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Dr iv ing
system can be severely damaged by dr iving
th rough water.
- Always switch the Star t/Stop sys t em * off
when driving through wate r
r:';>
page
71 .
{D)
Tips
- Dete rm ine t he depth befo re driv ing th rough
wa t er.
- Do not st op the veh icle, dr ive in reverse or
swi t ch t he eng ine off when dr iving t hr ough
wa t er.
- Keep in mind t hat on coming veh icles m ay
crea t e waves t hat raise the wate r level an d
make it too deep for your ve hicle to drive
th rough safely.
- Avoid d riving through sa lt wa t er, because
th is can ca use corros io n.
Economical and environmentally-friendly
driving
The amount of fue l cons umption, the env iron-
men t al impact and the wear to the engine,
brakes and t ires dep ends mostly on your dr iving
style. W ith an anticipatory and economic driv ing
style, fue l consumption
can be reduced by ap-
proximate ly 10-15% . The following tips will help
you conserve the environment and your money at
the same time .
Ant icipatory driving
A veh icle uses the mos t fuel when acce le rat ing.
W hen you dr ive wit h ant icipat ion, you do not
need to brake as often and so you ac celerate less .
When possib le, let your ve hicle coast wit h a gear
engaged, for example, when you notice that the
next traffic light is red. This produces an engine
braking effect, which helps to protect the brakes
and tires and reduces the emissions a nd fuel con-
sumpt io n to ze ro (fuel shut-off dur ing decelera-
tion) .
Shift efficiently
An effective way to save fuel is to upshift earlier.
Staying in a gear too long uses fue l unnecessari-
ly.
Press down on the acce le rator peda l slowly and
avoid "kick-down" .
66
Avoid full acceleration
You should ra rely t ravel at the maxim um vehicle
speed. High speeds cause a disproportionate
ly
high increase in fue l cons umption, emissions and
traffic noise. Slowe r driving saves fue l.
Reduce idling time
The Sta rt -St op system * helps to redu ce t he idling
time automat icall y. In ve hicles withou t the Star t-
Stop system *, it is efficient to sw itch the engine
off when stopped at railroad crossings and long
red lights. Stopping the engine for 30-40 sec-
onds a lready saves more fue l than the amo unt of
extra fue l needed to restart the engine.
It
takes a very long time in idle to warm the en-
gine up to operating temperature.
Wear and
emissions are especially high in the warm- up
phase . Therefore, you shou ld begin driving im-
med iate ly after starting the engi ne. Avoid high
RPMs wh ile doing this.
Have maintenance performed regul arly
By having maintenance
pe rformed reg ula rly on
your vehicle, you can help to reduce fuel con-
sumption before you even start to drive. The
mainte nance condition of your vehicle not on ly
affects traffic safety and long- t erm value but al-
so im pacts fuel consumption. A poorly m ai n-
ta ined engine can lead to fuel consump t ion t ha t
is 10 % hig he r th an no rm al.
Avoid short trips
The eng ine and exhaust clean ing system must
reach their op t ima l operating temperature t o ef-
fect ively reduce consump ti on a nd emissions.
A cold engine uses a d isproportionately
high
amount of fuel. The eng ine reaches operat ing
temperat ur e and cons umption no rma lizes only
af t er approximate ly
2.5 miles
(4 km).
Check the tire pressure
To save fue l, make sure the t ires are always in-
flated to t he correct press ur e r=':> page
221.
The
fuel consumpt ion can increase by 5% if the pres-
s ur e is only 0 .5 bar too low . Due to t he increased
roll ing resis t ance, low tire pressures w ill also
...
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