14 tips to help you reduce the fuel consumption of your car!

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Keeping in mind the rising prices of petrol, people are most interested in the best fuel consumption of their vehicle. Some people prefer buying a car that gives them more economical fuel consumption on local drives. But even after buying a fuel economic car, they still complain about the fuel consumption of their vehicle. Here, we will discuss how to obtain maximum fuel average of your vehicle and how to save your fuel at different occasions.

Also Read: OGRA supports minimized chemical use in petrol

First of all, always keep one thing in mind that the fuel economy is variable inside the city. On local, two persons with the same car and same driving style cannot get the same economy if they are driving in different parts of the city. As you drive during rush hour, your fuel consumption tends to increase. If you are living in Lahore/Karachi and drive in the inner city, your fuel consumption would be much high as compared to driving in outer city/suburbs where you don’t have much traffic.

So, the fuel consumption of your car depends on a number of factors. Each one will is explained below. Following the below-explained tips, you can get maximum fuel average out of your car tank.

1. Fuel quality

Always fill your tank from a trusted pump that provides RON92 petrol, and you are sure about it. Fuel economy largely depends upon the quality of fuel your engine burns. There are many petrol pumps that do not provide full quantity let alone good quality fuel. Some experts recommend filling your car’s tank with a mixture of regular fuel and HOBC (50/50). Keep your car’s tank filled above one-quarter of the total volume of fuel tank because less fuel causes stress on the fuel pump. Keeping your tank to one-half is recommended.

filling up car with fuel

2. Tires

Always keep your tires inflated at a pressure of 30 psi or whatever the automaker has recommended. Under-inflated tires are a source of more consumption. Also, correct pressure gives your car a smoother drive. Checking tire’s pressure once a week is a good habit. One more thing to keep in mind is that you should make sure that your car has company recommended sized tires. A bigger or broader size of tires increases the consumption of your vehicle.

Find your tire size in your vehicle owner’s manual or on your

3. Wheels

Keep a check on the wheel balancing and alignment. These also affect the fuel average of the car. If you feel that your vehicle is bubbling at higher speed or something is forcing your car to one of the two sides instead of going straight, do check the alignment and balancing of wheels.

what-is-alignment

4. RPMs and Gearing

Do not rev the engine. Higher RPMs causes more fuel intake and therefore higher fuel consumption. Limit the RPMs lower than 3000 (or 3300 maximum not more than this) inside the city in order to have best fuel average. In order to adjust the RPMs, higher gears should be used but make sure that they don’t put any load on the engine. For a specific gear, the RPM range should be 1300 – 2700. If you notice RPMs are going above 2700 shift to the higher one and if it’s going lower than 1300, shift to the lower one. Ordinarily, people explain this by saying, “to drive with a lighter foot”. This is the most important point to keep in mind while driving inside the city in order to have a better economy. Don’t thrash the throttle every chance you get.

RPM Gauge 1 RPM redline

5. Steady speed

Limit your speed to 60 km/h on local roads. On Highways, Keep your speed around 100Km/h. At this speed, your car will give the best possible fuel economy. Try to keep your speed constant either you are travelling on local or on a highway. Constant the speed, better the fuel average will be because non-constant (accelerating and decelerating continuously) speed takes more fuel.

6. Air conditioning

On A/C in a city, the fuel average drops, but there’s a technique to tackle with it. To have a less impact of A/C on fuel consumption, remember to turn off the A/C while starting from zero. As the car starts from zero, it requires more power and consumes more petrol, and if you run A/C on during that, it will take more load than normal and hence more fuel. When the speed of your car is steady then turn on the A/C, it will have less impact as compared to A/C running continuously during acceleration or deceleration. On highways, you can run the A/C continuously; it doesn’t affect much.

car-air-conditioner

7. Idling

Idling means to keep your car engine running when the car is not moving. When the car is still, the engine keeps running and fuel continues to burn. Experts advise that you should turn off the engine while not moving. Nowadays, a majority of the people have EFI cars which do not take any considerable amount of fuel while the temperature of the car is normal. A lot of fuel is consumed if you are standing still on a traffic signal, railway crossing, parking, or stuck in non-moving traffic jam. A good habit is to turn off the engine on such occasions to save fuel.

stop-idling

8. Air filter

This plays an important part in fuel consumption. Keep your air filter clean to have a better economy. Replace your air filter as quoted in the owner’s manual of your vehicle. Before going on Highway, try cleaning your air filter yourself or from a nearby service station.

Toyota Vitz Air Filter

9. Engine oil

Change the engine oil of your vehicle regularly. Do not go beyond the running limit of the engine oil. Also, using the right type of engine oil makes your engine run longer and consume the ideal amount of fuel. There are many fake oil sellers in the market that you have to be cautious while buying engine oils. In order to avoid these sellers, it is advised that you should purchase oil from wholesalers or any other store/outlet that you trust. Original oil is very important for proper engine running and fuel consumption. Change oil filter whenever you change your car’s engine oil or as recommended by the owner’s manual.

dirty vs clean engine oil

10. Smooth route

Try going to your destination through a route which has smooth roads. Bumpy roads do not allow the drivers to maintain a specific speed which consumes more petrol. You are continuously on and off the throttle pedal. Even if the route is a bit longer but smoother than the other one, go for the smoother one because, besides the fuel saving, the suspension also takes less beating.

broken road

11. Fuel tank cap

Another advice is to keep your fuel tank cap properly seal. If the petrol tank cap is not properly closed, the petrol may evaporate from the tank as it is much volatile in its chemical nature. Keep turning (in closing direction) the cap of the petrol tank until it clicks (clicking means now the cap is completely sealed). Also, do check the integrity of the rubber seal of the fuel cap.Fuel tank cap gasket

 

12. Closed windows

Drive your car with your windows closed. This reduces the drag and increases fuel average. You can turn on the AC in summers. It is better to use AC than driving with your windows down at high speeds.

13. Unnecessary loading

Do not load your car unnecessarily. The additional load on a car requires more power to move it, and hence more fuel will be used. Try not to load your vehicle beyond its capacity. An average car is made for five persons (including the driver). Bigger vehicles, of course, have better load capability.

overloaded transport

14. Tappets and tuning

Remember to take your car for tuning after a specific number of kilometres as written in owner’s manual of the vehicle. Take your car either to company workshop or to a trained mechanic who has the knowledge and the proper tools. EFI cars need OBD scanner for better diagnosis. The mechanic will do the tappets of the engine, and he will carry out a computerised diagnosis of your vehicle (if your car is EFI). If your vehicle is not EFI, then petrol can be adjusted manually. Carby cars are tuned with experience and knowledge of the mechanic and need a keen eye. Also, tell your mechanic to check for the metal connections inside the cover of the distributor, if it is covered with rust or carbon deposits, your car will consume more fuel.

obd scanner

tappet adjustment

Above are some of the points we ignore every day. By taking into account the above-explained points, your car will give the best possible economy, and also these points create a difference between an ordinary economy and an extraordinary economy of a vehicle. So, if your car is perfect but it is not giving satisfactory consumption, follow these tips, and you will never complain about the fuel economy of your vehicle.

But if your car has an inherently high fuel consuming engine, then head to PakWheels used car section, sell your current car and get another with better fuel consumption numbers.

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