Money. Makes the world go round. Talks. Is easily separated from a fool. Unfortunately, that fool seems to be, well, us. All of us. All of us who drive at any rate. According to surveys from Ford and Michelin, we are apparently wasting as much as €1,000 every year on fuel just because we're not paying attention to small things. And when it comes to money, the small things really add up.
Let's start with the Ford survey, which showed that Irish drivers are wasting as much as €994 a year in unnecessary fuel costs; and it could be trimmed by paying attention to just four simple tricks. According to Ford, those are taking down the roof-top cargo box (when it's not in use), which saves around 20 per cent of your fuel burn; shopping around for fuel (which can save as much as seven per cent on the purchase price); checking and optimising tyres pressures (more on which in a moment); and removing excess weight from inside the car.
The survey of 5,700 drivers Europe-wide showed that 30 per cent of drivers never take down their roof box, 18 per cent never shop around, 17 per cent always leave excess items in the car and a whopping 76 per cent never even bother to check their tyres pressures.
The poll also revealed further opportunities to cut fuel consumption - 71 per cent of drivers admit breaking speed limits, 42 per cent never choose the most economical route, 39 per cent drive aggressively and 14 per cent leave the air conditioning on all the time.
"We ensure that every Ford vehicle offers the greatest potential for cost-efficient motoring through developing innovations such as the small yet powerful 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine," said Wulf-Peter Schmidt, Director of Sustainability, Ford of Europe. "At the same time, there is also much the driver can do to save money on fuel - from adjusting driving style to reducing unnecessary load in the boot."
The survey revealed that Italian drivers are the most likely to leave unnecessary items in their car (23 per cent), and the most likely to leave roof storage equipment in place (43 per cent). Less than half said they would ever choose the most economical route (49 per cent).
German drivers are the most likely to speed (89 per cent) and drive aggressively (57 per cent). French drivers are the least likely to make a monthly tyre pressure check (18 per cent). Spanish drivers are most likely to always leave the air conditioning system on (19 per cent), while more than a quarter of UK drivers never shop around for fuel (26 per cent).
The survey also revealed that after filling up 45 per cent of people also add to their spending at the pumps by impulse buying other items. German drivers were the most likely to buy something additional (63 per cent), while Italian men were the most likely also to buy a coffee (28 per cent) and UK women the most likely also to buy a bar of chocolate (19 per cent).
Anything else?
Now, to the tyres. Ford's survey reckoned that you could save around four per cent of your fuel costs by making sure that your tyres are at the correct pressure, but according to a parallel survey by Michelin, that figure could be drastically higher - as much as ten per cent of that €1,000 total.
Because an averagely under-inflated tyre uses roughly three per cent more fuel to force its way along the road, a driver could be wasting up to €100 a year or more all for the sake of keeping their tyres pumped up.
Ideally, Michelin recommends that drivers check their tyre pressure every month, and before each long journey.
Last year, research carried out by them found that 47 per cent of UK drivers didn't know the correct tyre pressure for their car while a huge 60 per cent relied on a partner or mechanic to check the pressure.