Introduction

On the subject of motor car fuel consumption, apparently, ‘everybody is an expert’. In the aftermath of the oil supply crisis in the autumn of 1973, public consciousness of this topic is again high, and the technical world is now engaged in this subject area at a new level of priority. Yet the information available on the factors that govern fuel consumption is, in general, surprisingly poor and more so in Europe than in the US. For instance, the measurement of vehicle fuel economy in relation to the way the motorist drives is a surprisingly difficult thing to do repeatably, because of the variety of ways and weather conditions in which motorists actually drive, combined with the rather poorly researched experimental techniques currently available. Methods for improving the fuel economy of a vehicle without materially affecting its performance in other respects are at an early stage of development, and much work needs to be done before the most cost-effective solutions can emerge.