Despite any impression to the contrary you may have gained, I am a leaden-footed, hyperactive, high-octane fuelled, petrol-headed speedfreak.
I do, I’ll admit, think that those who dawdle along the roads constitute a risk almost as large to the rest of the road-using community as the 17-25 age group of male motorists do.
But no, I’m not a speed-junkie.
My daily commute to Wiltshire takes me down the local mostly-dual-carriageway ‘A’ road for a few miles and then on to the M5 for a while.
When I leave the M5 I use a couple of other dual-carriageway ‘A’ roads.
And I don’t hammer it.
In fact I’m very restrained – I average 60mph for the whole trip but, if I’m honest, I like to keep the speedometer at the 56mph mark; it’s the most fuel-efficient speed for my car.
So I’ve begun plotting my miles and fuel used to calculate cost per mile and miles per gallon.
And it’s interesting reading.
Look, have I ever done anything to give you the impression that I’m not nerdy?
Anyway,
Over the last three refuels I find I’m averaging 41.55mpg, at a £/mile cost of £0.10p…
Which really isn’t bad at all!
There’s a notice up at work from someone with an LPG-converted Rover for sale…
If I had the dosh he’s asking for it I’d probably snatch his hand off; the prospect of reducing my fuel purchase price down from £0.92/lit to £0.41/lit whilst increasing the range of a gallon beyond 45mpg is very attractive.
But the bottom line here for me is…
Keep driving consistently; don’t hammer the speedo; avoid over-rapid acceleration.
I’m aiming to better the performance indicators I’ve collected so far.
B.
You should really divide your Insurance & Road tax by your mileage as well as your fuel costs to get a better idea of cost per mile.
I do know a couple that have done the maths (Math for our Colonial Cousins) & got rid of their car. Using public transport to commute to work (Lucky to live on bus route etc.) If they need to go any distance to visit relatives, say. They hire a car for the weekend.
If you had a GPS unit you could probably collect the trip data automatically & download it to your ‘puter. Then analyse the data intensively. A bit like the telemetry data in F1
Hiya,
I will be adding insurance and road tax retrospectively but attributing them retospectively over an annual collection of mileage/fuelage figures.
Public transport isn’t an option, here’s just one example (but I have a dozen):
Bromsgrove to Sale, Cheshire for a start in a client’s office at 08.30. Can’t be done. Our brilliant public transport system can’t even get me to Manchester for 08.30.
And I won’t have GPS – as an Advanced Motorist (cars and well as bikes) – I’m stunned that we allow drivers to watch a moving display while operating a vehicle.
That’s got to be bonkers logic.
I understand Public transport isn’t appropriate for all areas. I know this well from being brought up in which there were two buses a day. One to big town in the morning, one back from big town in the evening (neither any use for commuting to work)
I wasn’t thinking about using it for navigation, just for tracking yourself & recording speed, distance etc.
*…brought up in a village…*