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-   -   ARTICLE: How to get the maximum Fuel Efficiency (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/owning-car/17748-article-how-get-maximum-fuel-efficiency-9.html)

What I know is that under climate control the compressor of the AC gets switched off just like in the case of window or split AC which means climate control actually maintains the temperature to a desired level. It is but obvious that climate control vehicle will give better Fuel efficiency than the manual one. ( untill and unless you keep putting on and off the manual AC at regular intervals)

Hey guys, need some gyan.
I drive in peak Mumbai traffic on weekdays and hence mostly drive in the first 3 gears. Now consider the following situation, which I am sure many of us would have experienced a lot. It’s bumper to bumper traffic, very slow moving and u need to stop-move-stop very frequently.

Which of the following styles is more fuel efficient and gentle on the engine:
1) U keep the car in gear and with the clutch pressed. This results in lesser gear shift but more usage of clutch. U end up riding the clutch for as much as 20-30 seconds.
2) U keep putting the car in neutral, even for a short duration (2-3 seconds) and hence remove the foot from the clutch. This results in much more frequent gear shift but much lesser usage of clutch.

A detailed technical explanation would be greatly appreciated. Also one more query:
3) Is it advisable to directly start the car in 2nd gear instead of 1st?

Thanks in advance!

Riding the clutch is a term used when you press the clutch half way down and roll forward. here the engine is engaged to transmission only partially. This is where the wear of clutch is maximum.

if the cluch is either fully engaged or fully disengaged then there is no problem.
This is not necessary depressing the clutch fully will give you the desired result of disengaging the transmission from the engine.

This is not advisable at all. Gear 1 exists for a purpose - to start the car from the position of rest and reach a speed of 10 kmph. At rest the car has high inertia for which we need a lower gear like gear 1 to handle that.

thanks DieselFan for the response.
i know that theres no difference in the 2 approaches in terms of results but are both of them same in terms of fuel efficiency and impact on engine? can i use any of the 2 styles? i was told by someone that u shud not keep the clutch pressed for a long time... rather change the gears frequently to neutral as that will gimme better FE..is this true?

With modern ECUs, coasting (moving the car in neutral) consumes more fuel than driving in gear without accelerator input. Coasting is same as idling. But driving in gear without accelerator input or braking will cut-off the fuel. So if you are going downhill or coming to a signal stop, always slowdown in gear and not in neutral.

The simplest and the most effective rule for better FE is to use the accelerator pedal as less as possible (use the momentum properly)

oh! didnt know this...i generally put the car in neutral much before approaching the stop signal thinking that i am saving fuel this way since the car is not in gear!
will change this now..thanks androdev!

JSB, an intersting thread for you

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...l-right-7.html

The FE article is very informative, i recently bought a LOGAN petrol 1.4 GLE, can i add the premium fuel like Extra premium, Speed, etc to improve the FE or it has no benefit in this direction, some one who has been driving LOGAN since its launch please suggest, thanks

Using premium fuel in normal passenger cars has no effect on either FE or power. Power might be boosted in race car engines, but not in normal cars. Only soothing factor of premium fuel is since they are expensive, they might be of good quality.
Note: i don't own Logan. This is my gyan from this forum.

FE also has to do something with the weight of our foot on the accelerator,the less you floor the accelerator pedal, less conumption andalways try and maintain speed while lightly taking of the weight on the pedal, it surely would contribute towards higher FE

As diabloo said, there wont be much/any difference on normal cars. But I think by using Extra premium or Speed you will get a better fuel (as they are less adulterated that normal fuel) and it will help your engine to live longer.

I was hopeful of the same, but was proven wrong. Adulteration can find its way into premium fuels too!

I had a question regarding use of Air conditioner and achieving max kmpl.

1. Is the use of blower speed related to the working of the AC? ie. Suppose if we set the blower speed to the lowest, will it make the AC switch off automatically after the cabin gets cooled?
2. Is the same applicable with the thermostat? So if we set the thermostat to a medium temperature range, will it help in the switching off engine after the cabin temperature reaches the temperature set?

I remember a news item published some time ago in a news paper. There was a bit of an interview in it with a truck driver transporting fuel. The interviewer asked him whether he was carrying normal fuel or premium. You know what he answered? It depends on the tank into which it is emptied at the retail outlet!
So much about premium. I guess the only thing that one can be sure is the price - it is premium.

WOW. Cant help but laugh at that!!!lol:
I noticed in my Indica, i used to get at least 1 km less per litre of Turbo diesel instead of normal diesel. I stopped using turbo after that.