Copeland's Phenomenon

Category: Driving

  • Petrol vs Diesel – Which Engine is Best?

    Petrol vs Diesel – Which Engine is Best?

    Choosing between a petrol or a diesel-powered car is one of the first things you need to think about when buying a new car. What is going to be the best for how you drive, for the environment and your wallet? Is getting a service on a petrol engine going to be much different to a diesel engine service? Because of this, I am going to give you some tips to help you decide between a petrol or diesel engine for your new car.

    Assessing your motoring needs

    From a financial angle, there is now less and less difference between petrol and diesel cars. It is still true that if you look at pure fuel running costs, a diesel will cost less. You will have to have high annual mileages and use motorways frequently to see the financial benefits.

    This is because newer diesel vehicles now have higher tax, which can cost almost as much as the fuel savings you could make in a year, and there are worries over air pollution that can be caused by diesels. Checking out car tax prices can help you understand if potential car purchases are affected by tax prices.

    It is also true that a diesel vehicle will typically cost more than the equivalent petrol car. Diesel fuel also costs more than petrol. So you will need to work out if this saving in fuel consumption will offset the extra expense of a diesel car and its running costs. For example, if you drive a diesel car more than 12,000 miles in a year, you could recoup a thousand dollars in a couple of years.

    But if your mileage is around 6,000 miles a year it could take up to around four years to see the same kind of financial benefit. With the new rules surrounding tax on diesel cars, and some cities due to increasing the penalties for diesel, resell values of diesels will probably be a bit lower, especially if you decide to change your car within the next 5 years.

    That means that if most of your journeys are local and your mileage is small, a small petrol car might make more financial sense. Especially if you are the kind of person who likes to drive a car until it dies. Also, keep in mind that newer types of diesel have a special filter fitted to help prevent pollution. It is called a diesel particulate filter or DPF. These can clog if the vehicle is not regularly used on a motorway and is costly to fix or replace. That said, you might be able to find some cheap car parts online uk or U.S if your DPF does need changing.
    In conclusion, if you do not use motorways regularly, a diesel might not be for you.

    Petrol Engines

    Pros of Petrol

    • Financially: petrol is cheaper than diesel fuel and the cars tend to be slightly cheaper to buy and service. This is because there are generally more petrol cars on the road, so it is easier to source parts for repairs and maintenance aiding to keep the prices down.
    • Environmental: While CO2 emissions are higher than diesel, petrol cars produce less dangerous emissions that are not CO2 bases, like nitrogen for instance.
    • Driving experience: Petrol engines are usually less noisy than their diesel counterparts.

    Cons of Petrol

    • Financial: Petrol engines are less efficient and use more fuel than diesel, especially at higher speeds on motorways.
    • Environmental: Petrol engines emit more CO2 than diesel cars.
    • Driving experience: Petrol engines need the driver to change gear more regularly, for example when overtaking, to make sure the engine has enough power to quickly and safely overtake. But this is a matter of personal taste, some prefer it.

    Diesel Engines

    Pros of Diesel

    • Financially: diesel engines are more efficient and use up to 20% less fuel suggesting cheaper running costs. The cars typically tend to have a slightly higher resale value as well, but this has been changing as of late.
    • Environment: lower CO2 emissions mean that diesel cars from before April 2017 gets a lower tax band than petrol engine cars and this could be determined based on the mileage of the vehicle (head to https://mileiq.com/blog-en-us/mileage-deduction to learn about mileage tax deduction). For newer diesel cars though, tax is typically higher than for petrol.
    • Driving experience: diesel cars offer more low-speed torque which means they have better overtaking power and fair better with towing-related tasks.

    Cons of Diesel

    • Financial: diesel cars usually cost more than petrol. Diesel fuel is more expensive than petrol and servicing or fixing a big issue in a diesel car can be a bit more expensive. New diesel cars also cost more to tax than petrol cars, and depreciation is now a little higher. There are several new charges, such as the London T-Charge and Ultra Low Emissions Zone, that will make it more expensive if you plan on driving in those areas.
    • Environmental: despite lower CO2 emissions, diesel fuel produces tiny particles linked to breathing disorders such as asthma.
    • Driving experience: diesel engines tend to be slightly noisier, but with newer models this issue is addressed.

    Conclusion

    To conclude, the choice comes down to what kind of journeys you will be regularly doing. If you are only doing short trips to the shop or supermarket, then a petrol engine makes perfect sense. On the other hand, if you are driving on motorways the whole time you will see savings with a diesel car.

  • How to Get the Best Fuel Economy Out of Your Car

    How to Get the Best Fuel Economy Out of Your Car

    Your driving style will make a big difference to your fuel economy. Even when fuel prices are low, you can still save a bunch of money by making a few adjustments to your driving style and habits. Therefore, I am going to share with you some of tips to keep in mind when you are out on the road. Just implementing a couple of these could lead to less money spent on fuel.

    So how do you Cut Fuel Costs?

    Reduce your speed. There has been plenty of studies done that show that slowing down can save you a lot of money. The biggest savings can be found on the motorway because higher speeds usually require more fuel. Some of these studies measured fuel mileage while driving at a steady 55, 65 and 75 mph in a Honda Accord, three versions of a Ford Fusion, which included a hybrid and a Toyota RAV4. The drop in fuel economy while speeding up from 55 to 65 was around 5 to 8 mpg. Increasing the speed to 75 reduced fuel efficiency by an additional 5 to 8 mpg.

    Overall, speeding up from 55 mpg to 75 is like moving from a small car to a large SUV. Beyond fuel issues, going too fast is a safety risk. Avoid hard acceleration and braking whenever possible. In commonly found studies, frequent bursts of acceleration and braking reduced an old Toyota Camry’s mileage by 2 to 3 mpg. Once up to speed on the motorway, try to keep a consistent speed.

    What is the Impact of Carrying Stuff on the Roof?

    At motorway speeds, more than around 50 percent of your engine power goes to overcoming aerodynamic drag. Do not add to that by carrying stuff you do not need on the roof. Studies have documented fuel economy tests on the motorway with a Nissan Altima and a Toyota RAV4 with a roof rack, tail-hitch rack, and a roof-top box.

    Hauling two mountain bikes on the roof had the biggest influence. The Altima lost around 13 mpg, going from 46 mpg down to just 33. The RAV4 lost around 7 mpg, dropping to 32 mpg from 39 mpg. There is even a loss when driving with the empty roof rack installed. The Altima dropped 5 mpg while the Toyota lost 2 mpg.

    The Nissan lost 12 mpg with the bikes on the hitch-mounted rack, while the RAV4 lost only 5 mpg. The bikes stuck out to the sides of the sedan, which created more drag. They were mostly hidden behind the wider, boxier RAV4’s body.

    The roof-top box resulted in a 9 mpg decrease for the Altima, and a 5 mpg drop for the RAV4. Overall, the aerodynamic drag does not hurt the boxier RAV4 as much as the sleeper Altima, so the study found. Going across town, this might not be an issue. But on a cross-country drive on a day out with the family, with a carrier or rack on the roof will affect fuel costs and you will have to deal with that annoying wind sound in your ear.

    AC or Open Windows?

    The harder the AC system has to push itself, the worse the impact on fuel economy. When I looked at studies that measured the fuel-economy difference in a 2008 Ford, Honda Accord, and Subaru Forester, we found that fuel use with the AC on went up, correlating with higher outside temperatures.

    At 55 F, there was not any huge difference. But when the study’s researchers measured again on days when the temperature was in the low 70s and high 80s, they got fewer miles per gallon with the AC on.

    So in general, you can expect a drop from 1 to 4 mpg with the AC on. The effect of opening the windows at 65 mph was not measurable by researchers in this study. In any case, the AC helps dehumidify the cabin, which can contribute to keeping the driving focused and in control. I would think that is a good trade off.

    Ultimately, fuel economy is important. The last thing any of us want to do is spend more money than we have to on fuel. Consistent driving at lower speeds will yield better fuel economy, alongside driving without anything strapped to the top of your car to create unnecessary drag. Your air conditioner will also reduce your fuel economy but on hot days it is totally worth it to keep you alert and safe as a driver.