Every time you stop at the petrol pump and watch the display counting euros like it's a Formula 1 stopwatch, you feel that pain in your chest. Diesel costs a fortune and petrol isn't even worth talking about. And no, it's not your imagination: fuel prices in Portugal are consistently among the highest in Europe.
But before you sell the car and buy a bicycle (or a donkey), there are simple tricks that can cut your consumption by 10% to 20% without you needing to drive at 40 km/h in the right lane with your indicator on.
Trick 1: Check Your Tyre Pressure (Seriously) 🛞
This is the most underrated trick of them all. Tyres below the recommended pressure increase rolling resistance, which forces the engine to work harder and burn more fuel.
The difference may seem small (0.3 bar less), but over a month it translates into wasted litres. Check the pressure at least once a month (in the morning, with cold tyres) and follow the values shown on the label on the driver's door pillar.
Trick 2: Take the Junk Out of the Boot 🧹
Are you driving around with the boot full of stuff you don't need? That bag of cement left over from the renovation 6 months ago? The golf clubs you used once in your life? Every extra kilo the car carries is fuel wasted.
Simple rule: if you don't need it for today's trip, take it out of the car.
Trick 3: Use Cruise Control on the Motorway 🚗
Your right foot is your worst enemy. Without realising it, you're constantly speeding up and slowing down, which makes consumption rocket.
Cruise control keeps a constant speed and eliminates those swings. On the motorway, the difference is huge: instead of going between 110 and 130 km/h depending on the song that's playing, you keep a steady 120 km/h and the engine thanks you for it.
Trick 4: Anticipate Traffic (Don't Speed Up to Brake) 🧠
The driver who burns the most fuel is the one who accelerates up to the car in front and then brakes hard. Accelerate-brake-accelerate-brake is the perfect recipe for burning diesel like there's no tomorrow.
Instead, look further ahead. If you see the light is red 200 metres away, lift off the accelerator and let the car coast in gear (the engine cuts fuel injection when you're decelerating in gear). You arrive at the light almost stopped, without having burnt a drop.
Trick 5: Air Conditioning With Your Head On ❄️
Air conditioning consumes fuel (the compressor is driven by the engine). But that doesn't mean you have to melt in summer. The trick is:
- In the city, at low speed: Open the windows and turn off the AC. Aerodynamic drag at 50 km/h is minimal.
- On the motorway, at high speed: Close the windows and turn on the AC. Open windows at 120 km/h create huge aerodynamic drag that burns more than the AC itself.
The Hook: Save on Fuel and on Transport to the Airport 💰
You've already saved on fuel with these tricks. Now don't throw those savings out the window paying €45 for a surge-priced Uber to the airport (or €90 round trip).
Do the maths: driving your own car to Multipark costs you a few litres of fuel (with the tricks you've learned, even fewer) and parking with Valet Parking comes out cheaper than two Uber or taxi rides. And you still get the comfort of going in your own car, with your bags in the boot, without waiting for anyone.
Smart saving isn't just on fuel. It's across the whole travel chain. Run a quote and book your Valet Parking on the Multipark site and see how much you save compared to the alternatives!
