Team-BHP - Baleno and Highway Mileage

I took my Baleno (Nov 2006) twice on a long drive.

First time from Chennai to Yelagiri and back (400 kms). I got a mileage of 15 kmpl. The car had clocked 4500 kms then. I did not cross 100 kmph. Engine was running at 2200 RPM for 80 kmph speed and 2600 RPM for 100 kmph speed.

Second time from Chennai to Yercaud and back (900 kms). I got a mileage of 13.5 kms. The car had clocked 7500 kms (this was last week). I was doing 120 - 130 kmph in long stretches. Engine was running at 3000 RPM for 120 kmph speed.

The co-relation I am able to make is, at 120 kmph fuel efficiency is dropping due to the higher RPM engine is forced to run.

Am I right ? What is the typical mileage other Baleno owners get on long drive ? Is there a way I get better mileage i.e., changing to K&N Filter etc.

I am interested to know the feedback from other user generally and from Baleno owners particularly.

In city, I am consistently getting 10-10.5 kmpl.

If U'd given 75%-to-full throttle inputs , U'd lose highway average majorly.
At my last Chennai-Bangalore- Chennai, I did 770kms with just 40.2 litres of petrol.
Works out to 19.75kpl for a guzzling, push-rod ford engine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitrous (Post 599613)

its numbers like these which makes me go crazy!! M-1000........ best mileage with AC on all the time 11kmpl inside city and 14kmpl on the highway....... this is with a feather-lite foot on the accelerator!
how did you possibly manage to get 19.75kmpl!@# i'm amazed!! :Shockked:

getting back to the topic...... does this upto 75% thumb rule stand good for most cars?? because i remember once discussing about driving within a certain part of the torque band which co-relates with the bhp figures.

or is that what you just said in layman terms??

The idea is to regulate the amount of air entering the cylinder by minimizing throttle input.

Lesser the air entering the cylinder per intake stroke, lesser the amount of fuel injected.

75% throttle would be required only when you're accelerating to reach your desired cruising speed. Once there, you prob need just 25% throttle to maintain those speeds (depending on what that speed is).

OR

You could just go and get yourself a Vtec!!! :Cheering:

Shan2nu

I do the mumbai hubli stretch of 611 kms at speeds of 120-140. the golden quadrangle road upto hubli being of the pune express way quality, with steady cruising speeds I do get an FE of 15.

within the city I do a lot of runs up to Belapur, I do get FE in ranges of 12.

@subbu, if your figures are with 100% AC then they are pretty similar to what I have got on my GQ runs of 400-500kms at different 'speed-bands'. The following are my FE numbers with 100% AC, 195tyres, 2-3 passengers+luggage, on the NH-2.

90-105kmph - 14.74
110-125kmph - 13.7
140-160 - 11.8

I must say there are quite a lot of heavy vehicles on NH-2 that tend to hog the middle-right of the road. In my runs, braking a bit harder than required, slowing down 20-40kmph, honking, hitting the throttle hard and overtaking trucks were a frequent exercise. These innumerable hard accelerations tend to consume a lot of fuel. One way, IMO, to increase highway mileage is to get up to speed smoothly.

Also, if the highway is emptier and one can maintain constant speeds for long periods, FE should go up quite a bit.

Btw, my city FE with 100% AC is also around 10-10.5. Without AC it is around 12.5

I did a run May 2005 Pune to Goa. About 350-odd km was on the very good NH section, stock 165/80 r13 tyres, three kids and the wife, plus some luggage, AC 100% on, tyres were inflated to 31psi (29 recommended). Most times I was doing 110 to 120 kph. Stopped for breakfast once. On this section I got 17.5 kpl, full tank to full tank.

I do own a baleno with 185/70R13 and complete stock.I get 15 to 16.5 with intermitent use of AC no matter which highway i drive.Worst highway mileage i got was 14 on Salem sathyamangalam Mysore with 4 people and AC.In city i get 12 to 13.5.

The key is to avoid revving the engine beyond 2.5k rpm and be lighter on the gas.Just a slight pressure on the accelerator will help you in crusing.I usually downshift whenever i need to overtake on even slight inclines inspite of my car being able to pull in 5th.

I once got a mileage of 20KMPL on Hyd-Pune journey.. But nobody believed it, including myself :D .

15-16KMPL is what I normally get on the highway trips. :Cheering: .. Thats more than good enough for such a powerful engine (<- relatively speaking of course).