Mileage Calculator

Have you ever wondered why the doctors check your pulse or blood pressure even when you’re only complaining about a bad stomach? That’s because sometimes, the stomach ache is not just a problem, but it could be a symptom of a much larger problem. Changes in blood pressure and heart rate can help diagnose, and if nothing else, at least rule out a larger problem.

Similarly, the mileage of a vehicle is usually the first indicator of most problems with your car. If you ignore it, something much more critical to the vehicle’s functioning could break down and then, the best case is a big bill to pay for the repairs. The worst case is unimaginable as getting stranded alone by a deserted street could bring with it any number of potentially life-threatening problems.

Once you have an idea of the typical mileage of your vehicle, any significant downward deviation from the baseline could suggest that something is deteriorating rapidly and needs your attention. The following are some of the problems that you can discover early on if you keep a close watch on your vehicle’s mileage figures:

Poor Alignment: A toe in or toe out will make the vehicle consume more fuel as the left and right wheels are trying to go in slightly different directions.

Too Low Tyre Pressure: Low tyre pressure could lead to a blowout as the tyre weakens from severe flexes in the structure. A flat is also very likely in a poorly inflated tyre because of a broader contact patch.

Clogged Air Filter: An air filter that isn’t flowing air freely and needs replacement will result in running a rich fuel mixture to extract the desired performance. This fuel-rich burn will lead to a greater carbon deposit in the combustion chamber and the exhaust plumbing.

Air Intake Leaks: If there’s a leak in the intake manifold, it’ll let dirty, unfiltered air into the combustion chamber and the vehicle will have to push in more fuel to achieve an appropriate fuel-air mixture and maintain combustion. The debris in the air will gradually scratch the cylinder walls and even leave you stranded if the damage goes unnoticed for too long.

Clutch Wear: A vehicle with a worn out clutch will lead to slipping. Thus, the clutch won’t fully engage and to extract the desired performance, you’ll have to rev the car. The change in engine rev requirements is so gradual that you won’t notice it on the tachometer but the mileage will have deviated significantly long before you notice the change in engine behaviour.

Broken O2 Sensor: A faulty oxygen sensor will fail to identify the amount of unburnt oxygen in the exhaust manifold to adjust the fuel ratio. It won’t get you stranded for a good while as the vehicle will burn a rich fuel-air mixture to make sure it maintains mobility. Burning a fuel-rich mixture will later clog up the exhaust side of things.

Clogged Up Cat Con: Should you keep ignoring the signs and run the vehicle for too long with a rich mixture, eventually, the performance will drop to levels that you’ll have no other choice but to visit the car doctor.

If you’re in the habit of filling up only as much gas as you need, then this method of calculating mileage won’t help you as it requires tanking up every time you fill gas/petrol, diesel or CNG in your vehicle.

Here’s how you can calculate your vehicle’s mileage using the tank-to-tank method and V3Cars mileage calculator:

1. Tank Up: You can either do this till the nozzle automatically cuts fuel or to the brim. But whatever you choose, stay consistent with the method or the values will deviate considerably from the realistic norm. In the interest of safety and avoid fuel spill, it’s better to just fill up till the nozzle auto cuts.

2. Reset Trip Metre: Pick one of the available trip metres and reset it once you’ve tanked up. If your car doesn’t have a trip metre, then make a note of the odometer reading.

3. Drive As Usual: Does this part need any explanation?

4. Tank Up: When you need to refuel, fill up the vehicle once again.

5. Note Trip Reading: Make a note of the distance travelled since the previous tank up.]

6. Reset Trip Metre: Now, reset it for the next trip mileage calculation.

7. Collect The Receipt/Invoice: The invoice should mention the amount you paid and the quantity of fuel you filled.

8. Visit Mileage Calculator Page: Now that you have the 3 values you need, populate the Distance, Fuel and Price fields. The Distance field will accept the distance travelled. You should enter the quantity of fuel filled up in the Fuel field. Finally, the cost per gallon or per litre of fuel goes into the Price field.

Voila! Magic happens and you get the per km or per mile fuel cost and the gas or diesel mileage of your vehicle.

If you took offence at the magic part of our mileage calculation, then you can run it by yourself if you have access to a basic calculator. If you’re smart enough to do your own taxes, then you won’t need the calculator either. Here are the formulas for mileage calculations:

• Fuel cost per kilometre/mile = Total fuel cost incurred during refill / distance travelled
• Gas mileage = Total distance travelled / litres or gallons of fuel filled

If mechanically, the car or SUV is in sound condition, then check if any of the following conditions are applicable that may result in poor mileage:

Load: In recent days, if you have used the vehicle with a heavier load, either in the form of passengers, luggage or both, then you should expect a lower mileage.

Towing: When you tow a trailer, a flatbed or another vehicle, the load as well as aerodynamic drag of the vehicle adversely affects the mileage of your vehicle.

Driving Conditions: In stop-and-go traffic, windy regions or water-logged driving conditions, you can expect the vehicle to return a lower gas mileage than usual. If you also happen to be driving on the freeways or highways, then depending on the vehicle’s performance and how fast you have to drive it, you can expect a lower mileage. Especially low displacement vehicles, which are not designed for continuous high speeds, highway driving can instead lower their mileage during the high-speed runs.

Driving Style: Depending on the driving style of the driver, the mileage can also drop. For example, if the driver doesn’t let go of the accelerator when they have to stop or slow down and instead uses the brakes at a much later point, then the mileage will certainly drop. When you could have coasted down to match the lower speed of the traffic, using too much fuel to first maintain the speed and then shedding it with brakes will naturally give lower fuel efficiency.

Vehicle’s Age: With wear and tear, the vehicles tend to lose their tolerances. Obviously, you can’t expect a half-a-million-mile Corolla to be as efficient as a new one, even if they have exactly the same engine configurations.

Weather: Driving in hot climates means you’ll have to rely heavily on the air conditioning. If the vehicle is quite big and has a bigger compressor, then the mileage will also suffer. Even during winters, when you have to use the heater along with the air conditioning to keep the cabin fog free, you may see a lower mileage than what you get during pleasant weather. This winter driving is especially detrimental to the mileage or range of the electric vehicles, especially the ones which have resistor-based heating. Not only do the batteries struggle to hold the charge, the heating also uses up a good amount of the current and affects the range.

External Accessories: With exter accessories, like an aftermarket spoiler, large alloy wheels, wider tyres, etc. you should expect the vehicle to return a lower mileage than the stock one.

Short Trips: When you drive your car frequently for short trips, it doesn’t get enough time to warm up. Not only does it cause more per mile wear and tear on the engine, it also consumes more fuel as it needs to warm up to its ideal operating temperature. This could also affect your vehicle’s efficiency.

Idling: Besides getting stuck in traffic, if you keep the engine running while sitting in the car, either eating, drinking or doing what not, that’s going to drop your car’s mileage as it’s consuming fuel while going nowhere.

Fuel Quality: In some areas, where they don’t have access to high-quality fuel, the adulterations can cause your vehicle to give poor mileage.

Altitude: Not only does driving in hilly regions consume more fuel because of the frequent climbing, the air in such places is also quite thin. As in, it has less oxygen than in lowlands. So, the vehicle’s ECU needs to spray more fuel to achieve the desired performance, which will also end up affecting your vehicle’s mileage.

Here are a few things you can do to get better gas mileage from your vehicle:

• Tyre Pressure: A lower tyre pressure can drastically reduce your car’s mileage. The recommended tyre pressure is for cold conditions. So, consider filling up your car’s tyres before you start rolling as that flex can heat up the tyre and then you end up with a lower cold tyre pressure. If you’re fine with a little discomfort on broken roads, then you can also go past the recommendation by 2-3PSI.

• Alignment: If your left front and right front wheels are trying to go in different directions because of a toe in or toe out, then the engine will need to burn more fuel to keep the vehicle running straight. Moreover, poor alignment will also wear out the tyres much sooner and in an uneven manner.

• Tyre Size: Wider tyres increase the contact patch and thus the grip. But if your vehicle doesn’t have the kind of power to fully exploit the greater grip or if you don’t drive aggressively enough to put it to good use, then that’s a pure waste of money. Not only will you end up paying more for the tyres, they will also reduce the vehicle’s mileage.

• Alloy Wheels: They came from racing as they were lighter and a lower rotating mass meant the vehicle could move faster and more efficiently. But we’ve turned it into a fashion statement for cars. With larger alloy wheels, you have a much higher rotating mass, thus negating the reason why alloy wheels exist in the first place. A smaller wheel (steel or alloy) with a taller sidewall will not only give you better mileage, but also better comfort.

• Air Conditioning: Just because an AC compressor uses more fuel doesn’t mean you’ll just open up the windows. At high speeds, the aerodynamic drag from open windows is far higher than the additional fuel the AC would consume. So, at low speeds on fine  mornings, it’s okay to open the windows.

• Gear Changes: Changing gear too late will give you fantastic performance. But if you’re not in a rush, consider upshifting a little sooner. Turbocharged and hybrid vehicles have a good amount of bottom end torque to let up upshift early and still get good acceleration and drivability. Beware, though, upshifting too soon is also not good for efficiency.

• Defensive Driving: If you know that you have to stop or slow down soon and you have enough momentum to reach the traffic, then coasting is a much better option than applying the brakes at the last moment. Not only will it improve your car’s mileage, it’ll also make you a safer driver as you’re slow enough to react to any emergencies.

• Displacement: It’s not always true that all cars give better mileage on the highways. The ones with bigger engines certainly do, but small displacement cars will have to rev higher to maintain highway speeds and will, therefore, give poor mileage. If you have multiple cars, or you’re buying a car, consider your usage and choose a car accordingly. Moreover, for shorter trips, consider using the car with the lowest displacement. A small engine will consume far less fuel for short intra-city trips than a big-displacement SUV.

• Basic Maintenance: This shouldn’t come as a shock. Routine maintenance goes a long way in achieving good mileage. In fact, consider changing oils and filters a little earlier than what the car manufacturer recommends. Most cabbies do. That’s why their vehicles run like new even after clocking fairly high 6-figure reading on the odometers.

• Taller Sidewall: If your vehicle has enough torque, you can also consider increasing the tyre wall by 5-10 points. This will also improve the car’s ground clearance and increase the effective final gearing. Thus, at the expense of quick acceleration, you will get a vehicle, which can cruise at a relaxed RPM at highway speeds. Do note that although it's a simple modification, this may void your vehicle’s warranty. Going with a taller sidewall will also affect the car’s odometer and speedometer reading. Thus, you’ll have to drive much slower than what’s indicated on the speedometer to remain within the legal speed limits.

For a more detailed understanding of all of these points, you can visit the following link: 10 Tips To Get Better Mileage From Your Petrol, Diesel Or CNG Car