[Speed Pujari]

Originally Posted by TheTeacher

SP,

I don't baby the car, that's for sure. I am not a sedate driver. I don't come to a complete stop at every speed breaker and pot hole like some people do.

Re. my tyres: my driving style was the same in Chennai for ~ 6years, and I never hurt either the Bridgestone Potenzas or the Michelin XM tyres I had on my Baleno. The Potenzas were changed only because the treads had only another 5k kms left and I was going on a long trip and wanted good tyres. Chennai also has its share of bad roads and potholes. Not as bad as Pothole City, but bad nevertheless.

Re. FE:

I am not a slow-poke, but neither do I "drag". I would describe myself as a brisk driver. I also can't stand bad / poor drivers and super slowpokes, and will try to get away from them as soon as I can. I do understand this will affect my FE. I should, because I've been driving for almost four decades.

Our old Ambassadors in the '70s and '80s used to give at least 9 in the city. Granted traffic was a lot less then.

My 3.0L V6 Camry 5-speed automatic in the US gave at least 9.8 in the city, and they have bad jams there as well. My 1.6L normally aspirated Baleno in Chennai typically gave 10.7 in the city.

My driving style has stayed the same. A/C always on, windows up. I never ever lug the engine. I am very conscious of tyre pressure with the T-Jet; never bothered much with the previous cars.

Why so less with the T-Jet? One thing for sure, it hates to idle, and there are several lights in my typical drive. The red is for 80 - 120 secs, and many times I have to wait for two cycles to clear the signal. I don't switch off and the a/c is on. One can see the avg mileage drop like a rock in the MID while idling at a light.

I am trying to get another T-Jet owner (one that's had it for at least a couple of years) to drive mine so I can get a feel for whether it's the car or me.

@TheTeacher - You have just described me how I was couple of months back. Same style of driving.

Anyways, there is other friend of mine in Bangalore who has reported similar issue as your's, and I am planning to drive his car my way and let him drive my car his way for a few kms to see the difference.

BTW, I just did a short-long trip of 200kms over the weekend. With 100% AC I got 18.8 kmpl. Kept it below 90 kmph though, simply to enjoy the boulevard. There were few 'drag-like' drivings as well.

[TheTeacher]

Thanks all.

I have heard so many conflicting reports - keep it in the turbo zone, keep it below the turbo zone - I've tried it all without any of it making any difference. I had a recent conversation with KarthikK, and he has suggested switching off at lights. I'll sweat like a pig (a/c is always on with temp set to 20), but I'm going to try it to see the impact.

Originally Posted by JayKis

Pune to Bangalore (till destination) mileage was 16.4!! It dropped from 17 to 16.4 because of the Bangalore city traffic. In one stretch between Belgaum and Hubli I got a mileage of 18.6 over 70 kms with an average speed of 70!

Just my cents here

• Accelerate slowly.
• Change gears around 2500 rpm mark so that the engine is always in the turbo zone.
• Speeds of 80-120 should give you roughly the same mileage.
• Above 120 the mileage goes down. It goes down significantly if you accelerate harder.

It was quite an eye opener for me to discover this side of the car's character this time!!

Jay, on the only long-distance trip I did, 12 kmpl was the best I got at 65-70 kmph, but perhaps that was because the engine was still new. It had 900 km on it when I left, and 1700 when I got back. So willing to give it another shot. I'll be going on another hwy trip end of May.

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Try a steady run on a Sunday morning with few stops and normal driving. This kind of driving easily displays a 11.50 + kmpl on the MID of my Laura TSI (also a turbo petrol).

This gives me 8.5 in Bangalore city on Sundays and other days when there's no traffic and/or I continuously get green signals.

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Try developing a habit of coasting 'in gear' instead of upshifting at every opportunity possible. Hit the throttle, get car moving a little faster than what normally you would and then get off throttle and coast till you feel the need to hit throttle again. Stay in third when normally you would shift to fourth and stay in second even if you feel like shifting to third. Do this only in city traffic where you know that you are going to have to slow down soon. On open stretches of course upshift all the way to fifth. This way you will reduce the number of times you change gears in traffic, and also you will stay in the turbo zone. The zone where your engine is at its most efficient state. Its producing more energy for every drop of petrol its burning, with help from the turbo. I have tried this in my Laura where on some drives I have not upshifted beyond 3rd and have still got better FE than what I would have got with upshifts to 5th, 6th etc...

Btw 6.xx , 7.xx , 8.xx kmpl are common figures on the mileage indicator of my Laura TSI too when driving in dense city traffic.

This is interesting advice and something I haven't thought of, thanks! As of now, I keep shifting up and down too much, cursing the traffic and gearing. I'll follow this technique and see what happens.

Originally Posted by Speed Pujari

@TheTeacher - You have just described me how I was couple of months back. Same style of driving.

Anyways, there is other friend of mine in Bangalore who has reported similar issue as your's, and I am planning to drive his car my way and let him drive my car his way for a few kms to see the difference.

BTW, I just did a short-long trip of 200kms over the weekend. With 100% AC I got 18.8 kmpl. Kept it below 90 kmph though, simply to enjoy the boulevard. There were few 'drag-like' drivings as well.

KarthikK has also agreed to drive test my car despite his busy schedule (thanks KarthikK!). If it behaves with him, I'll take full responsibility for my driving. I suspect I can't change my habits fully (old dog and all that) but at least I'll have made peace with the issue.

My goal was to buy the MultiJet, but I just couldn't stand the turbo lag in the test car. The mistake I made was test driving the T-Jet

Somehow my car does not feel peppy at all (compared to the test T0Jet vehicle, and that's something else I've requested KarthikK to verify.

[Biraj]

Originally Posted by TheTeacher

Thanks all.

I have heard so many conflicting reports - keep it in the turbo zone, keep it below the turbo zone - I've tried it all without any of it making any difference.

Have you tried Ecodrive? It's a very good app. It tracks your journey and gives you feedback on gear-shifts, acceleration, etc. It also allows you to benchmark your personal stats with global average. The best part is that all this is done by Blue&me and the data gets stored in USB.

I tried it and it did help but I didn't continue after upgrading the Blue&me software. Blame it on my laziness.

Another option is to purchase an ELM327 adapter, download Torque or Bosch Funtodrive app, and track your journeys. It has multiple benefits:

1. tracking your driving style
2. Giving detailed feedback on various parameters (engine temperature, fuel pressure, etc)
3. Identify fault/error codes

It's all about how we accelerate. My T-jet on my normal driving style delivers 9-10 KMPL in Delhi but with mild-adjustments, I have observed 11-12 KMPL under same conditions. Ditto for highway, my first two highway trips to Himalayas delivered 11-11.5 KMPL. On the last trip, I was a bit more cautious and got ~15 KMPL. There was a stretch of 200 KMs, in which I observed 17.2 KMPL.

All the best

PS: Where's Karthikk? Haven't seen (virtually) him around of late.

[TheTeacher]

Originally Posted by Biraj

Have you tried Ecodrive?

Another option is to purchase an ELM327 adapter, download Torque or Bosch Funtodrive app, and track your journeys. It has multiple benefits.

It's all about how we accelerate. My T-jet on my normal driving style delivers 9-10 KMPL in Delhi but with mild-adjustments, I have observed 11-12 KMPL under same conditions. Ditto for highway, my first two highway trips to Himalayas delivered 11-11.5 KMPL. On the last trip, I was a bit more cautious and got ~15 KMPL. There was a stretch of 200 KMs, in which I observed 17.2 KMPL.

All the best

PS: Where's Karthikk? Haven't seen (virtually) him around of late.

Thanks Biraj, I'll keep this in mind. I downloaded Ecodrive, but gave up when I couldn't select all the right options. May end up buying the EBD analyzer more for peace of mind. I guess I ought to get it into my thick skull to change my driving - the message I'm getting from all is quite consistent!

KartikK is busy in his personal life and is traveling a bit

[Guite]

On a test drive of the 2013 Linea last week, I got 18kmpl. This was on the expressway from Mahamaya flyover to Pari Chowk and back, a total of about 45 km. The MFD figure was constantly between 18 to 19kmpl throughout this drive. Traffic was sparse as it was noon time, so could consistently maintain speed around 80 kmph.

[Speed Pujari]

Originally Posted by TheTeacher

Thanks Biraj, I'll keep this in mind. I downloaded Ecodrive, but gave up when I couldn't select all the right options. May end up buying the EBD analyzer more for peace of mind. I guess I ought to get it into my thick skull to change my driving - the message I'm getting from all is quite consistent!

KartikK is busy in his personal life and is traveling a bit

We can do that exercise if you are based out of bangalore.

It might be psychological that lately I am too feeling that there is a reduction in acceleration. Can be tested once I drive another car.

[r0ckstar.1]

Originally Posted by Speed Pujari

We can do that exercise if you are based out of bangalore.

It might be psychological that lately I am too feeling that there is a reduction in acceleration. Can be tested once I drive another car.

Good discussion on the driving styles and FE. I have been riding my TJet for the last 3 months and get about 10kmpl in Bangalore city with AC on and a recent longdrive to Coorg and back (including a spirited ghat section driving to talacauvery) gave me an avg of 14kmpl for the entire trip of about 700kms.

Why don't we have a saturday/sunday meeting in Bangalore and share our experiences. Sounds like we can learn quite a bit. It will be a Bangalore Tjet bhpian meet

[ak916]

Originally Posted by TheTeacher

(a/c is always on with temp set to 20)

One thing I noticed is that keeping the AC at 24 even when outside temp is 36-37 is the best. It returns better mileage than when I used to keep it at 19-20 in hot conditions. It is really comfortable at 24 deg. I set it to "lo" for the first 2-3 minutes of the drive and then leave it untouched at 24 for the rest of it. Works great in Andhra/Tamilnadu and Kerala as well.

[TheTeacher]

SP, I already have asked KarthikK. I'll wait a bit on your offer.

r0ckstar.1, great idea! We should do this soon.

ak916, thanks, will try this.

[Scorpioman]

Teacher, I too have the same problem with the FE on my Jet. December 2013 model and done 4700 km to date. Coming from an Esteem, I used to initially drive the Jet like I did the Esteem and would get around 7.5 to 7-8 kmpl on full tank average. Did a trip to Goa when the odo was at 900 and it returned with 11.9 kmpl for 1500 km. Have since read all the posts here and tried everything suggested and managed to get 9.2 kmpl with AC. Instead of being happy with that I was a bit upset as I was not enjoying the car as much. No more looking at the FE for me. Just tank up whenever required and enjoy the drive.

I get around 280 KM on a full tank at an average of 7.8 kmpl. Trying to get that figure upto to 9 kmpl would give me around 315 km. I travel close to 30 km per day to work and back which translates to approximately 8.4 litres of petrol a day. If I drive with the FE in mind and get 9 kmpl without enjoying the drive all I end up in saving is .5 litre per day. I say damn the Rs 40/- and enjoy the car. Over time I guess I will gradually change the way I drive and if I get a little more per litre it would be great.

[TheTeacher]

Thanks SM, glad to know I'm not the only one (misery loves company, and all that).

One thing I'm going to try is turning off at signal lights where the wait is known (timer). Have never done this before. Shouldn't hurt the turbo since it's watercooled. This was suggested by KarthikK.

[khoj]

This goes out to all Linea owners, TJet, N.A. Petrol and MJD alike.

I was at Tuli Fiat last weekend for the AC service camp and while getting the Cabin filter cleaned inquired regarding the availability of 'Paper element' filter. My Tjet+ came with a plastic mesh cabin filter.

The mechanic checked and sure enough they had the paper element filters made by Denso and costing a grand sum of INR 200.00 + tax (in comparison the one that goes in to my Mitsubishi costs 2100.00+ taxes, though that is Carbon impregnated which takes cares of odours etc). Replaced the plastic mesh filter with the paper and the result is much better flow of air and less noise from the blower. Earlier the blower would make a lot of noise from mid to high speeds now the noise at mid level is pretty low and non intrusive.

Thought of putting this out here in view of the summer season with the thought that some of you may want to take advantage of the better filter and get the same installed in your rides.

Word of caution, when getting it installed do take care to confirm that the air flow arrow printed on the paper element filter is pointing in the correct direction.

In case any one is wondering, no the plastic mesh filter was not clogged/dirty. Guess the pleated pear design is simply better.

The plastic mesh cabin AC filter seems to be the one place where FIAT managed localisation in the otherwise largely purely imported TJet+ of yore.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by khoj

This goes out to all Linea owners, TJet, N.A. Petrol and MJD alike.

I was at Tuli Fiat last weekend for the AC service camp and while getting the Cabin filter cleaned inquired regarding the availability of 'Paper element' filter. My Tjet+ came with a plastic mesh cabin filter.

The mechanic checked and sure enough they had the paper element filters made by Denso and costing a grand sum of INR 200.00 + tax (in comparison the one that goes in to my Mitsubishi costs 2100.00+ taxes, though that is Carbon impregnated which takes cares of odours etc). Replaced the plastic mesh filter with the paper and the result is much better flow of air and less noise from the blower. Earlier the blower would make a lot of noise from mid to high speeds now the noise at mid level is pretty low and non intrusive.

Thought of putting this out here in view of the summer season with the thought that some of you may want to take advantage of the better filter and get the same installed in your rides.

Word of caution, when getting it installed do take care to confirm that the air flow arrow printed on the paper element filter is pointing in the correct direction.

In case any one is wondering, no the plastic mesh filter was not clogged/dirty. Guess the pleated pear design is simply better.

The plastic mesh cabin AC filter seems to be the one place where FIAT managed localisation in the otherwise largely purely imported TJet+ of yore.

Fiat had this paper filter from 2009 till end 2011.
The problem with it,is that it filters a lot of dust and elements and gets clogged pretty soon,which affects air flow badly.I just switched back to it this weekend from wiremesh(had got it in 2012).

[deepakhon]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Fiat had this paper filter from 2009 till end 2011.
The problem with it,is that it filters a lot of dust and elements and gets clogged pretty soon,which affects air flow badly.

That is true. During my first service (5k one), the service adviser changed the paper filter saying that it had accumulated a lot of dust. I am wondering how in 5k km it could accumulate that much of dust enough to be replaced.

[khoj]

That means the paper element filter really does a good job. I would rather have a clogged air filter, that I can replace every six months or so rather than a clogged air flow coil which can be a pain.

After reading your response I am thinking as to why I did not change to the paper element filter earlier.

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Fiat had this paper filter from 2009 till end 2011.
The problem with it,is that it filters a lot of dust and elements and gets clogged pretty soon,which affects air flow badly.I just switched back to it this weekend from wiremesh(had got it in 2012).