Declining milage of my car

[Ismail Kazi]

From the day I bought my Linea, I was happy to assume that I am getting milage of 13 KM/Liter. But thanks to my Friend Rajwant (who is part of this group), after he changed unit of measuring milage, all my happy assumptions came to an end.

With all my driving in Mumbai city now I get milage of about 7.5 to 8 KM/Liter. I bought this car for fuel efficiency which I think was never there.

What does group experience with their car? If there are any best practices to increase milage, please let me know.

Thanks
Ismail Kazi

[Raman]

Changed the unit? What did he do?

What does the car's MID report as your fuel efficiency?

The best method is tank-full to tank-full:
1. Let the petrol attendant fill petrol/diesel only till the fuel nozzle automatically cuts the fuel flow.
2. Reset trip meter. Drive along.
3. Next time you re-fill, again fill only upto auto-cut off.
4. Note the trip meter reading, note the number of liters of fuel. Divide and get average.

I used to get 14.5 in really hot weather (it fell from 16.5, which I used to get in normal weather)... And i attributed it completely to AC which i though had to do more "work" to keep heat at bay. Which is right.
But I have still got figures of 16.7 AND 16.6 in my last 2 tankfulls despite being caught in heavy traffic many times.

Best practices for better fuel efficiency:
1. Keep tyre pressure perfect. I find it best to have 35 PSI in my linea for 1 driver and no passenger.
2. Use engine breaking instead of regular brakes. Engine braking means simly taking your foot off the accelerator and not pressing brakes and allowing car to slow down by itself. This is VERY helpful in slow moving traffic where you frequently brake to come to a lower speed and then accelerate again.
3. Increase gear usability, this will lead to less gear shifting. Once engaged at speeds of around, 40-45, I use my car's fourth gear right from 35 to 60. Ofcourse, I also minimize the use of brakes as suggested above.
4. Dont cross speeds of 80kph.

In a nutshell, the less you use your brakes and clutch, more the efficiency :)

Regards
Raman

[J. Ravi]

Changed the unit? What did he do?

He meant the unit displayed in MID was changed from litres/100 km to km/litre.

[VahanPujari]

I think what he meant was change the measure ment units from litres/
100 kms to KM/litre....

Ismail,

I'm in Mumbai & I can tell you what you're getting is not bad. MY
earlier car Ford Ikon 1.3 used to give me 7.5 to 8 kmpl...always < 8
kmpl

I get 8-10 kmpl within Mumbai city (100% AC ON) & 14-15 kmpl on
hgihways (100% AC ON)

Check your avg speed. It would be 20 kmph. Imagine when you're
struggling in B2B traffic with avg speed as low as 20 kmph, how will
FE be higher? To give you an example

My Residence - office daily travel is 34 km (one way) on trafficy
W.E.Highway. On normal weekdays, in the morning I reach office in 1
hour with 12-13 kmpl FE. On the same route from office back to home,
it takes me 1.5 to 2 hours with an FE of 8-9 kmpl.
And hold on !! On Saturdays when traffic is relatively free flowing, I
get 15-16 kmpl !!!

Amit

On May 5, 10:24 am, "J. Ravi" <jayavijayanr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Changed the unit? What did he do?
> He meant the unit displayed in MID was changed from litres/100 km to
> km/litre.
>

> On 5 May 2010 10:07, Raman <ramanpr...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Changed the unit? What did he do?
>
> > What does the car's MID report as your fuel efficiency?
>

> > *The best method is tank-full to tank-full:*

> > 1. Let the petrol attendant fill petrol/diesel only till the fuel nozzle
> > automatically cuts the fuel flow.
> > 2. Reset trip meter. Drive along.
> > 3. Next time you re-fill, again fill only upto auto-cut off.
> > 4. Note the trip meter reading, note the number of liters of fuel. Divide
> > and get average.
>
> > I used to get 14.5 in really hot weather (it fell from 16.5, which I used
> > to get in normal weather)... And i attributed it completely to AC which i
> > though had to do more "work" to keep heat at bay. Which is right.
> > But I have still got figures of 16.7 AND 16.6 in my last 2 tankfulls
> > despite being caught in heavy traffic many times.
>

> > *Best practices for better fuel efficiency:*

> > 1. Keep tyre pressure perfect. I find it best to have 35 PSI in my linea
> > for 1 driver and no passenger.
> > 2. Use engine breaking instead of regular brakes. Engine braking means
> > simly taking your foot off the accelerator and not pressing brakes and
> > allowing car to slow down by itself. This is VERY helpful in slow moving
> > traffic where you frequently brake to come to a lower speed and then
> > accelerate again.
> > 3. Increase gear usability, this will lead to less gear shifting. Once
> > engaged at speeds of around, 40-45, I use my car's fourth gear right from 35
> > to 60. Ofcourse, I also minimize the use of brakes as suggested above.
> > 4. Dont cross speeds of 80kph.
>
> > In a nutshell, the less you use your brakes and clutch, more the efficiency
> > :)
>
> > Regards

> > Raman- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Raman]

I am glad I am in Delhi

[Rajat sharma]

Raman,

Couldnt agree more to you. Dad yesterday only told me that ACC usage
in our Linea is 60-70 %. In the morning when he goes he goes with ACC
but while coming back in the evening he comes without AC sometimes
when its pleasant outside.

Result : - In city FE of our Linea petrol is standing at 16.2 kmpl as
shown by MID :D, dont believe me, see your self. I never manage to get
so much but dad is a conservative driver and loves driving smoothly
whereas i like revving up. Delhi is still good and even 14-15 kmpl FE
in Delhi with full AC (consider you dont switch of AC at evening also)
is damn good for a car this size.

I was shocked as to how could dad squeeze so much from such a big car
but when i personally checked - MID was at 16.2 with Avg speed around
28-30 kmph.