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Seven fundamental fuel concerns clarified

What you always wanted to know but didn't know whom to ask.

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Buying a car is just the first step in owning it. Refuelling and maintenance are two subsequent and extremely essential steps. Let’s first look at some of the questions that arise when it comes to fuel and gain clarity from the experts on the best way forward.

1. Should you try and fill fuel only from one particular outlet? If so, why? What are the specific benefits?

There is no specific need to fill fuel from one particular outlet other than your own peace of mind. When you have found a gas station that is close to where you live, gives you satisfactory service and you are content with the quality of fuel you receive from there, it just helps ease your mind every time you tank up. Also, if you are enrolled for such schemes it could help you earn higher loyalty points. From a technical perspective, there is no such compulsion though.

2. In what ways do you benefit by using premium fuels instead of ordinary fuel?
Premium fuels available at gas stations aren’t necessarily purer fuels. In most cases they are regular fuels with additives. Most engines in cars manufactured and sold in India are offered with a state of tune that is optimised to run on regular fuel and using premium fuels may in fact be derogatory to performance. Some manufacturers make it a point to advise customers to use regular fuels and it is best to check with your authorised service centre whether using a premium fuel is advisable for your car.

3. Should you wait till your fuel tank is almost empty before refilling it or keep adding fuel at regular intervals?
Never wait till your fuel tank is almost empty before you refuel. Firstly, if you end up getting stuck in traffic or you don’t come across a gas station in time, you will end up stranded in the middle of the road. Secondly, the emptier the fuel tank the more free space it has for the fuel to vaporise and escape from your tank, thus resulting in loss of fuel and a drop in fuel economy. Always keep your tank as full as you can to avoid both these situations.

4. How does the time of the day affect the quantity of fuel you get?
India is a country where the climate is generally very hot and humid throughout the year in most places. This results in extensive vaporisation of the fuel at higher temperatures. You can in fact see the difference in the amount of vapour escaping the tank if you look at the fuel nozzle carefully during tanking up in the middle of the afternoon and at cooler times of the day such as early mornings or late evenings. These losses in fuel are not only from the fuel pump but from your fuel tank as well and get amplified when you open the fuel lid for a tank up. So try and refuel when ambient temperatures are lower.

5. Does fitting a CNG kit in a petrol vehicle affect the mileage? Will the cost-benefit ratio still work in your favour?

The advantages of fitting a CNG kit in your petrol car is more in terms of running costs than in fuel economy. While the mileage increases by about 30 percent, the cheaper cost of CNG cuts down your running costs to around half of what it takes to run your car on petrol. Considering this, it should take about 2 years for you to recover the added cost of fitting the CNG kit in your car and after that period is when you really start saving money due to CNG in the overall scheme of things.

For this calculation to work, you should be driving for at least about 40km in a day though. If your daily commute is less than that amount, it’s just better to stick to petrol. Also consider that you will end up compromising on boot space to fit your CNG reservoir and you will end up in longer queues at fuel pumps every time you go to tank up on CNG. Always fit a manufacturer approved CNG kit - some aftermarket kits may end up voiding your warranty.

6. Should you opt for a petrol or diesel car for city driving?
Driving a diesel car instead of a petrol car ends up in your favour only if you drive longer distances. Generally a diesel variant of a particular car costs about Rs1-1.3 lakh more than its petrol variant. With diesel prices on the rise and the gap to petrol prices slowly narrowing, you will end up recovering the added money spent in purchasing a diesel car in about 2.5-3 years if you drive no less than 60-70km in a day. If you drive shorter distances everyday it will take longer to recover the initial cost of purchase and your actual savings on fuel costs will only start after that period of recovery.

7. How does adulterated fuel affect your vehicle? What can be done if you have no alternative but to take it?

Adulterated fuel can end up affecting the life of your engine as well as its fuel efficiency. It also affects your tailpipe emissions due to the larger amounts of unburnt adulterates present. It could end up clogging your fuel injectors as well as your fuel filter and pump. In case you don’t have any other option, make sure you service your car and have the injectors and filter checked thoroughly.

In cases of overland expeditions to far away remote places where you might end up having no option but to use whatever fuel you get, teams have known to carry their own filtration equipment for the fuel that avoids any major impurities being pumped into the fuel tank. Of course, that is not feasible on a daily basis so the best option is just to make sure that your fuel system is kept as healthy as can be during the car’s next service.

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