High Fuel Prices: 10 Tips To Get The Best Mileage From Your Vehicle
Fuel prices in India have been turning more volatile, as prices of crude oil have been showing a firm upwards trend. Today, petrol price in New Delhi was ₹82.32 and diesel costed ₹73.87. If you are going for a long drive, remember, petrol and diesel prices are revised daily, so you can lose much, when travelling a long distance. The rupee has also moved lower against the dollar, which has made Petrol and Diesel more expensive than before. For some perspective, on 21st September 2017, One liter of Petrol costed ₹70.52 and Diesel ₹58.79.
With ever rising fuel prices, getting better mileage from your vehicle becomes more important than ever. Here are 10 tips for you to achieve the best kilometer per liter of the precious and expensive fossil fuel:
1. Go easy
Go easy on the accelerator pedal. Accelerating quickly consumes more fuel, always accelerate in a smooth and steady manner. The vehicle has to overcome inertia and other forces while accelerating and burns a lot more fuel while doing so. Racing through traffic doesn’t get you anywhere faster instead it will make the trip heavier on your pocket.
2. Brake Less
Braking wastes energy from the fuel already burnt, accelerating after braking consumes more fuel than driving at a constant speed. Use techniques like engine braking and coasting wherever its safely possible. Anticipate the road ahead and use brakes, engine braking or coasting accordingly.
3. Avoid excessive idling
Remember idling your car doesn’t add to the mileage of your car and wastes significant amount of fuel. If you have to wait at a traffic light for more than a minute, switch off your engine. Modern cars come with Start-Stop systems and have no problems using the starter motor multiple times. Mahindra’s Micro Hybrid and Maruti’s SHVS offer similar start-stop technologies. In certain Turbocharged vehicles it’s advisable to idle the car after a cold start, in such situations its best to drive the car slowly to let the engine get to its optimum temperature
3. Check your Tyres
Tyres put all of the power that the engine makes on the road. Fatter tyres increase the contact patch with the road increasing grip and fuel consumption. Skinny tyres work the opposite way lowering fuel consumption. Using the same theory, tyre pressure plays an important role as well. To get the best kilometer per liter of fuel always keep your tyres inflated at the manufacturer recommended pressure or higher.
4. Correct Gear
Being in the correct gear at all times helps in reducing fuel consumption. Being in higher gear with low engine rpms results in engine lugging and is detrimental to engine health and increases fuel consumption. While the opposite is true as well. Lower gear with high engine rpms increases the speed and increases fuel consumption.
5. Travel Light
Car manufacturers put a lot of effort and money in reducing the weight of the vehicles by using lighter materials, because the weight is the biggest enemy of fuel economy. Removing all the unnecessary items from your car will increase the kilometers per liter. This doesn’t mean you remove the spare wheel and tools though.
7. Roll up your windows
Because, Aerodynamics. Keeping your windows open creates a “parachute” effect inside the car resulting in high drag values. Higher Drag values means now the engine has to work harder to counteract the drag to maintain speed. The harder the engine works more fuel it consumes. With all windows up, the vehicle can cut through the air resistance without much drag.
8. Slow Down
While driving at high speeds is very thrilling, the car has to work harder and harder to cut through the air when the speed increases. Slowing down to moderate speeds makes a huge difference to fuel consumption.
9. Use Cruise Control
While driving on highways, use Cruise Control function (if equipped) in your car. This results in better fuel consumption because the ECU controls the rpms according to the load and the constant speed plays in its favour.
Maintenance
Keeping your vehicle regularly serviced makes a big difference in the efficiency of engine. For petrol cars clean sparkplugs work wonders. Changing engine oil on time is very important for the longevity of the engine and its fuel-efficient performance.
