Petrol use: A few more tips... from readers

On 15 October, we did a story: Six tips to decrease your petrol consumption. We had promised to give you six tips but we ran out of one. We invited you to get back with your tips, and sure you did. Some tips were technical, others were simple and doable. Here is a quick compilation of some.

Use a smaller car: Among other parameters, your fuel consumption would also depend on the size of the car you drive. Big-sized cars would consume more fuel. “Use your two-wheeler or small car in the city,” said Vikas.

Use Technology and common sense: “Check the route in Google maps in advance,” said Rajeev Deshpande. Definitely, this will help you avoid a terrible city darshan, at least to an extent. Among other things, he also suggested to let out the hot air by opening window glasses before you switch on the AC.

Personal experience: S. Roy shared his personal experience. “The final tip - maintain a constant speed (if possible); it helps,” he said. “After filling my car for 30 litres of petrol, if I drive in the 60-75 kmph band (2-2.5K-RPM), I end up running about 650 kilometres; if I try to be a little bit more patient (difficult at times) and stick to the 55-70 kmph band (@ 2K RPM) , I end up travelling about 675 kms.” Looks like running at constant speed works well.

A simple table: William had a simple table to share.

0-10kmph - 1st gear

10-20kmph - 2nd gear

30-40kmph - 3rd gear

40-50kmph - 4th gear

>50kmph - 5th gear

Efficient gear change can help you save a lot of fuel. On open roads, drive at 55-60 kmph and enjoy the savings. This may work for William, but not all agree. Another reader, Chandrakanth thinks this tip will not only rob you of your fuel, but also ruin engine among other adverse effects. He further adds amongst other things, “For my car these are the suggested shifts when accelerating - gear 1 < 25 < gear 2 < 50 gear 3 < 65 < gear 4 < 75 < gear 5.”

Car Parking: While we suggested it’s best to park in the shade, one reader, Saharath, said, “Park your car so that you can take out the car head first instead of the tail part.” The logic? “When the engine is hot and efficient, you park with less effort on the engine. Cold engine in the mornings will consume more fuel while you are taking your car out tail first.”

Other tips: Some suggested to work from home, while others said that walking (if it is short distances) instead of using the car, was a sure shot way to save on fuel consumptions. Car pooling and bicycling, and using public transport were among the most popular tips. A few had suggestions on the speed of driving to get maximum mileage. Some others suggested removing unnecessary luggage and stuff from the boot of the car, which will make the car lighter and hence consume less fuel.

We would like to thanks all those who replied with their tips for the story, as always our readers rock!