[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":305},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-cutting-fuel-costs-same-commute":3,"blog-related-cutting-fuel-costs-same-commute":118},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"category":102,"date":103,"description":104,"draft":105,"extension":106,"meta":107,"navigation":108,"path":109,"readTime":110,"seo":111,"stem":112,"tags":113,"__hash__":117},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fcutting-fuel-costs-same-commute.md","Nine ways to cut fuel costs on the same commute","The Milesheet Team",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":88},"minimark",[10,14,19,22,26,29,33,36,40,43,47,50,54,57,61,64,68,71,75,78,82,85],[11,12,13],"p",{},"You cannot always change the journey. You can change what it costs. Roughly in order of what they return:",[15,16,18],"h2",{"id":17},"_1-ease-off-the-throttle","1. Ease off the throttle",[11,20,21],{},"Air resistance rises with the square of speed, so the last ten miles per hour are the expensive ones. Dropping from 75 to 65 on a motorway run typically saves in the region of 10 to 15% of the fuel, and costs you a couple of minutes an hour.",[15,23,25],{"id":24},"_2-anticipate-instead-of-react","2. Anticipate instead of react",[11,27,28],{},"Lifting early for a red light rather than braking late is free. Every drop of fuel you spend building speed you then throw away as heat in the brakes. This is the single biggest difference between two people driving the same route in the same car.",[15,30,32],{"id":31},"_3-check-your-tyre-pressures","3. Check your tyre pressures",[11,34,35],{},"Under-inflated tyres increase rolling resistance measurably, and most cars on the road are down a few PSI. It takes five minutes a month, helps the tyres last longer, and is a safety item anyway.",[15,37,39],{"id":38},"_4-take-the-roof-bars-off","4. Take the roof bars off",[11,41,42],{},"A roof rack or box is a serious aerodynamic penalty at motorway speed, easily 10 to 20% on a small car. If it has been on since the summer holiday, that is expensive storage.",[15,44,46],{"id":45},"_5-empty-the-boot","5. Empty the boot",[11,48,49],{},"Weight matters most in town, where you are accelerating repeatedly. The bag of sand from a job in March is not helping.",[15,51,53],{"id":52},"_6-combine-trips","6. Combine trips",[11,55,56],{},"A cold engine is dramatically less efficient for the first few miles. Three short errands from cold cost far more than one loop that does all three.",[15,58,60],{"id":59},"_7-buy-fuel-on-price-not-on-habit","7. Buy fuel on price, not on habit",[11,62,63],{},"Supermarket forecourts are usually cheaper than motorway services by a wide margin. Filling up before a long run rather than on it is often worth several pounds a tank for a two-minute detour.",[15,65,67],{"id":66},"_8-service-it-when-it-asks","8. Service it when it asks",[11,69,70],{},"A clogged air filter, tired plugs or the wrong oil grade all cost economy. Servicing is not just about avoiding failure.",[15,72,74],{"id":73},"_9-know-your-real-number","9. Know your real number",[11,76,77],{},"You cannot manage what you do not measure. Work out your actual MPG between two full tanks rather than trusting the trip computer, which is often optimistic by a few percent.",[15,79,81],{"id":80},"the-one-that-pays-for-all-the-others","The one that pays for all the others",[11,83,84],{},"If any of your driving is for work, the mileage claim is worth more than every tip above combined. At 45p a mile, 200 business miles a month is £1,080 a year of allowance, and for an efficient car that is comfortably more than the fuel it burned.",[11,86,87],{},"The catch is that unclaimed miles are worth nothing. That is the entire reason Milesheet exists: record the journey while it happens, sort it in seconds, and let the claim add itself up.",{"title":89,"searchDepth":90,"depth":90,"links":91},"",2,[92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101],{"id":17,"depth":90,"text":18},{"id":24,"depth":90,"text":25},{"id":31,"depth":90,"text":32},{"id":38,"depth":90,"text":39},{"id":45,"depth":90,"text":46},{"id":52,"depth":90,"text":53},{"id":59,"depth":90,"text":60},{"id":66,"depth":90,"text":67},{"id":73,"depth":90,"text":74},{"id":80,"depth":90,"text":81},"Fuel & running costs","2026-06-18","No new car, no lifestyle change. The habits and checks that actually move the needle, roughly in order of what they are worth.",false,"md",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fcutting-fuel-costs-same-commute",5,{"title":5,"description":104},"blog\u002Fcutting-fuel-costs-same-commute",[114,115,116],"fuel","savings","driving","YvxxTYCt61kXIjKo0kv_N5abut3mtKvZY49wlnyMaxg",[119,243],{"id":120,"title":121,"author":6,"body":122,"category":102,"date":232,"description":233,"draft":105,"extension":106,"meta":234,"navigation":108,"path":235,"readTime":236,"seo":237,"stem":238,"tags":239,"__hash__":242},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Freal-mpg-vs-official-figures.md","Real MPG: why your car never matches the brochure",{"type":8,"value":123,"toc":226},[124,127,131,139,142,146,180,184,187,199,202,207,210,213,217,220,223],[11,125,126],{},"Almost nobody gets the fuel economy printed in the brochure. That is not because the manufacturer lied, it is because the figure was never a promise about your driving.",[15,128,130],{"id":129},"where-the-number-comes-from","Where the number comes from",[11,132,133,134,138],{},"Official economy figures come from a standardised laboratory test. Since 2017 that has been ",[135,136,137],"strong",{},"WLTP",", which replaced the older and much more flattering NEDC cycle. WLTP is a great deal closer to reality than what came before, but it is still a controlled procedure: fixed temperature, a defined speed profile, no headwind, no roof box, no traffic, no you.",[11,140,141],{},"Its job is to let you compare two cars fairly. It was never designed to predict what your commute costs.",[15,143,145],{"id":144},"why-your-number-is-lower","Why your number is lower",[147,148,149,156,162,168,174],"ul",{},[150,151,152,155],"li",{},[135,153,154],{},"Short trips."," A cold engine is a thirsty engine. Two miles to the station can return half what the same car does on a motorway run.",[150,157,158,161],{},[135,159,160],{},"Speed."," Air resistance climbs with the square of speed. Seventy costs a lot more than sixty.",[150,163,164,167],{},[135,165,166],{},"Weight and drag."," Roof bars, a boot full of tools, a bike rack you left on since June.",[150,169,170,173],{},[135,171,172],{},"Winter."," Denser air, warm-up cycles, lights and heaters. A 10% seasonal swing is unremarkable.",[150,175,176,179],{},[135,177,178],{},"How you drive."," Anticipation is worth more than any gadget you can buy.",[15,181,183],{"id":182},"working-out-the-number-that-actually-matters","Working out the number that actually matters",[11,185,186],{},"You only need two things: a full tank, and the next full tank.",[188,189,190,193,196],"ol",{},[150,191,192],{},"Fill the tank completely and note the odometer.",[150,194,195],{},"Drive as you normally would.",[150,197,198],{},"Fill it completely again, note the odometer and the litres that went in.",[11,200,201],{},"Then:",[11,203,204],{},[135,205,206],{},"MPG = (miles driven ÷ litres) × 4.546",[11,208,209],{},"That 4.546 is the litres in an imperial gallon, which is what UK mpg is quoted in. Miss it and you will produce a US mpg figure that is 20% too low, which is a classic way to convince yourself something is wrong with the car.",[11,211,212],{},"One tank is a snapshot. Three or four gives you the number to plan with.",[15,214,216],{"id":215},"what-it-is-worth-knowing","What it is worth knowing",[11,218,219],{},"Real economy is what turns a distance into a cost. At 145.9p a litre, a 40-mile round trip costs about £5.80 in a car doing 52 mpg, and about £8.60 in the same journey at 35 mpg. Over a working year that difference is a holiday.",[11,221,222],{},"It also decides whether the 45p a mile you can claim is generous or barely covers the fuel. For an efficient car it comfortably covers running costs. For a thirsty one towing a trailer, it is doing well to break even.",[11,224,225],{},"Milesheet works this out for you: log each fill-up with the litres, the cost and the odometer, and it derives your real MPG between full tanks, then prices every journey with your own number instead of the brochure's.",{"title":89,"searchDepth":90,"depth":90,"links":227},[228,229,230,231],{"id":129,"depth":90,"text":130},{"id":144,"depth":90,"text":145},{"id":182,"depth":90,"text":183},{"id":215,"depth":90,"text":216},"2026-07-15","Where official economy figures come from, why the gap is normal, and how two full tanks tell you the only number that matters.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Freal-mpg-vs-official-figures",4,{"title":121,"description":233},"blog\u002Freal-mpg-vs-official-figures",[114,240,241],"mpg","running costs","w1OpjuJRDAVu8Oj8gh_qbBGnTmqtsz_2ceAykXWjugw",{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":244,"category":102,"date":103,"description":104,"draft":105,"extension":106,"meta":302,"navigation":108,"path":109,"readTime":110,"seo":303,"stem":112,"tags":304,"__hash__":117},{"type":8,"value":245,"toc":290},[246,248,250,252,254,256,258,260,262,264,266,268,270,272,274,276,278,280,282,284,286,288],[11,247,13],{},[15,249,18],{"id":17},[11,251,21],{},[15,253,25],{"id":24},[11,255,28],{},[15,257,32],{"id":31},[11,259,35],{},[15,261,39],{"id":38},[11,263,42],{},[15,265,46],{"id":45},[11,267,49],{},[15,269,53],{"id":52},[11,271,56],{},[15,273,60],{"id":59},[11,275,63],{},[15,277,67],{"id":66},[11,279,70],{},[15,281,74],{"id":73},[11,283,77],{},[15,285,81],{"id":80},[11,287,84],{},[11,289,87],{},{"title":89,"searchDepth":90,"depth":90,"links":291},[292,293,294,295,296,297,298,299,300,301],{"id":17,"depth":90,"text":18},{"id":24,"depth":90,"text":25},{"id":31,"depth":90,"text":32},{"id":38,"depth":90,"text":39},{"id":45,"depth":90,"text":46},{"id":52,"depth":90,"text":53},{"id":59,"depth":90,"text":60},{"id":66,"depth":90,"text":67},{"id":73,"depth":90,"text":74},{"id":80,"depth":90,"text":81},{},{"title":5,"description":104},[114,115,116],1787093540733]