Team-BHP - What is your Actual Fuel Efficiency?

I disagree...i think the aerodynamics will improve by a certain amount because of the formation of a boundary layer over the dust coat...and as is common knowledge, a boundary layer over any body smooths the flow over it..... lol:

Seriously guys, do you really think washing the car will make it significantly lighter or even more aerodynamic, of all things???

Car: Santro , 2000 , Well maintained

FE: I get about 325 KM for every Rs.1000 of Petrol. This has been constant for a long while.
Taking the price of normal petrol at Rs.45 , it translates to Rs. 3.06 perKM or about 14.6 KMPL

Driving Style : I am an enthusiastic driver. Would not call myself as rash , but I do drive at high speeds.

I commute about 50 KM everyday of which about 70 % is on mostly traffic free roads. And the A/C is on more the 90 % of the times.

Hello,

Aerodynamic cars do have more FE than non aerodynamic. Also when u dont wash your car a lot of dust, mud is there which increases your car weight and decreases FE. So it is good to wash every 3rd day also if u just wash ur car it will look nice :). And by this i m contantly getting 17 - 18 in ym zen which used to give not more than 16 in city. and My bor gest contantly 20 - 22 in his alto (he washes the car everyday)

Abhi, let me put it this way.

By not washing your car, how much of a max. of dust can accumulate on your car? 5 kg? 10 kg?

Even if you consider that its 10 kg, which is highly improbable even if you came back from a Jeep Jamboree (or Great Escape), for a 750 kg car, (whose payload is of the order of 350 kg i.e, GVW=1.1 ton), that's a weight of 1%. Now a weight difference of 1% is so negligible that its not worth the paper its written on.

Try & prove me wrong.

Hey

Man just try the tip u will know the difference. You may not feel the difference in just about a week but in long term u will agree with me that you should wash your car. I wash my car everythird day from inside and outside and after washign when i drive the car it feels very smooth. So just try it. It wont gonna cost ya more water bill if you wash it and also ur car will look pretty good if it is washed. :d

Hey Abhi,

I never wash my car from the outside for months on end.

Pardon me, but I don't give a rats @$$ about how the car looks from the outside. Its how it drives & how clean it is on the inside.

But when I do wash the car, I have never found so much as a km of difference in the fuel efficiency. And I am one who keeps a log of fuel filled vs. km traveled. And I always check tankful to tankful.

Maybe what you are experiencing is akin to MHP - 'mental' Horsepower, the type you get when you fit a turbonator or when your silencer falls off.

My method costs nothing at all, even if my saving is a few rupees on the water bill. Time is money, & you arent counting the time you spend on washing every nook of your car everyday.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhibh

Hey

If you are sayign time is money then your wasting time here go do your usual stuff and keep on rememebring time is money.

Calm down, boss.

Its not only your opinion that counts.

Your car washing thing may have worked for you. All I am saying is that it didn't work for me..

And I am sure thousands of others will agree with me.

Before you mouth off some more due to the adrenalin thats being pumped to your brain instead of blood, let me sign off by saying that although time is money, I am spending time here to share what I know with others.

And I am obligated to contest silly facts like the one you posted. This is the most preposterous thing I have ever seen in my long years of being bitten by the automotive bug. So there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ananthkamath

And I am obligated to contest silly facts like the one you posted. This is the most preposterous thing I have ever seen in my long years of being bitten by the automotive bug. So there.

Whoa! You were not seriously contesting his claims till now, were you? :Shockked:

I have a swift VXI bought in July this year ..

I get between 10.8 and 11.2 in Pune City where traffic rarely moves ove 30 Kmph
I however got 17.02 KMPL on the express way at speeds between 120 -140 with HP power with 100 AC usage , have checked this twice difference between the two readings has not been more than half a KM..

about all this washing car everyday & stuff
if you consider the whole picture
considering the time wasted, water used, shampoo costs & increase in FE (which I don't belive) I personally don't think its worth it.
like anath said its more sort of phsycological thing

used to get 13+kmpl on my old indica dlx witin city, without A/C, thats bcos, the car has a very sluggish acceleration n u have 2 slip the clutch a lot to get it moving. n i got a max of 24.5 kmpl while doing a trip to pondycheri, at speeds between 80 to 100kmph, it dropped to abt 18kmpl at 100 to 120kmph on the return trip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhibh

There is not a chance in the world that washing your car can make such a difference to the FE.

I think its everyones duty over here, especially the Technical guys to make sure that such illogical thoughts be condemned.

I second ananthkamath ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by RX135

Whoa! You were not seriously contesting his claims till now, were you? :Shockked:

No RX, I was actually. This thing offended my senses so much that I felt obligated to contest it.