General Comments:
Some important tips.
1st engine.
When you start your car, always remember that the car's engine is asleep if your car's engine is at rest for more than 2 hours. When you start your car's engine, always let it run for at least 1 minute so that it gets in a position to run more smoothly. Some people just start their car & run it high speed. One must give 1 minute of time to the engine so that it can wake up properly.
After every 1000 kms, check your engine oil lubrication to see whether it is sticky or not. The more the sticky oil you have, the more higher engine life you will have.
Change your cars engine oil after every 5000 kms. Never listen to dealers; they will say change your oil after 10000 kms. Never do that, the maximum limit engine oil is 7000 kms. Use only high quality oil such as Shell, Castrol Magnetec, Mobil1; these are the top three engine oil manufacturers. Go for Shell, that's what I use in my car, & believe me, my car's mileage graph is getting higher day by day. Before it was 15 on 1 litre, & now it's 17 with A/C.
Basically to get high mileage, you need to be very careful with your driving. Get your car serviced after every 5000 kms, after every 20000 kms clean your fuel injectors & change your fuel filter with coolant. If possible, clean your air filter after 300 kms with a vacuum cleaner ha ha; that's what I do. That helps the mileage of your car, or clean your air filter after 1000 kms, that will be better, & change it after 15000 kms only if your car mileage has gone down, then change it as quick as possible.
Always check your car's power steering & coolant level once a week. Once a month, splash one bucket of water with a mug at the radiator, which is located lower front of your vehicle, with pressure that will help your coolant to stay for a longer period & will drastically help your A/C cooling.
After every 50000 kms get your engine flushed. An engine flush is an oil which you will get in any spare parts shop. Use this, because during 50000 kms, your car runs at almost every condition day, night, summer, winter, rains etc in every season, you will get different experience. In this period the toxic products get stuck between your cars cylinders, which will affect your cars mileage. By flushing your engine, your car's engine gets as fresh as a new one. The oil removes all the sludges from the cars engine.
A month ago I got my car's engine flushed. I can't believe myself what a great thing I have done to my car. My car's engine is running very smoothly, better than before, giving high mileage in the city with A/C, better pickup with A/C (use STP engine flush) for the best performance.
After every 30 kms, change your spark plugs & always clean your spark plugs at every service, which is also known as tuning (use Bosch Mico), the best spark plugs available to date.
2nd - tyres.
Always go for branded tyres such Bridgestone, Goodyear, Yokohama, Toyo, Michelin. Never go for other tyres such as Apollo, Ceat, MRF, JK Tyre etc.
If you're using tubeless tyres, then don't be afraid of anything like people saying you won't get a puncture on the highway or in the city - everywhere puncture is available.
Maintain proper pressure in your tyres, such as 32 psi on highway & 33 to 34 psi in city, this is because in the city the car doesn't go beyond 50 or 70 kms, so the air inside the tyre doesn't multiply, which is very necessary.
On the highway, the car runs more than 100, so the air inside your car multiplies, that's why keep it little less on highway, which helps your tyres avoid getting burst.
Once a week, splash water on your car tyres cause water helps the tyre get cool down really fast & also increases the tyre life. A normal tyre life is 40000 kms, so after every 20000 kms, swap your front tyre to rear & rear to front, this will help the car's performance on road.
Never go for alloy wheels. If the company is providing you the alloy wheels, then go for it, but never go for aftermarket alloy wheels. If you wanna go for aftermarket alloys, then go for higher performance wheels, which cost more than 25 thousand, & use the same diameter of your car alloy, which the company has provided you. Never compromise with the weight of alloy. Never go for heavy ones. You can go for little lighter ones, but only 2 kgs per alloy, not more than that.
3rd gears & gear shifting.
This a major problem faced by users; when to change your car gears, when to not, so let's make it more simple for you. Today all the cars are equipped with an rpm meter. Never go above the 2500 rpm range, this is because it will ruin your car's performance. Some people go above 2500 rpm range in 2nd & 3rd gear, which is absolutely wrong. The lower the gear the lesser mileage you will get; the higher the gear the higher the mileage you will get.
Always press full clutch when you change your gears & leave them properly & smoothly. Always take your foot off your clutch when you're not changing your car's gears, cause even if you're not pressing, it get pressed sometimes, which damages your clutch plates. Apply the clutch only when needed to increase your cars mileage.
When you're coming down from a flyover, shift your gear into neutral; this is because it will help your car's engine rest, & will increase your mileage by 5 to 10%.
When using A/C, don't accelerate much because when your car's A/C is running, it sucks 40% of your engine power, & if accelerating more in lower gears, your engine life will get short & the mileage will be affected.
Change gear systematically. For example, this is what I do when I drive my car.
1st - till 2 to 3 kms
2nd - till 18 to 24 kms
3rd - till 37 to 40 kms
4th - till 45 to 55 kms
5th - no limit but above 50 kms
All these shifts are done when I use my car with A/C. I mean I always use my car with A/C, so these shifts are done every time.
Change your gear oil after 20000 kms to avoid any damage to your gearbox & gear system. Use less 1st & 2nd gear as far as possible. The lower the sound of the engine, the more mileage you will get. The louder the sound of the engine, the lower the mileage.
To check your cars mileage, first let your car get into reserve. That is get the needle of your fuel gauge below the red line, then after a few minutes, a light will be glowing on your instrument panel with a sign of petrol tank. Now go to a petrol pump & fill fuel upto your limit, & then put your odometer to zero & start driving. When the needle is again below the red line, & when the reserve light will glow then check how much kms your car has run from the day you filled the petrol. Now calculate the kms into the amount of fuel you have filled in your tank, for example 10 litres or 15 litres. The figure which comes on your calculator will tell you the mileage of your car per litre. Reserve tank capacity of spark is 5 litres up to my knowledge, or check your manual.
Basic things to remember.
When you're driving at night with the headlamps on, & by mistake your car gets turned off, first turn off your headlamps, then start your car, because when you start, your engine takes most the current from the battery, & will damage the life of your headlamps bulbs.
Never leave your car headlamps on when your car is switched off, whether in day or night. Turn on parking lights if necessary.
Once a week, open your cars hood (bonnet) & check that there should not be enough dust on your car's machinery. If there is dust on the machine, first clean it with a normal cloth & be careful that you don't touch any wire which you are not aware of. After you wipe it off, then splash 3 or 5 mugs of water with pressure on your cars machinery on engine coolant everywhere. Don't worry, nothing will go wrong in your machine.
Always fill your wiper water tank with shampoo water in case of emergency.
These were the things which I always do, so I'm sharing with you guys. Happy driving & safe driving.
10th Feb 2009, 15:50
High Performance?! Matiz?! If you're used to walking I guess it might be. But in Europe the Matiz is a city car, not for long distances or high speeds.