extra open road driving we actually get around an extra 50-60 km compared to the barina, this is because the 4 speed 6 cylinder is in its element cruising along the highway at 100 km h.So what have we done to get this, what secret system have we used ? Well not much really.
Driving style comes in to it, we have started backing off the pedal a bit and not driving so aggressively.
Then we got an after Market cruise control system and I fitted it to the falcon, this makes a huge difference on open roads like we get out in the Australian country areas. The motor is running at a more steady RPM and this uses less fuel then being on and off the accelerator all the time.
And finally the bit that makes the falcon cleaner for the environment and is the reason we are spending the same per week. It isn't that the big car is using the same or less in fuel the the Barina In fact in uses more fuel in liters it is just that the petrol (gasoline) has been replaced with LPG (Propane) This is a cleaner burning fuel then petrol, still not as clean as hydrogen but at least I am doing something, and the price for LPG is less then half that of the petrol.
No secrets just common sense using exsisting technology until the funky stuff is ready like electric (Hmm maybe an eletric falcon wagon)
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