How to avoid problems with your car by driving more efficiently

Have you heard about energy-efficient driving? The Spanish DGT (Traffic authority) offers a series of recommendations to apply this type of driving method. If you follow this guide, you will learn, among other things, how to avoid problems with your car.

However, what really is energy-efficient driving? The DGT defines this technique as a new way of driving to reduce your fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, as well as offering a safe more comfortable drive.

The main advantages of energy-efficient driving

By following the guidelines of efficient driving, this will benefit you in several ways:

• You will save on fuel, something we spend a lot on during the course of the year.

• You will reduce urban pollution and contribute to helping the quality of the air in the city.

• Efficient driving promotes road safety as you drive more carefully, this also helps the car stay out of the garage for longer periods as the different elements of the vehicle are looked after better. Remember, improper use of the car as well as bad driving habits deteriorates the vehicle.

• Driving will be more comfortable as you will feel less stressed at the wheel, energy-efficient driving will help you in the end save on vehicle maintenance.

The key to energy-efficient driving

Here are a few recommendations on efficient driving and how to avoid breakdowns:

• Start the engine without your foot on the accelerator. If you have a diesel car, try to wait a few minutes before you drive off. Why? This is the best way for the oil to reach the areas for lubrication and for the engine to suffer unnecessarily. If you have a petrol car, you do not need to do this.

• Initially only use the first gear, then use higher gears as much as you can to prevent revving the engine so that the consumption will be less.

• Avoid braking suddenly.

• Maintain a safety distance to the vehicle in front of you.

• Avoid going downhill with the car in neutral. Even with the car in gear, if you keep your foot of the accelerator, consumption is zero. In addition, it is safer to have the car properly secured with a gear.

• Turn off the engine if you are going to be stationary more than a minute, this reduces noise, consumption and contamination. 

• Only overtake when it is safe to do so and respect all traffic speed limitation signals.

If you want to implement efficient driving to prevent breakdowns in your car, we recommend that you follow these tips to ensure you make good use of your vehicle. This can easily be done by keeping to the speed limits, do not carry ou sudden manoeuvres or brake sharply and do not rev your car more than is necessary: always choose long gears.