Should I have my car checked for poor fuel economy? Or are these numbers still ok?

**valacirca** · November 29th, 2012 12:06 PM

I'm new to driving (just learned and got a license three months ago) and I bought a 2012 Kia Rio last September. It's the 1.4 EX A/T Sedan model. So to emphasize, it's not the hatchback.

I've been driving it for almost three months now and my odo is almost at 2500 kms. Parang feeling ko, unusually poor ang fuel consumption niya even thought I usually drive in very heavy traffic.

I usually drive in heavy traffic, travelling from Pasig to Fort to Makati and back during the morning and evening rush. Now that it's the Christmas season, my travel looks like this:

AM travel is around 6:30am - 9:00am
PM travel is from 6:30pm - 9:00pm

Both routes are relatively the same and 16 kilometers long. So on a daily basis, that's 32km = 5 hours of travel. Meaning 6.4kph on the average. Kung hindi Christmas season, siguro bawas ng 1 hours, so 32km = 4 hours of travel. Not much better at 8kph on the average.

Based on my last full tank, ang lumabas na fuel consumption ko is 5.96 km/L. Nung hindi Christmas season, on the average siguro 6.50 km/L ang fuel consumption ko.

Sabi nung ibang kilala ko:

(1) magiimprove pa daw yung fuel economy when my odo gets past the 4-5k mark because I'm still in the break-in period so piston rings and valves have yet to seat properly.
(2) it could be my style of driving since I just learned how to drive recently and I might not be driving in a fuel efficient manner

Pero ano sa tingin niyo? To summarize here are the details:

Pre-Xmas Rush (Sep - Oct)
- distance travelled per day = 32km
- time travelled per day = 4 hours
- avg speed = 8kph
- fuel consumption = 6.50 km/L

Xmas Rush (Nov)
- distance travelled per day = 32km
- time travelled per day = 5 hours
- avg speed = 6.4kph
- fuel consumption = 5.96 km/L

ODO: 2500km

Everything considered.... ipatingin ko na ba to sa casa? :p

**istan** · November 29th, 2012 12:11 PM

Nope, not yet.
I think its your driving style and the heavy traffic.
Car FC is quite normal if your stuck in traffic daily for 5 hrs. :/

**valacirca** · November 29th, 2012 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by istan

Nope, not yet.
I think its your driving style and the heavy traffic.
Car FC is quite normal if your stuck in traffic daily for 5 hrs. :/

thanks istan. I'll continue to observe past the christmas season and see how the FC numbers change around Feb, especially when the ODO goes past the 5000km mark.

**niky** · November 29th, 2012 12:23 PM

Four to five hours a day at 8 km/h?

You're basically burning five liters of gasoline simply to keep the airconditioner running. A small four cylinder engine drinks about 0.9 to 1.2 liters per hour just idling at a stop.

**valacirca** · November 29th, 2012 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by niky

Four to five hours a day at 8 km/h?

You're basically burning five liters of gasoline simply to keep the airconditioner running. A small four cylinder engine drinks about 0.9 to 1.2 liters per hour just idling at a stop.

Well... syempre 8kph should not be taken literally

May parts na sobrang traffic at madaming stoplight, may konting parts na maluwag tapos dire-diretso, but when you put it all together, 32kms in 5 hours pa din talaga

Yung biggest killer ng FC ko in the morning is yung palabas ng Pasig, then yung C5 and Fort relatively light, pero yung Fort to Buendia via flyover sobrang heavy nanaman ng traffic.

Then pauwi, Makati nanaman ang masikip, this time yung Paseo to Buendia, Fort is still okay, but then C5 northbound around 7-8pm is just insane.

**Manilablock** · November 29th, 2012 02:00 PM

mag long drive ka, take your car to subic or batangas, bago ka pumasok ng expressway pa full-tank mo ung car mo (automatic hindi ung sagad).

Take note of the ODO reading, wag mag overspeed.

Then pag pauwi ka na shempre babalik ka dun sa gas station kung saan ka nag pa full-tank, preferably same pump, pa full-tank mo ulit, take note of your ODO.

ODO current less ODO previous = distance traveled

distance traveled / Last fuel full-tank = xx km/liters

pwede ka din mag download ng android free app (DriverDiary) to record your fuel consumption.

**valacirca** · November 29th, 2012 12:11 PM

Another thing I've been observing btw are the Instant Fuel Consumption numbers on the Rio's Multi-Information Display.

When starting to accelerate from a full stop, the numbers are constantly around the 25-30L/100km mark, then when I feel the car shifting gears, bumababa siya to 20-25L/100km.

Only when I hit 3rd gear do the numbers start looking good, around 10-15L/100km, and even around the 5L/100km mark when coasting.

Pero for the 1st and 2nd gears, parang ang taas ng fuel consuption niya?

**Retz** · November 29th, 2012 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by valacirca

Another thing I've been observing btw are the Instant Fuel Consumption numbers on the Rio's Multi-Information Display.

When starting to accelerate from a full stop, the numbers are constantly around the 25-30L/100km mark, then when I feel the car shifting gears, bumababa siya to 20-25L/100km.

Only when I hit 3rd gear do the numbers start looking good, around 10-15L/100km, and even around the 5L/100km mark when coasting.

Pero for the 1st and 2nd gears, parang ang taas ng fuel consuption niya?

MID is not that accurate. Based it on your actual miles traveled and fuel refill.

**valacirca** · November 29th, 2012 12:19 PM

Originally Posted by Retz

MID is not that accurate. Based it on your actual miles traveled and fuel refill.

This is instantaneous fuel consumption, not average fuel consumption.

Yung average fuel consumption ko, like the numbers on my first post, I do it manually, not by the MID.

But I don't think it's possible to manually compute instantaneous fuel consumption

**istan** · November 30th, 2012 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by valacirca

Another thing I've been observing btw are the Instant Fuel Consumption numbers on the Rio's Multi-Information Display.

When starting to accelerate from a full stop, the numbers are constantly around the 25-30L/100km mark, then when I feel the car shifting gears, bumababa siya to 20-25L/100km.

Only when I hit 3rd gear do the numbers start looking good, around 10-15L/100km, and even around the 5L/100km mark when coasting.

Pero for the 1st and 2nd gears, parang ang taas ng fuel consuption niya?

Its normal, your speed is slow, yet rpm is high, so fc increases. As you row thru the gears, speed increases, your rpm maintains, bababa fc. So save fc at 1st to 2nd gear, do gradual and slow starts, masisingitan ka nga lng. If i were u, take ayala, not buendia. Lighter traffic.