8 Driving on a Slope
Hold speed at the start of the slope:
Throttle up to full load gradually.
Don’t change gear if your vehicle
“holds its speed”.
Do not be afraid to let the engine
rpm pull back on a gradient. When
you are pulling a long gradient, be
patient.
Letting the engine rpm pull back on
gradients will not hurt your engine.
9 Use the Energy
Let the mass work for you and make
the most of momentum.
When no throttle is given, drive in
the highest gear (low internal resis-
tance). Look further ahead; avoid
unnecessary braking; drive consis-
tently.
Let momentum of your vehicle work
for you to save fuel.
Coasting in gear allows all the fuel
1.1.7 Getting the Most
Out of Your Vehicle
to return to the tank.
Kick out the cruise control about a
couple miles before you exit, stay in
gear as long as possible, and watch
how far you can coast for free.
Do not overload the vehicle with
energy.
Release throttle in good time
(weight of your vehicle represents
a lot of energy when it moves)
When throttle is released your con-
sumption is ZERO.
Do not build up too much speed
and then correct it.
The Whole Makes the Difference
An efcient driveline alone does not
guarantee the best return on fuel in
everyday use. It is the total of dif-
ferent factors, like the overall con-
guration of the vehicle, the main-
tenance condition and the driving
style that are decisive for the fuel
efciency.
In general less weight means more
payload or less fuel. If aluminum
wheels are tted, the gain also in-
cludes better looks of the vehicle
and lower maintenance costs.
Rules of thumb
Remember! Max. tractive force is
dened between certain rpm range
for your engine in which optimum
fuel economy is reached. Tractive
force at lower rpm limit of this
range is the same as the highest
limit of this range, resulting in high
driving comfort at low revs.
0.6 mph (1 km/h) faster = 1 % high-
er fuel consumption:
• Driving at 85 instead of 80: +5 %
• Driving at 90 instead of 85: +5 %
Additional energy consumers have
an impact as well:
• Air conditioning: 2 %
• Extra Lights on: 1 % - 3 %
Driving Performance
3 basic rules to drive with optimum
fuel economy:
• Use as little energy as possible to
get the vehicle up to speed.
• Appropriate revs.
• Appropriate gears.
Rate the energy required
Do I really need to accelerate that
much in this situation?
Use the vehicle speed.
Weight of your vehicle represents
a lot of energy when it move, use
that energy.
Summary
Anticipate:
• Release throttle in good time.
• Prevent unnecessary braking.
• Drive no faster than is necessary
at a given time.
SAVE THE
ENVIRONMENT
Lowering the fuel
consumption will reduce the
exhaust emissions and will pro-
tect the environment.
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