Very bad fuel consumption 🥴

[Pocus]

Hi @BabyBlade

I regret I did not respond to you earlier as I haven't been really active in MCF for a long time. I realised you are driving a 1.5 auto Swift (ZC21) which is the same one that I have since 2006 which I own and drove for 9 years before it was send to the scrapyard. I would like to offer I POV on some of the experience you faced.

#1 Being a Swift owner, I would say that the ZC21 is not really a very fuel economical car, I average at around 12 to 13km/l during my time when it's competitors can get 1 to 2 km/l higher, with a driving pattern of 70% highway and 30% Urban. The FC of the car really depends on your driving style and the distance you cover. I feel that this car need some time for the catalyst converter to warm up. If you drive less than 30mins per trip and in a start stop traffic environment, FC for the Swift can go 11km/l or lower. But an FC of 7.5km/l is unusual, even if I idle the car for an hour. It could be due to the fact that the engine is old and FC will be affect, but I suggest you do a check to see if the engine needs to be overhaul. some parts may have worn off and at 150k it highly likely an overhaul may be needed.

#2 The Swift can take w30 Engine oil. The engine will be abit rough but you will be significant improvements in FC and Power. Mobil 1 w30 engine oil from Autobacs should be suffice. I feel Shell Helix abit rough and the oil degrade quite fast.

#3 The trick is to go easy on the pedal during acceleration to get into the "eco" zone of the throttle. You can use the instantenous FC reading to know how the throttle is doing. Also ask for the throttle cable to be tighten to give you abit of feedback on the pedal (the old zc21 is still on cable, not e-throttle)

#4 Check the tire pressure, keep the front 34PSI and rear 32PSI (warm). Are you on stock rims/tire? Should be 15". If it's not 185/60R15 and on some weird fake rims from Taiwan, that could be the culprit. Please revert back to stock  size and you should see improvement in power and stability.

#6 Go easy on the aircon, aircon takes alot of power from the car and affects FC. keep the temp in between the red and blue zone.

#7 Clear the boot, no extra weight to hold the car down

#8 Check/replace the ignition coils, they are know to fail for the swift over time and can be the culprit of bad FC and reduced power. at 150k it's about gone

#9 Do check that fuel pump to make sure it in good condition 

#10 Do a walnut blast or cleaning addictives to "clear carbon" for your car. those soot/dirt over the year will definitely affect.

#11 This going to be controversial, but pls ditch Caltex. For some reason, Caltex also gave my swift very bad FC. The next one to ditch is Esso. So face among the brand I tried for my swift, Shell and SPC gives the best mileage. You can consider them. Do give it about 3 full tanks of the same brand fuel to settle down the FC.

#12 Do check that the handbrake and brakes are fully disengaged when you drive off. due to wear and tear sometimes the pads are still slightly touching the rotors and that produce drag and affects the FC.

#13 get the alignments check. misalign tires increase drag and friction which in turns, affect power and FC. 

Okay, that's all I can think of now. Wish you all the best with the Swift. Although interior build quality is questionable with some rattles, It is no doubt a resilient workhorse and didn't give me any issues in my 10 yrs of ownership. (unlike my Mitsubishi, although better build quality than Suzuki, but 5 years later the parts start to slowly chui)

Edited June 13, 2021 by Pocus

[lexiton]

@Pocus 

 

hows the NVH?

 

especially during high speed (130kmh above)

Edited June 15, 2021 by lexiton

[Kangadrool]

at that speed, should sound like helicopter and the engine sound will be like wanting to jump off the engine bay.

[Mooose]

13 hours ago, lexiton said:

@Pocus 

 

hows the NVH?

 

especially during high speed (130kmh above)

leaving aside NVH i remember that at any speed above 100kmh the steering did not give me confidence - it is like the front is floating up and it is losing its feel .. not recommended to go above 100kmh in my humble opinion ..

and it is not caused by any accident because i had the car from new ..

 

[BabyBlade]

Nearing 300 and I still have about 1/4 tank left! Weeeeee! 

[Ct3833]

27 minutes ago, BabyBlade said:

Nearing 300 and I still have about 1/4 tank left! Weeeeee! 

What does that mean in KM/L? Did you get significant FC improvement?  maybe you want to share with MCFers  your secret ? 

[ER-3682]

30 minutes ago, BabyBlade said:

Nearing 300 and I still have about 1/4 tank left! Weeeeee! 

300Km how many Litres.?What type of Roads.?Highway or City.?

Edited October 22, 2021 by ER-3682

[Volvobrick]

31 minutes ago, BabyBlade said:

Nearing 300 and I still have about 1/4 tank left! Weeeeee! 

Reminds me of nong nong time ago when my tank was 90L. Also 1/4 left when reaching 300km. 

Edited October 22, 2021 by Volvobrick

[BabyBlade]

8 minutes ago, ER-3682 said:

300Km how many Litres.?What type of Roads.?Highway or City.?

8 minutes ago, Volvobrick said:

Reminds me of nong nong time ago when my tank was 90L. Also 1/4 left when reaching 300km. 

10 minutes ago, Ct3833 said:

What does that mean in KM/L? Did you get significant FC improvement?  maybe you want to share with MCFers  your secret ? 

11km/l. Big improvement from 7 haha. I'll reply later! Out for lunch now. 

[ER-3682]

11 minutes ago, BabyBlade said:

11km/l. Big improvement from 7 haha. I'll reply later! Out for lunch now. 

Still quite heavy for a 1.6 Car...11Km/L is like my F22 M240i.

[Angka]

On 10/22/2021 at 1:27 PM, ER-3682 said:

Still quite heavy for a 1.6 Car...11Km/L is like my F22 M240i.

Haha your 11km/l all highway and at night out for a spin right?

[Knighthunter]

Sometime petrol consumption may also linked to aircon setting, some car owner put their setting to "Lo" or crank it to lowest seeting. Experience this with my previous XC 60 that could display fuel consumption during idle in liter/hour, as I could remember (my current car doesn't have this feature):

Aicond off 1 liter/hr idle

Aircond set to 23 degree 1.4-1.8 liters/hr

Aircond set to LOW 2.0-2.5 liters/hr 

[Fcw75]

On 10/22/2021 at 1:15 PM, BabyBlade said:

11km/l. Big improvement from 7 haha. I'll reply later! Out for lunch now. 

That’s a long lunch. 🤣

满汉全席？

 

Edited October 24, 2021 by Fcw75

[mersaylee]

On 5/28/2021 at 7:21 PM, RadX said:

U know in edmw, they are known as BBFA?

 

😂😂

In NK…it’s BBFTW😁

[Mkl22]

On 10/22/2021 at 12:35 PM, BabyBlade said:

Nearing 300 and I still have about 1/4 tank left! Weeeeee! 

Your coolant temperature gauge seems a little high. Should be exactly in the middle. 
maybe need to read via the obd2 port for the exact value. 

[BabyBlade]

35 minutes ago, Mkl22 said:

Your coolant temperature gauge seems a little high. Should be exactly in the middle. 
maybe need to read via the obd2 port for the exact value. 

Haha sharp eyes. I had a coolant leak on the morning this temperature was taken. After I parked the car I heard some steaming noises coming from the car, checked the car and found my coolant leaking.

Sent the car to the workshop in the evening and discovered the upper and lower radiator hose leaking. Replaced it and all good now. 

[BabyBlade]

2 hours ago, Fcw75 said:

That’s a long lunch. 🤣

满汉全席？

 

Oh shit haha. 

Right back to my fuel consumption. Didn't do much except I've been less anal about the fuel consumption and driving normally.

During the first few tanks when I just took over the car, I was fussing quite a bit about the fuel consumption since it was way too low for a Swift. 

I started to not give a f**k about the fc when I realised it wasn't going to improve much anw. So unlike before, where I was careful not to step too much gas off the lights, now I'm less concerned and driving a little more spiritedly. 

I'm also doing a bit more highway driving, compared to mostly start-stops during peak hours. So no secrets here, whatever I've done already been mentioned by many of you here which is, not to give a f**k haha. 

I'm happy to know I can definitely reach KL with my Swift. It's still not fantastic fc but I'm not bothered by it anymore. 😆