I don’t quite follow how this is "[punishing]". To me at least it makes sense that your engine guzzles extra fuel when you are making it do something extra, especially the extra acceleration. It’s what my car does. Also, if thrusting sideways didn’t cost fuel, you’d have the strange anomaly where a stationary engine could do the trick without apparently using its engine at all. In any case, the amount of fuel used is so minuscule that it is unlikely to ever matter unless you 1) have severely mismanaged the engine, 2) have had particularly bad luck, or 3) regularly skate by on a minimum of fuel.
For my part, I usually leave port with 5 barrels of fuel on board (10 when I’m exploring), and I top off when I’m able to. That is enough fuel to cross the Reach in a gas guzzler and still have a bit to spare, even with liberal use of thrusters. I never limit their use, except on rare occasions where misfortune has run me out of fuel and I’m trying (as much as possible) to coast my way to port. They have yet to make any real impact on my ability to keep the engine running, and (on a personal level) have never made any negative impact on my enjoyment of the game.
As for not interacting with discoveries, I’m afraid that’s a necessary price of speed. You can hardly stop on a dime when roaring past something, and you certainly can’t spend a few hours drilling into a rock or excavating a ruin when your engine is setting new speed records. You have to get off the highway if you’re going to see the local attractions; part of using full steam mode is deciding what sort of things you are willing to disengage it for.
edited by Siankan on 11/29/2019