FuelWatcher

June 2002 Issue No.7

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Welcome to the 7th edition of FuelWatcher, the newsletter that saves Australian motorists money with fuel saving tips and information.

Treasurer Costello backs services like FuelWatch
A not well publised outcome from last months federal budget was the Government's recommendation on a recent ACCC investigation into fuel price variability. The ACCC report titled "Reducing Fuel Price Variability" found that 60% of fuel is sold at below average prices and has prompted the Federal Government to initiate an awareness campaign to encourage motorists to take advantage of services like FuelWatch, shopping smarter and filling up on days - and at places - where fuel is at its cheapest. A summary of the ACCC's findings and Treasurer Costello's recommendations can be found in our What's News section.

FuelWatch goes .NET
FuelWatch and Microsoft have joined forces to bring the latest technology to the fore. This new technology known as .NET brings a whole new Internet experience allowing us to bring you an even better FuelWatch experience. We are in the process of working with several media partners to allow FuelWatch content to be integrated across multiple media channels using .NET. The latest edition of Australian Personal Computer Magazine provides an interesting insite into how FuelWatch is capitalising on this technology to get you the best deal when and where you need it. Look for it at your nearest newsagent.

Getaway from the Everyday a Runaway Success
The FuelWatch "Getaway from the Everyday" competition has been a resounding success with thousands of loyal FuelWatchers spreading the good word to friends about getting the best deals on Fuel. A huge number of new visitors have joined us for the 1st time as a direct result and we welcome all new FuelWatchers aboard!

Until next month, safe motoring!

Matt Forman
National Manager
mforman@fuelwatch.com.au

Damien Reid, our guest editor, with more fascinating news on the Fuel and Auto front.

Aprilia Trials Alternative Fuel For Two Wheels
Compared to your average six-cylinder car, motorbikes use barely a fraction of the fuel and if you've ever seen someone fill up a scooter, you almost wonder why they bother as they practically run on loose change. [ read more ]

Government Scraps Emission Tests For Old Cars
The New South Wales State Government has dumped its plan to test all vehicles built before 1998 for greenhouse emissions with their yearly roadworthy registration inspections. [ read more ]

US Senate Bill Paves The Way For Ethanol
A recent bill passed by the United States Senate has called for fuel refiners to use a minimum of 2.3 billion gallons (US) of renewable fuels such as ethanol in 2004 [ read more ]

Government Considers Incentives For Hybrid Buyers
The growing list of countries providing attractive incentives to purchasers of hybrid-powered cars could soon include Australia if pressure from Honda and Toyota - the only importers of the petrol/electric technology here - proves effective. [ read more ]

Each month we will have a fuel saving tip that has been sent in from one of our FuelWatcher's. If you know of a way that can help other FuelWatcher's save money on their fuel bill please send it in. If your tip is published we will send you a $25 FREE fuel voucher.

This month's winner is Adrian.

"Many drivers think that a automatic is a bit thristier than a manual car, Well I can prove that a Automatic is as cheap to run as a manual. I've been driving a manuals for 10 years, and I have just recently change to a automatic, A big change in comfort and driving I think, as recently had a Daewoo Ceilo GLX sedan for 6 years with a 50 Ltr fuel tank and a range of 690 Klm per tank on city driving, and 780 - 800 Klm on Highway diving, not bad for a 4 Cylinder.
As I own a Ford Falcon 4.0 Ltr now I spend slightly a bit more in fuel cost as it hold's 68 Ltr's of fuel. As I am still doing the same distance and direction to work, and a recent trip, I found that around town I am getting about 620 Klm to a tank on city cycle, and 840 Klm to a tank on highway cycle.

4 cylinder - 13.8 Klm/ Ltr city 6 cylinder - 9.1 Klm/ Ltr city ( both cars are fuel injected and - 15.6 - 16 Klm/ Ltr/ Highway - 12.3 Klm/ Ltr Highway serviced regularly)

To get this saving and fuel efficiency, I've notice that if you only press the accelerator down a quarter and let the engine and gearbox do all the work, you'll notice a difference that the engine wont work as hard and wont rev out as much when going through gears. Also if you have a economy switch in your car, and it is turned to economy ,you'll notice that the engine revs will not incline as far as it would be in power mode.
To save you even more in maintenance cost, when slowing down to corners or traffic lights, you can use the autoshift stick. Move it to 3rd then 2nd gear to reduce braking power and saving your brake pads.
And one last tip on automatics, when your at a set of traffic lights,and sitting there for a long time, put it in to neutral, this will save the gearbox from strain and save you about an average of 3 to 4 Ltr's of fuel per tank and maintenance cost overall. "

Congratulations Adrian, your $25 free fuel voucher is on the way

The average, lowest and the highest prices for last month in each city were:

City	Average	Lowest	Highest
Adelaide	89.2	83.7	96.9
Brisbane	80.5	72.4	95.9
Melbourne	88.5	81.2	98.3
Perth	90.9	83.5	99.9
Sydney	88.1	80.9	99.9

The price leading service stations for each city last month were:

Brisbane

Service Station	Hitech
Address	corner Learoyd Road & Watson Roads
Suburb	Acacia Ridge
Average Price for month	77.2

Sydney

Service Station	Independent
Address	Glossop Street
Suburb	St Marys
Average Price for month	84.0

Melbourne

Service Station	WoolWorths Plus Petrol
Address	corner South Gippsland Highway
Suburb	Dandenong
Average Price for month	84.1

Adelaide

Service Station	Mobil
Address	corner The Golden Way and Sunnybrook Drive
Suburb	Wynn Vale
Average Price for month	86.5

Perth

Service Station	Gull
Address	corner Challenger Road & Meares Avenue
Suburb	Parmelia
Average Price for month	87.8

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