[venkatrx]

Hi Santosh,

I think your explainations is pretty informative.

[supremeBaleno]

For all those that are trying to extract the maximum FE from their cars, here is a list of tips from JD Power, which I found while browsing for some of their reports, for another thread. :-) Hope they are useful.
http://consumercenter.jdpower.com/cc...?id=129&page=1

Some of their tips are inline with what have been suggested by MUL / PCRA etc, like "Because it takes very little fuel to start a warm engine, turn off the motor if you will be waiting while parked for more than one minute."
They also discourage you from upgrading to different wheels/tyres than what was OE, ie.if you don't want to mess up your FE. But then, its a tradeoff and those who do not mind the drop in FE and would rather prefer more stability and control, could ignore this.

[bruce]

Atlast!! I found the Baleno FE thread, why was the poll closed... :-(
I got a mileage of 11.5 kms /litre, mostly I drive to E.City from the heart of the city, i.e Rajajinagar....to E.City....with 50% A.C ON.

[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by msprabhakar

Remember, since pressure=weight/ area and since weight of the car is constant and distributed over 4 wheels, contact area theoretically remains constant for any given tyre pressure. Wider tyres means a narrower contact distance front-to-back...

The area of contact does not affect your actual grip of the tyre as much as the coefficient of friction and the load on the tyre... Which is why tyre compounding is a million dollar science...

Remember...Maruti Suggests 25 PSI for the 185/65 R 14 Baleno VXi while 29 PSI for the 165/80 R 13 Lxi...so the assumption os similar tyre pressure is just not there...
in fact even for Bikes you will find that in the same category, if the manufacturer offers an upsize they suggest lower tyre presure els the bike starte bouncin around...for my Kawasaki Bajaj the reco presure was 36 psi for 2.75" wider tyres while 30 osi for 3:00' wider tyres..
so much for the contact patch being same...it aint as the manufacturer is recommending differnet tyre pressures for different tyre sizes..
I agree somwehwhat with Maruti recommendation of a lower pressure for the 185 tyres...this is through experience.....I have always used 30 PSI on my Baleno (185/65 R 14 Goodyear Eagle NCT 5) and I find that they are (I have finished close to 19k) wearing more in the centre than in teh sides...(implying that the pressure I use is high)...I have started filling 28 PSI now (somehow still cannot come down to 25 PSI since my heart tells me it mught be too low..'

[santosh.s]

I find tyre pressure information in baleno manual confusing... or incomplete rather. It says-

LXI (165/80R13 tube type) : 29psi (2.04kg/cm2), no differentiation between front vs. rear, city vs. high speed driving, no mention of load condition, though the sticker on the door frame mentions that 29psi is at full load.

VXI (185/65R14 tubeless): 24.2psi (1.7kg/cm2), no differentiation between front vs. rear, +5psi (which means 29.2psi) for continuous high speed, no mention about loading!

I haven't seen the VXI sticker, somebody (may be venkat) can comment if it has additional information. I would have ideally expected the manual to provide all missing information. Why shouldn't this extra pressure for high speed apply to tube-type tyres also?

@buffetfan, as far as nct5 is concerned I feel it should be safe to maintain 28psi which is closer to high side of recommendation, so that the pressure remains in recommended range till the next filling, even if tyres loose air over period. Also, no need to change it for a long drive or if you happen to carry 4-5 adults I guess. I have been using this and the ride is quite good even without any load. Was thinking of moving to 30psi, but going by your experience I better not do that

[cutthecords]

NHC CVT - get around 11.5 kmpl in the city. Worst 10, best 12. Drives a lot on ORR and Airport-Whitefield road though. Impressive numbers for an automatic. Got around 14-15 on a highway drive. Expected better on the highway.

[naveendhyani]

guys my 2002 baleno gives between 10.2-11 in gurgaon peak traffic with 100% ac. on my first highway excursion i got 13 with 100% ac. i kept pushing the car to 130-140 all the time with the highest being 165 speedometer. i guess now the highway will improve since i wont b testing the top speeds , what do u say guys?

[santosh.s]

my baleno had returned 10km to a liter on an average over the first 2.5k km, in bangalore peak traffic and short trips. When I used shell's super unleaded for last tankfull, it improved marginally to 10.26kmpl. AC usage roughly 70-80%. Did have about 100km run in a single day (again in city), but I guess it was offset by having 4 adults on board!

This time its shell ordinary unleaded on trial

[kpzen]

My 100kms old Baleno has given me 13.2 kmpl....Impressive figure considering 100% AC n my dad is still getting acclimatised to driving a sedan whereas my zen is giving under 13kmpl

KP