[Sids85]

Originally Posted by vinodvaddi

I have the same car. I never got below 7KMPL. Gives me about 8KMPL in the city and 12 KMPL on the highway. After two years and 15,000KM of running, the overall fuel efficiency stands at 10KMPL.

In the city, if the traffic is relatively easy (steady moving at 40KMPH), I get 12KMPL. In the case of stop-go traffic, it drops to 7KMPL.

On the highway, at a steady 90KMPH on the expressway, I get 15KMPL. With speed rising to 115KMPH and a bit of stop-go on the highways, the efficiency drops to 12KMPL.


Overall, I think the Jeep Petrol AT is not any different from any other Turbo petrol ATs in the market. The efficiency depends on the traffic situation and driving style.

With the kind of traffic that we have on our city roads, it's not right to measure the fuel efficiency just in terms of distance. It should also be measured in terms of time and ideally as a function of both.

To give you an example, there was this news earlier this year, about a Hyundai Venue giving 2.8 KMPL after a drive of 2.9 km over 52 minutes!

https://www.rushlane.com/hyundai-ven...-12476744.html

My car has completed 2.4 years and 21000 kms and it is giving out the same FE. So we are both rocking on the same boat.

[The Rationalist]

Originally Posted by Sids85

Well the petrol is costing me around 9-10k per month. Had it been 2-3k, I really wouldn't have mind.

Something is wrong with your calculation. You are saying daily commute is 40-50 kms, that means you drive between 1000-1200 kms a month and your expenses is ₹9-10,000. That means you are spending about ₹9-10 on petrol per kilometre. With price of petrol at ₹110, you must be getting 10-11 kml/litre mileage! Now even if you get a diesel car, the mileage will be around 5 kms more per litre and the cost differential of ₹10/litre, the savings you will make will be ₹5000/month. You will have to spend more than ₹3 lakh above the resale price of your Compass petrol to get a diesel car. I don’t understand what you will be saving at all.

I’m driving a petrol automatic which has given mileage of 8 km/l over it’s life time. I will need to spend ₹15 lakh to save a couple of thousand bucks if I need to get a car with similar power and handling. Penny wise pound foolish would be the apt word for such .

[starlord]

Originally Posted by Sids85

I am an avid follower of Team-BHP threads and its various contents. This is my first ever post on this forum. I look forward to some honest suggestions and opinions on my post. I come here to write about a dilemma and the way out.
...

Should have take the Diesel. It’s a hoot to drive. On flat stretches my diesel manual cruises at 70kmph at ~1100 rpm without making a sound or touching the throttle. Just curious, what made you opt for petrol?

[Turbohead]

If you really want to trade in your car for a more fuel efficient model, I would only recommend the Hycross Innova hybrid for you. It will go beyond your budget but will reward you with good fuel efficiency in the city, good reliability and will have good resale value redeeming you of the depreciation you faced with the Jeep. If this is too much, Tiago EV for the city is the best bet!

[shancz]

No experience on the car but I have never seen a car change with poor FE as the only reason :

If you think your car gives unacceptably low FE :
1. Don't trust the MID, do a proper tank-to-tank method
2. Refill after driving for 80% of your tank range to reduce the filling errors as much as possible.
3. Check if your vehicle doesn't mandate a higher octane fuel(like Skoda-VW recommend 95 and mandate 91 as min)
4. If already done the visit your ASC to verify that everything else is good and the FE that you get is actually what others have reported as well.
5. So if the FE is the only reason to change now, do a holistic calculation of total money going out from your pocket for the number of years that you intend to own the replacement car. Meaning the cost of acquiring the replacement car after selling this one vs the amount of extra money you'd have spent on fuel with this car.
Considering your current driving average, it doesn't warrant a change but you know better.

A lateral upgrade to diesel is being recommended but that also exposes you to the unknowns of a used diesel for 70% city driving.

[tirumalavoleti]

Hard dilemma.

As you have already mentioned Taigun, please consider taigun 1 Ltr AT, super build, reliable, smooth and perfect city drives with double digit city mileage. On highway as well it matches jeep compass stability. You also could end up saving some money for fuel. Only drawback is to compromise on interiors, which not match compass.

Take financially prudent decission

[admmys]

I have a Scross Petrol 1.5 AT that i drive around in Mysore 5 days a week and commute to Bangalore for 2 days every week. I drive through the peak Bangalore traffic on most days through Outer Ring Road and manage to get 12 KMPL and on the highway with cruise control can get close to 18-20 KMPL.

We have a Ciaz 1.5 AT as well and that works out the same more or less in terms of fuel consumption. I guess the Suzuki vehicles are intended for the Indian user base who are concerned about Kitna Deti Hain

Based on my current usage of about 1000 km each week, I'm thinking of going the route of Hybrids especially for City + Highway commutes.

Here are my current considerations
1. Honda City ZX Hybrid

2. Innova Hycross VX/ ZX (not sure if the bookings are back for these yet)

3. Used 21-22 Model Toyota Camry. these have depreciated very quickly in the first few years but given its CKD build [It is a Toyota Corporation vehicle and not just a Toyota Kirloskar]and its top-notch engine, it's a hoot to drive, feels luxurious, and at the same time gives close to 18 KMPL in the city and 20-22 on the highways if driven with a light foot. I test-drove this recently and found this vehicle far superior to its class and bonus is its a Toyota with a significantly lower cost of maintenance and superior reliability

My favorite pick of the lot would however be the Hycross for its practicality and the packing that Toyota brings to the table

[Pete_EV]

Originally Posted by GTO

Let's get one thing out of the way. With very few exceptions, no powerful AT will ever give above 6 - 7 kmpl in a crowded city. They are all guzzlers. The Civic AT & i10 AT were notorious for just 6 - 7 kmpl. My Thar Petrol AT gives 6 kmpl. If the traffic is really bad, it can even drop to 5.

Now, clearly, you love everything else about your Compass:


Why sell a car you love to save 2000 - 3000 rupees a month?

Instead, for the below:


How about getting a cheap EV like the Tiago EV for this? Dirt cheap running costs, butter-smooth driving experience and small size might make it perfect for the city. Take the max warranty and you don't have to worry about maintenance.

Option 2: Do a lateral upgrade. Sell used, buy used, so you don't lose money. Swap your Petrol AT out for a Diesel AT (although you'll find many more of the Diesel MT in the market). As an added bonus, the Compass' diesel engine is the superior IMHO.

____________________________________
Similar issue of FE faced by me so I bought a Tiago EV top end as the second car and all my FE woes are gone! Super pleasing to drive & park in the city traffic, great torque whenever needed to overtake and sports mode for occasional fun on empty streches. Have done Mumbai -Pune twice ditching my Honda as it is super economical - around Rs. 2 per Km. Have crossed 10K kms in 5 months, no issues so far.

[TwentyDeewar]

Originally Posted by Sids85

Hi BHPians,



Unfortunately, the dark side is that it is a MASSIVE fuel guzzler. Being a Petrol AT, along with the quality of roads and traffic condition we face it just sucks the petrol and my wallet (pun intended) dry. In City, it struggles to give a mileage of 4-5kmpl whereas on highways, it reaches 14-15 and on some very good stretches even touches 18 kmpl. Considering the weight of the car and the engine power, I cannot fault it.

Hi,

We own the same car, and love it as much as you do. We have been able to get 7.5-8 in the city on an average and 13-14 on the highways. I'd suggest don't sell, it's a great car. Some of the things I have been doing to keep the fuel efficiency acceptable (Maybe try them for a couple of months before taking a decision):

1. Fill only XP95. It makes a perceptible difference to the power delivery.
2. Warm up your engine on a cold start. Drive with a light foot within the city, if you don't already. There is a display to see instantaneous FE, that might help in easing off the gas!
3. Try to time your commute. Can you start a little earlier to beat the traffic?
4. Bring your gear to 'N' if you are stopping for more than 10 secs. Its easier on the engine and the gearbox.

Hopefully these help to get your FE up!

[abaliga]

Originally Posted by Sids85

I am writing this with a lot of sadness inside but now I am seriously considering to replace the car.

4-5 kmpl within the city stop go is way too less, if you enjoy the car in every other way, do try out some of the following for your city trips to see if you can improve the efficiency before deciding to part with it

- Modulate the throttle carefully, burrying the gas pedal is not recommended for Turbo Petrols as it gulps fuel, this strategy has helped me improve the mileage by around 2 kmpl on our Octavia 2.0 TSI, try to keep the revvs below 2k for the most part

- Anticipate stopping (reduce the usage of brakes) and coast as much as possible

- Try to keep acceleration bursts to a minimum, most of the time sudden acceleration bursts are futile in Indian cities, time taken from point A to point B works out to be almost the same irrespective of whether one is driving enthusiastically or efficiently

- Use high octane fuel (95/97)

- Keep the air-conditioning temperature at a comfortable 23-24

- Ensure correct tyre pressure at all times

One other thing I have noticed is that if driving distances are short (less than 5 kms), the KMPL returned for most cars is relatively lesser, longer driving distances improves this significantly, in my case if I drive less than 4-5 kms, typically I get 6.5-7.5, if its over 5-6 kms, I get 8-9 KMPL quite easily, this is because of the thermodynamic efficiency of IC engines where in the motor consumes more fuel until it reaches optimum operating temperature, so, all the above pointers may not improve the numbers if your driving distances are very short.

[Sids85]

Originally Posted by TwentyDeewar

Hi,

We own the same car, and love it as much as you do. We have been able to get 7.5-8 in the city on an average and 13-14 on the highways. I'd suggest don't sell, it's a great car. Some of the things I have been doing to keep the fuel efficiency acceptable (Maybe try them for a couple of months before taking a decision):

1. Fill only XP95. It makes a perceptible difference to the power delivery.
2. Warm up your engine on a cold start. Drive with a light foot within the city, if you don't already. There is a display to see instantaneous FE, that might help in easing off the gas!
3. Try to time your commute. Can you start a little earlier to beat the traffic?
4. Bring your gear to 'N' if you are stopping for more than 10 secs. Its easier on the engine and the gearbox.

Hopefully these help to get your FE up!

I would definitely try these tips going forward. Hope to see some improvement on the FE

[naikameya]

There may be other reasons where buying a fuel-efficient car turns out to be better, but finance is not one of them. Let's assume you are not a great driver, just okay-ish(meaning you don't drive in fuel-efficient ways).

Let's say a fuel-efficient car will reduce the fuel cost by half, say, by Rs 5000. Let's assume you buy a 5,00,000 worth of car. Without any loan, maintenance, wear and tear, or servicing costs, it will take you 100 months, which is 8 years & 4 months, to break even.

You made a choice, bought a car you enjoy driving, and feels safe; stick to it.

I had a Honda Jazz 1.2 for a long. It was underpowered for long drives, but I didn't buy another car till I found something worthy of an upgrade. I was driving at a higher RPM and adding an STP Octane booster. I upgraded to 2.0D Tucson. I still spend the same as my Jazz with an efficiency drop of 1kmpl due to the difference in diesel and petrol costs.
I went for diesel even though my weekly mileage doesn't justify it because it helps during road trips, and the torque is addictive.

[Autonaut]

The Compass is a fantastic car, and almost all gasoline automatics are fuel guzzlers. Since it scores in all other points, including handling, its better to keep it. Buy a cheap EV like a Comet or Tiago for your city drive. EVs are great in cities.

[Joe367]

Originally Posted by Sids85

I live in Thane and my daily commute entail covering approximately 40-50 kms for a round trip from home to office and back.

If your Jeep already gives decent mileage in the highways and you're still worried about fuel expenses, I wonder how much difference it would make switching to a diesel automatic. 🤔

How long are your occasional long journeys?If you can make it comfortably with a single charging stop, why not consider going fully electric like antz.bin suggested 🙂

Also are you only considering SUVs? Honda City Hybrid was a great option otherwise.

[igemini]

Originally Posted by TwentyDeewar

1. Fill only XP95. It makes a perceptible difference to the power delivery.
2. Warm up your engine on a cold start. Drive with a light foot within the city, if you don't already. There is a display to see instantaneous FE, that might help in easing off the gas!
3. Try to time your commute. Can you start a little earlier to beat the traffic?
4. Bring your gear to 'N' if you are stopping for more than 10 secs. Its easier on the engine and the gearbox.

Hopefully these help to get your FE up!

I completely concur with these comments. It's worth giving it a try for about three months and then deciding. I'd also recommend changing the air filter more frequently if your commute involves dusty areas, perhaps every 7500kms instead of the company-recommended 15000kms.

For context, I use a Polo GT TSI in a city like Kochi, with a daily commute of around 50 km through dense traffic. Since day one, I've been using either HP Power or XP 95, and the regular mileage ranged from 8-10 kms in the city to 14-19 on highways. My monthly fuel bills are typically between Rs 12-20K under these conditions.

For a change and also considering the fuel bills (XP 95 = 114.75 and Regular is around RS 107) I switched to regular petrol, especially from Reliance for a while. While filling the petrol I felt good as I was getting more fuel per RS. But it was short-lived. The fuel efficiency dropped by at least a km and reached 7-9 kms range and noticeable drop in pick up also there. After 2-3 tank fulls, I was back to XP 95 and I felt really good regardless of the high fuel price.

I was more gentle on the throttle and slightly adjusted the driving pattern including the daily commute timings. Frankly speaking, instead of 8 am, I used to leave around 7.45 am and I must say that 10-15 minutes saved a lot of travelling time and also improved fuel efficiency. It became 9-11.6 range.

I was also thinking to buy a small car for the commute, change the car etc. Buying a new small car, probably I might end up paying 13-14K every month in EMI terms + Petrol doesn't make any sense. Additionally, I will lose the pleasure of driving. Obviously, I don't want to go back to manual cars.

I went along with my friend for his car shopping and drove almost all the cars under 25 lakhs range. Every car felt underwhelming except Skoda/VW twins and then again they pretty much use the same engine and cost double. Hyrider felt extremely underpowered and the boot was underwhelming too.

This realization led me to understand that upgrading or buying a cheaper car would not necessarily improve my monthly expenses but could, in fact, increase them. Additionally, I would miss the enjoyable driving experience. It's a case of being "penny wise, pound foolish."

I hope these insights resonate with your experiences.