How To Improve Your Car's Mileage?

Published: Friday, July 20, 2012, 15:41 [IST]

The mileage or fuel efficiency of a car is one of the most important aspects that car buyers consider before buying a car. The mileage figures that are advertised by carmakers are all certified by ARAI - Automotive Research Association of India. So if you were wondering why your car does not deliver such mileage read on.

These mileage figures are obtained by driving a car at certain speeds and on certain roads. These test conditions cannot match the regular driving conditions such as traffic, bad roads and weather. So the possibility of your car's mileage being on par with the advertized figure are low.

Further, there are many factors the decide your car's mileage While the condition of the car is one important factor, your driving style is another important factor. So to improve a car's mileage you not only need to keep it in top working condition but also change your driving style. Having the right driving style will save fuel and also prevent any damage to your car.

High engine speeds is a definite mileage killer. Driving at high engine speeds might help increase speed but will also lead to increased fuel consumption. Always maintain average engine speeds to conserve fuel. However very low engine speeds will also lead to high fuel consumption. Diesel engines are able to be more fuel efficient than petrol engines due to the fact that they are able to deliver high torque at low engine speeds.

A cold engine will burn more fuel than normal and hence your car's mileage will be lower when you start it for the first time in the morning. So do not expect high mileage when you take the car for short trips. A warmed up engine needs lesser fuel and will therefore not need much fuel.

The car's mileage is determined by how you drive it in traffic. Stopping and starting too many times will obviously lead to low mileage. There will be too much idling while driving through slow traffic and this will lead to increased fuel consumption. Avoid such roads as much as possible to improve your car's mileage.

Bad roads are another mileage killer. Such roads will lead to slow speeds at lower gears where the car consumes more fuel.

Keeping your car's weight low is one way of improving its mileage. Remove anything that is unnecessary for your journey. If you carry luggage on top of your car, then the car's aerodynamics is disturbed and it will have to face more resistance from air leading to increased fuel consumption. So always try to keep your luggage within the car.

With high fuel prices eating in to our pockets, keeping the car in good driving condition and following the above tips is one way of keeping the running cost low.