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If you are one of those that decided to take a family holiday in the UK as the long range forecast predicted a ‘BBQ summer’ you are probably now wishing that you had actually spent less and flown off to one of the Costas. No, I’m not laughing! However, don’t make matters worse by leaving the roof rack attached to the car as this can cause drag and will cost you around 5% more in fuel consumption. And if you are Read more »

The American version of our scrappage scheme, called over the pond, ‘cash for clunkers’ proved so popular that they ran out of cash within a week and have just had a second tranche of money approved. According to the New York Times the first $1 billion was used up in the first week and a further $2 billion has just been approved. I covered their scheme a few weeks ago, which offers a much greater incentive to consumers looking to replace their gas guzzling clunker with a slightly Read more »

CO2 emissions have dropped on average by 20g/km over the past 6 years and yet, according to ALD Automotive the average power output has remained more or less the same. Average power has actually increased from 126ps to 130ps whilst engine sizes have reduced from 1915cc to 1787cc. So good news for the environmentalists as well as those that like a bit of get up and go under their right welly. Miles travelled are significantly down, very few of my contracts are for more than 10,000 miles per annum and even the big fleets have seen average mileage reduce from an average of 22,475 in 2003 to 17,860 in 2009 according to ALD. This is set to drop further as a result of reduced working and cost cutting. By Graham Hill

Shell has announced the launch of a new engine oil which it claims reduces fuel consumption by up to 2.2% per annum. The oil, called Helix Ultra E, is a synthetic low viscosity motor oil aimed at reducing friction more effectively than conventional mineral oils. Shell also claims that it can cut a car’s carbon emissions by up to 72kg of CO2 per annum. By Graham Hill

I have received a couple of words of warning about topping your oil up. The first is probably fairly obvious, make sure that the car is on flat ground when you check it. It may seem obvious but in cars where electronic sensors are fitted drivers often forget that when the level is checked the car still needs to be on flat ground. But the lesser known piece of advice is not to overfill the engine with oil. This is especially important with diesels as the oil can find its way into the exhaust and damage the particulate filter which can be very expensive to replace and would not be covered by the warranty. By Graham Hill

Considering the latest announcements relating to electric car production and the government emphasising its efforts to support electric cars by increasing incentives it was a bit of a surprise to hear Bosch announce that petrol and diesel cars will be by far the most dominant vehicles for the next 20 years. They went on to explain that this would be due to planned improvements that are due to take place in the internal combustion engine and as a result of an insufficient understanding of technology which has led to unrealistic forecasts about electric vehicles. Dr Bernd Bohr, chairman of Bosch Automotive group, predicted that Read more »

I read some daft things when researching the content of this weekly newsletter, the latest is the talking Mini that is to be launched by BMW. To celebrate its 50^th birthday BMW is using Smart technology to allow a special version of the Mini to say ‘Hello’, ‘Goodbye’ and ‘See you soon’ as well as offer a range of tips to make your driving safer and more economical. I understand that the car, which will be called the Camden, will suggest to the driver when it detects high speed ‘Take it easy and we’ll save fuel at the same time.’ Have you ever heard Read more »

If you are a business you need to be aware of the tax changes coming into force in April. I have been through this before but as we are now nearly there let me refresh your memory: 

• Cars with CO2 emissions of more than 160g/km will be written down at 10% on a reducing balance basis. Read more »

Hopefully as we move into spring we will see some warmer weather but following one of the coldest winters for years many local authorities now have the job of sorting out the damaged roads left behind. The increase in potholes has resulted in an increase of 13% in pothole related axle and suspension damage. Insurer Warranty Direct suggested that the repairs may be slow to fix with some roads being left as there is Read more »

Fuel prices seem to have settled for a while but concerns have been raised about the differential between petrol and diesel. In November 2007 the difference was 2.6 pence per litre. When the cost of a barrel of oil increased to $147 in July 2008 the price differential increased to 14 pence per litre. Whilst oil prices have dropped back to less than $50 per barrel the differential between the two fuels is still at 3 times the Read more »