Today sees Alastair Darling, the bearer of bad economic news, releasing his pre-election budget, and things are definitely not looking up for motorists.  As if the current extortionate fuel prices aren’t bad enough, motorists will also be facing a rise in fuel duty as of next month.  With all this bad news about fuel prices, how can we stop our petrol costs from breaking the bank?  Well, here at adflyer, we’ve been scratching our heads and scouring the web to come up with a few dos and don’ts to help you get the most out of your fuel tank…

Do service your car regularly and keep it in top mechanical order.  You should also make sure your tyres are in good condition, and check the pressure at least once a fortnight.

Do watch your speed.  Contrary to popular belief, driving at a higher speed doesn’t mean better fuel efficiency.  In fact, driving at 80mph on the motorway uses 10-20% more fuel than driving at 70mph, whilst driving at 70mph uses 20-30% more fuel than going at 50mph.  So, make sure you stick to the speed limit and leave a bit of extra time for your journey to save having to go at top speeds.

Don’t speed and brake constantly: take a lesson from van drivers and keep your speed steady.  You can waste up to 60% of your fuel by making too many sudden starts and stops, so try to read the road and be aware of what’s going on around you.  This way, you’ll be able to anticipate what’s coming up and slow down earlier rather than having to brake suddenly all the time.

Don’t rev the engine while stationary.  It’s not big, it’s not clever and you’ll only waste fuel!

Don’t ‘warm up’ the engine.  Although it may be tempting on those cold winter mornings to sit in your car with the engine on to try and warm it up, this is a big cause of fuel waste.  Instead, invest in a good de-icer and try to drive off as soon as you can (as long as you can see out of the windscreen of course!).

Do wind down your windows.  Instead of relying on your car’s air conditioning system when it’s hot, switch it off and wind down your windows to cool off.

Don’t take short trips in your car.  In the UK, one journey in every three is under a mile-that’s a fifteen minute walk!  So, if you need to pop to the shops or you work close by, put the car keys down and use your legs instead-it’ll save you money on petrol and it’s good for your carbon footprint.

Whether you drive a BMW or a Bentley (pictured above), a Fiat or a Ford, or even a Skoda or a Subaru, we hope you’ll heed our advice to get the best mileage for your money.  Or, if you’re in the market for a new or used car, take a look at the huge range of great deals in our motoring section.  It couldn’t be easier to find a bargain with adflyer, so take a look today!

For anyone even remotely interested in the world of motoring, the start of the Formula One 2010 season would’ve been pretty hard to miss.  With the Bahrain Grand Prix seeing the first Formula One race on Sakhir’s new ‘Endurance Circuit’ and a whole host of new rules coming into play, there was plenty of hype and speculation surrounding this race.

So, what exactly has changed this season?  Well, arguably the most noticeable (and most controversial) of the changes is the ban on refuelling during the race itself.  This means that the cars’ fuel tanks will have to be up to three times bigger than last season, and pit stops will be much shorter, with drivers probably only coming in for tyre changes.

Formula One also made changes to the points system, mainly due to three new teams joining the last year’s line-up of ten.  Previously, the top eight drivers to finish would score points, ranging from ten points for the winner to one point for eighth place.  This year, however, sees things changing up quite a bit: the first ten finishers will score points, with twenty-five, eighteen and fifteen points going to the top three drivers respectively, and then gradually diminishing to one point for tenth place.

Of course, the Formula One website claimed that these changes would see better, more exciting races in 2010, but they just seemed to turn the Bahrain Grand Prix into a glorified conga line.  The newer, smaller tyres dictated by Formula One reduced grip on the track, whilst turbulent air sent out from the cars’ rear diffusers meant that most drivers chose not to attempt to overtake, for fear of overheating their engines or losing control of the cars.  In fact, the only reason Fernando Alonso was able to take pole position and eventually win the race was a fault with the Red Bull car driven by Sebastian Vettel.

If the disappointment of the Bahrain Grand Prix has left you feeling a bit fed up and you fancy switching off the telly and giving those Formula One drivers a run for their money, then adflyer can help.  Unfortunately, our motoring section isn’t exactly over-run with listings for F1 cars right now, but we do have plenty of top makes to choose from including Jaguar, BMW, Lexus, Bentley, Mercedes, and Porsche and Audi (right).  So, whether you’re a wannabe boy racer or you fancy going at a more leisurely pace, adflyer has a great range of listings to help you find the perfect car.

Could gas guzzlers soon be a thing of the past?

These days, we’re all becoming very aware of the effects of climate change, and everyone seems to be obsessed with reducing their carbon footprint in every aspect of their lives.  This obsession is gradually creeping into the motoring world too, with some of the world’s biggest car manufacturers being profoundly affected by the so-called green revolution.

General Motors, for instance, have recently announced that due to a failed take-over bid of the Hummer brand, they are to wind down production of the gas guzzling road-legal version of the US military vehicle, the Humvee.  The Hummer is quite possibly the least economical and planet-friendly vehicle around: it weighs over three tons, emits three times more carbon dioxide than the average small car, and manages just thirteen miles to the gallon.  Despite its status as a symbol of obscene wealth and extravagance for many celebrities and famous faces, the changing motoring market took its toll on the Hummer.  In 2009, year-on-year sales for the Hummer fell by 67%, the final death knell for a brand which became synonymous with pre-recession greed and over-spending.

However, the growing trend towards more eco-friendly cars is being met with enthusiasm rather than dread by many of the world’s largest car manufacturers.  The Geneva Motor Show opened this week to countless unveilings of new hybrid cars, with the Ferrari 599 getting the most media attention.  The hybrid however, is set to become a more affordable reality as Audi, BMW, Toyota, Nissan and Vauxhall are all set to begin selling their own hybrids in the not too-distant future.

So, this means we may be seeing more eco-friendly cars gracing the adflyer motoring section before long.  In the meantime though, we have a veritable plethora of cars for sale, ranging from environmentally-friendly hybrids to defiantly uneconomical gas guzzlers.  Plus, don’t forget to keep up to date with our adflyer property blog where you can find the latest motoring news and advice, and look out for a great deal on the newest listings added to the site via the motoring classifieds blog.