But the number one thing that really gets up my goat is cock-ends who overtake while you are still accelerating, it really boils my piss when some knobber decides to do 0-60 in about 6 seconds, roaring past in the process, but then sits at 60. If everyone just stopped accelerating like a maniac then petrol might last a bit longer
In what situation? What's wrong with accelerating faster than you choose to? In a petrol car the most efficient way of accelerating is to do so briskly and then level in speed, it reduces the throttling losses, accelerating at part throttle introduces a pumping loss that isn't required, like a clogged air filter. On a D it's not the same technique. (I'm not talking WOT, just well opened. Too far open and the ECU will enrich for more torque and fuel economy will fall). FYI Toddling along with a strangled engine taking a relative age to get up to speed helps no-one, especially not the polar bears.
) and throw away your fuel. Theres a fine line, but if you have a good feel for yoru car its easy to drive fast and without wasting fuel. On diesels theres no throttle (generally) so the above doesn't apply, and its easy-on-the-throttle all the time to limit fuel flow. Of course accelerating slowly you do tend over toward the area where the engine can run quite lean and still produce enough power, so there's a trade-off to be had, but as far as I'm aware most cars don't run lean enough at light throttle/accel to negate the throttling losses. 
