Bosch Car Service – Fuel saving guide

Unnecessary load on-board - what needs to be taken along?

Empty beverage crates, wastepaper or unnecessary objects in the luggage compartment - this can quickly add up to a couple of pounds that you carry around the area every time you drive and lead to significantly increased fuel consumption. Therefore, ask yourself before every ride: What should you really take along? Because as a rule of thumb: Just 100 kg additional weight can cause up to 0.3 liters additional fuel consumption per 100 kilometers. Roof boxes, bicycle or ski racks that significantly increase the drag of your vehicle weigh even more. Thus, even an empty roof trunk may increase the fuel consumption by up to 20 percent.

Remove unneeded attachments soon after their use.

What should you look out for in the tires?

Tires play a key role in fuel consumption. This starts with the selection: The higher the rolling resistance, the more fuel is consumed. Therefore, inform yourself about the features of your tires when buying. Once mounted, it is mainly about the correct air pressure. This is because fuel consumption increases by 1 percent when the tire pressure is lower than the ideal value by only 0.2 bar. In contrast, fuel can be saved by a moderately elevated pressure value. Therefore, you can be assured of always using the tire pressure recommended by the manufacturer for a full load of your car with minimal loss of comfort even if you should be driving alone and without baggage.

Check the tire pressure every alternate refueling and adjust it, if necessary.

Which engine oil helps you save fuel?

Note the following points: Always pay attention to the manufacturer's recommendation for your car, which can be found in your vehicle's operating manual. However, the use of special high-lubricity oils has quite a positive effect on fuel consumption. They are fully synthetic engine oils that have a lower viscosity. This results in an improved distribution of the lubricant in the engine that helps save on fuel and can be noticed on short routes. Although high-lubricity oils are a bit more expensive than conventional mineral oils, they allow fuel saving of around 5 percent - and the environment will thank you too. You can recognize high-lubricity oils by the 0 in front of the W (e.g. 0W-30) in the label. Good to know: Most new cars come factory-fitted with high-lubricity oils.

Even your Bosch Car Service has a number of high-lubricity oils on offer and will be glad to advise you that it is ideally suited for your car engine.

Which fuel should you refuel?

In recent years, whole range of fuels are being offered at the gas station. But which is the right fuel for your car? In many countries, a higher ethanol proportion (e.g. E10 with 10 percent ethanol) is now added to fuels for petrol engines. When refueling, you must pay attention to approval by the vehicle manufacturer. These fuels are usually a little cheaper, but lead to slight increase in fuel consumption at the same time. Thus, the actual price advantage is usually canceled out. The converse holds true for the increasingly offered "premium fuels" for diesel or petrol: Although these provide a consumption advantage in low single-digit percentage range, they cost significantly higher in some cases.

How can the lambda probe and technical aids help in effectively saving fuel?

Modern engines are made of a variety of technical components. These include, among others, the lambda probe: This ensures reliable engine operation and thus, low fuel consumption, reduced emissions and correct emission values. However, with increasing wear, it cannot always perform these tasks properly and should be replaced. Thus, the fuel consumption can be reduced by up to 15 percent, e.g. with a new lambda probe from Bosch.

How does air conditioner and other comfort features affect the fuel consumption?

Modern cars come with various features designed to increase driving comfort. However, both the air conditioner as well as seat and pre-heaters and other extra features consume a lot of additional energy, thus increasing fuel consumption. Depending on the vehicle model or external or desired interior temperature, the operation of an air conditioner leads to increased consumption of up to 2 liters per 100 km. Thus, use these and other loads moderately and only when they are really needed.

A dirty compartment filter will cause the air conditioner of your car to no longer work optimally. In addition, it requires considerably more energy to achieve the desired performance. The experts at Bosch Car Service would be glad to tell you when it would be advisable to replace the compartment of your vehicle and replace it for you on request.

How can you cut fuel consumption by your driving style?

Even with the simplest means you can save a lot of fuel and control the actual fuel consumption of your vehicle at the end by yourself. Here are some tips: When accelerating shift, for example, to the next higher gear as quickly as possible. Use the first gear only for starting and shift to the second soon as you reach 20 km/h, to the third at 30, and so on. Nowadays, shifting to the fifth gear at 50 km/h is hardly any problem for modern engines. In vehicles with automatic transmission, you should avoid unnecessary kick-downs and hardly or not use any existing sport modes at all. Perhaps the most important tip to save fuel: Always drive your car with foresight and always keep the road traffic in view. Moreover, always pay attention to a sufficient distance to the vehicle ahead, so that you need not constantly apply the brakes and then re-accelerate every time - only wastes fuel and annoys you.

Other useful tips for a fuel-saving driving style:

• Allow to roll down: As you approach, for example a red traffic light, only withdraw the foot off the accelerator and do not release the clutch. Thanks to the overrun fuel cut-off you do not consume a single additional drop of fuel.

• Simply switch off: If your car still does not have a start-stop system, simply turn off the engine during long red phases at traffic lights or longer waiting times at grade crossings. It's worth it for a waiting time of more than 20 seconds, and saves a lot of fuel.

• Avoid short trips: If you are constantly on short trips with your car, you not only cause increased wear of your vehicle, but also significantly increase the fuel consumption.

• Highly recommended: Bring your car to the operating temperature as quickly as possible. This works the fastest by avoiding engine "warming up" that is completely unnecessary now, and drive off immediately.