With fuel prices in South Africa reaching a new high of over R21 per litre for petrol, fuel-saving technologies are now more critical than ever.
The good news is that more vehicles are being released each year with features and technologies that can help to reduce your fuel consumption.
Below, we list the fuel-saving features to keep an eye out for when buying your next car.
Stop/Start
Stop/Start systems work by cutting the engine whenever you stop the car – and restarting it when taking your foot off the brake.
The amount of fuel that this feature saves is therefore highly dependent on the type of driving you are doing.
It’s primarily designed for city driving, where you can expect a lot of stops at traffic lights, at intersections, and in heavy congestion.
If you are consistently finding yourself in heavy traffic as part of your commute, then this feature should help to save you a decent amount of fuel.
Cruise Control
Cruise control has been around for years, and it’s a valuable feature for a few reasons.
When activated, cruise control works by automatically accelerating or braking the car to maintain the speed you have set.
This is useful, as it can alleviate the need for constant acceleration or braking inputs from the driver – which helps maintain a more consistent speed throughout a journey.
An additional benefit of cruise control is that it can help reduce fuel consumption.
By maintaining a consistent speed, cruise control helps to cut down on unnecessary acceleration and, therefore, unnecessary fuel usage.
More recently, cars started featuring a more advanced version of this, called adaptive cruise control.
In addition to maintaining a constant speed, the system uses a radar or camera to help keep a safe following distance to the car in front of you.
Turbochargers
While petrolheads may lament the decrease in engine sizes seen across the industry, the upside of this is that smaller engines typically use less fuel.
To negate the drop in power downsizing an engine creates, the use of turbochargers has become very popular among automakers.
Turbos work by forcing compressed air into an engine’s combustion chamber, leading to improved performance comparable to larger, non-turbocharged vehicles.
What this ultimately translates to is better fuel efficiency, as you are getting better performance out of a smaller engine.
Cylinder deactivation
For larger engines, cylinder deactivation can help to mitigate fuel usage.
In an engine like a V8, all eight cylinders would usually be firing at all times – even when the car is not accelerating.
By deactivating some of the cylinders when they are not needed, such as when the car is cruising at a constant speed, the amount of fuel being burned is lowered, helping to increase efficiency.
Eco mode
Eco mode is designed to help reduce fuel consumption by prioritizing efficiency over performance.
When activated, Eco mode will modify the transmission to access higher gear ratios sooner and keep you out of first gear when not necessary.
This helps put less strain on the engine, which in turn reduces fuel consumption and helps lower emissions.
Other Eco mode features vary between brands, but can include reduced throttle response, reduced heater and air conditioning output, and even the stop/start functionality.
While the improvements to fuel economy are noticeable, it can make the car’s performance feel sluggish compared to its normal driving mode.
Keyword: Petrol is now R21 a litre – Here are 5 car features that can help you save money