How To Increase Car Mileage: Proven Tips to Save Fuel

How to Increase Car Mileage Quickly and Conveniently:

No one likes to waste money. If we’ve paid for 3 liters of fuel, we expect to really squeeze out each kilometer and get our money’s worth. Today’s ever-increasing gas prices are making us hyper-conscious of our car’s mileage. We’re disappointed when we use more fuel and want to learn how to increase car mileage to save on fuel costs.

So, we’re bringing you a list of tips and tricks that can help you increase your car mileage by a lot. Each suggestion is listed in order of difficulty, so 1 is easy for you to start doing right away, while 10 requires you to spend a bit more effort. These solutions range from typical jugaad to more serious aspects of car maintenance.

Don’t Drive With The Windows Down:

Yep, you read that right. A study by SAE International states that when you drive with the windows open, you’re actually lowering your fuel economy by about 8%. Opening your windows increases your vehicle’s drag, i.e., it hinders its aerodynamic ability. This makes it harder for your car to travel effortlessly at high speeds, which creates pressure on your engine and results in more fuel being burned.

That doesn’t mean you have to bear the brunt of the summer heat. You don’t need to keep your windows closed all the time. Just roll them down a little bit and drive at moderate speeds to increase car mileage with minimal effort.

Turn The AC Off:

Yes, leaving the AC on can significantly impact your mileage as it puts added pressure on your car’s engine. However, turning on the AC may actually be more fuel-efficient than keeping the windows open.

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A nice compromise is rolling your windows down ever so slightly for half your journey and turning on the AC for the other half. Try using the fan settings as much as possible and don’t park your car in the sun so it doesn’t need to be cooled down after you start it.

Lighten Up!

Traveling light has many advantages, but did you know that it also helps you save fuel? A lighter car requires less energy to move, so it burns less fuel. So ditch those ‘just in case’ items like your spare tire or your gym bag with weights in it while on your grocery run. Free up space, and your car’s engine will thank you for it.

You’ll notice that many small cars have better mileage as they are lighter than large cars and SUVs. A lot of cars today, such as the Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 (730 kg) and the Maruti Ignis (825 kg), have been designed with light curb weights, which improve car mileage.

Slow Down And Save Up:

The need for speed may cost you quite a bit. Speed is great on the racetrack, but on the road, you’re likely to see a dip in your fuel efficiency. The US Department of Energy states that fuel economy decreases significantly once the vehicle crosses speeds of 80 km/h. Driving at a consistent speed and using the cruise control function can help add some extra kilometers to your car’s mileage.

Driving fast means that you’ll face greater wind resistance. As a result, it requires more energy for your car to maintain that speed and thus burn more fuel. Using cruise control can help you maintain a consistent speed and reduce the need for braking and acceleration. The Indian Institute of Delhi states that utilizing the cruise control feature can help you improve your car mileage by up to 14%.

Steady Wins The Race:

Spirited driving is fun for you, but not for your engine. Accelerating, braking, speeding up and slowing down aggressively and inconsistently burn more fuel than driving smoothly. Accelerating burns more fuel to create more power, while abruptly braking wastes the energy that your engine puts into all that acceleration.

Would you like to know how to increase car mileage by practicing fuel-efficient driving habits?

Firstly, accelerate smoothly and avoid abruptly starting and stopping. Driving at a steady speed, reducing unnecessary braking, and practicing linear acceleration can improve your car’s mileage by up to 30–40%.

Avoiding traffic and poor roads will thus help you drive in a more eco-friendly manner. Another habit you can implement into your driving is correctly changing gears. When your car is accelerating, it’ll burn more fuel while in lower gear. But you obviously can’t drive in fifth gear all the time! The trick is to find a rhythm between the middle gears. You won’t be driving 80 kmph on most Indian roads anyway, so be mindful of your speed and switch gears accordingly to save fuel.

Consolidate And Plan Your Trips in Advance:

Rather than taking the shorter route with 20 minutes of traffic, opt for the slightly longer way there, as it will probably be less congested. Like we mentioned earlier, starting and stopping your car abruptly puts way more pressure on your engine and will end up costing you more in fuel costs.

Avoid rush hour if possible. Consider leaving your house slightly earlier so you don’t have to tackle as much traffic. Stay updated on current traffic conditions and be prepared to change routes to avoid congested roads. In fact, if you can, avoid taking the car out for short-distance trips. Try walking, using public transportation, or hitching a ride with a friend.

Plan your errands so that you can complete them on one long trip rather than multiple short ones. It’s better to hit the mall, the supermarket, and the bank on Tuesday rather than make each trip on a different day of the week. Especially if these trips will require you to travel in the same direction. Fewer trips means less fuel consumed, and that translates to more savings for you!

An Idle Engine Is A Money Burner!

When you’re stuck in traffic, you may feel like turning off your engine is wasteful. After all, you’ll only wait at the stoplight for four to five minutes. That shouldn’t be a big deal—except it is. You’re essentially running your engine at 0 kmpl. Burning fuel while idle, even for a minute or two, can definitely impact your fuel efficiency.

So learn how to increase car mileage and save the environment by turning off your ignition. If feasible, switch to a car with auto start/stop. From this point onward, the tips mentioned will cost you a little more time, effort, or money.

Monitor Your Tire Pressure.

This one’s a no-brainer. Your tires are the car’s main point of contact with the road. When your tires are low on pressure, the contact area between the road and the car increases, which causes more friction. The Indian Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association states that underinflated tires can decrease your car’s mileage by up to 3%.

On the other hand, tires with high air pressure have less grip. That’s why monitoring your car’s tire pressure is important to improve car mileage and ensure optimum safety. Many Mercedes-Benz car models, like the C-Class and the GLE, come with a tire pressure monitoring system that helps you keep track of your tires’ air pressure.

Better Quality Gives You Better Fuel Economy:

Owning a car comes with a consistent list of bills and costs that you have to pay month after month, year after year. So you might think that saving money in certain areas isn’t a big deal.

Just like eating adulterated food can be harmful for health, lower-quality fuel can reduce your car’s fuel economy. Cheap fuel may contain impurities that may affect your engine’s health in the long run.

Certain cars only run on certain grades of fuel, so make sure you’ve been using the right fuel for your car. Ethanol blends have less fuel content per liter so a car that uses a more diluted ethanol blend will consume more fuel, impacting fuel efficiency by 6–7%. Quality matters too; fuel with a higher octane rating will be more efficient and increase car mileage in the long run. Just like fuel, the motor oil you use is important too. Pay attention to the grade and viscosity of the motor oil you use, as it greatly affects the friction in your engine. Check your owner manual to learn about which oil grade is right for your vehicle.

Learn the Art of Car Maintenance:

Cars are simple machines. If they aren’t in good condition, they don’t run properly. You may think that you don’t need to service your car if there’s nothing wrong with it. Prevention is actually better than cure, and when it comes to cars, it is cheaper as well.

Let’s use an analogy here: if you don’t visit the dentist regularly, you’ll end up with a lot of dental issues. Sure, you could get veneers if your teeth are ruined, but veneers are expensive; the dentist will shave your teeth down for them, and you’ll need to replace them every 10–15 years. Instead, you could’ve saved so much money by getting an annual dental check-up. So to avoid shilling out huge amounts of money when things go wrong, regular car maintenance will be more cost- and fuel-efficient in the long run.

Driving with a damaged engine severely affects your car’s mileage. Regular servicing ensures that your engine is in tip-top shape and that it can last for many years. During regular servicing, make sure to check the health of consumable components like spark plugs, the air filter, the fuel filter, and your engine oil.

A dirty air filter doesn’t allow clean air to enter the engine and results in more fuel being burned. Even faulty oxygen sensors can reduce the fuel efficiency of your car by up to 40 percent. Make sure to change the engine oil regularly too, as it usually collects grime and becomes more viscous over time. The Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas states that regularly maintaining your engine and cleaning and replacing parts on time can improve mileage by up to 7%.

Rack Up Savings, Get Rid of those Roof Racks!

Certain cars, like SUVs and off-road vehicles, are often equipped with roof racks. Roof racks are quite useful, as your car gets the benefit of added storage space. While roof rails and roof racks are versatile and offer a lot of utility to travelers or those with large families, they also increase the car’s weight and increase wind resistance.

A study by Consumer Reports states that a roof rack can reduce a sedan’s fuel economy by up to 11% and an SUV’s by 2%. So if your car came equipped with roof rails or racks that you don’t use, or if you got one installed just for the looks, consider forgoing them to improve car mileage.

Don’t Let Wind Resistance Drag You Down:

Your car is a hunk of metal that barrels down the street at extreme speeds. The way it cuts through the air, or the way the air flows around it, plays a huge role in how fast it goes and how much fuel it consumes. In other words, your car needs to be aerodynamically designed to battle wind resistance, and this ability is called its ‘drag coefficient’. A low drag coefficient or CD, means that the car is able to move through the air easily and with less effort.

So how do you maintain a lower drag coefficient? Some of the tricks we’ve mentioned help with that. Remove your roof racks and mudguards if you’re not really using them. Use narrower tires and make sure to keep your windows rolled up. If you really want to go the extra mile, clean your car regularly and have the exterior waxed so it smoothly cuts through the air.

In general, SUVs with boxy designs will have lower drag coefficients than sleek sedans, sportscars, and coupes. SUVs can also be designed for maximum aerodynamic efficiency, so the CD really depends on what function the car serves. If you drive an off-roader SUV, be warned that they have lesser mileage than smaller, lighter commuter cars because they’re built to serve a different purpose.

Off-road vehicles like the G-Wagon and the Jeep Wrangler have historically had some of the worst drag coefficients, but that’s because they optimize bulk and off-roading capabilities over speed and fuel efficiency. So they’re great to travel across mountains and deserts, but if you’re planning to buy one for your daily commute, be prepared to spend a lot of money on fuel. We suggest using the right car for the right purpose: buy a Brezza for the daily drive and save your Wrangler for a trip to the Himalayas.

It’s important to pay attention to drag coefficient numbers, especially when you’re buying a new car, as it can greatly affect your mileage. Here are some cars with low drag coefficients:

Sports cars:

• Porsche Taycan Turbo: 0.22 Cd

SUVs:

• Hyundai Ioniq 5: 0.288 CD

Sedans:

• Mercedes-Benz EQS: 0.20 CD
• Mercedes-Benz A-Class: 0.22 CD
• Audi A8: 0.26 CD
• Xiaomi SU7:  0.195 CD

Drive Fuel-Efficient Cars:

If you’re looking for a fuel-efficient car for your daily commute, consider opting for lightweight cars like the Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 and the Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire. If you can, invest in cars that have good mileage and don’t chug gas. Cars with auto-engine start/stop and a lower drag coefficient are a good place to start. Maybe go the extra mile and get a hybrid, as they have great fuel economy and you’ll use half the fuel for twice the mileage.

Though hybrid cars may be more expensive than their ICE counterparts, you’ll make back that money by saving on fuel costs. Plus, hybrids and EVs are so much better for the environment.

If you’re not really sold on the idea of an all-electric vehicle, switching to a CNG car might be a better move for you. CNG is cheaper, emits less pollution, and a lot of CNG cars offer good mileage. For example, the S-CNG variants of the Maruti Suzuki Celerio and S-Presso offer great fuel economy at lower costs. Here are some cars with good mileage in India. The numbers mentioned are representative of the automatic petrol variants of these cars.

SUVs:

• Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara: 27.97 km/l
• Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder: 27.97 km/l

Sedans:

• Honda City Hybrid: 27.13 km/l
• Maruti Suzuki Swift: 25.75 km/l

Hatchbacks: 

• Maruti Suzuki WagonR: 25.19 km/l
• Maruti Suzuki Celerio: 26.68 km/l

How To Increase Car Mileage Efficiently:

Your car’s mileage is affected by a lot of different factors, such as car weight, speeding, engine health, etc. Even the conditions you drive in can affect mileage. You’ll burn less fuel on the highway or on empty roads than you will on bumpy roads or in traffic.

By following all the above tips, you’ll be able to maximize your fuel economy, cut down on fuel costs and increase car mileage. Plus, they will also protect your car and engine from damage and save you money in the long run.

Frequently Asked Questions: