Are we too concerned with FC?

[Vivioman]

Fuel consumption, a topic that seems close to the heart of many Singaporeans. Are Singaporean drivers too concerned with their car's fuel consumption?

 

There have been many discussions about upgrading wheels and tyres. No doubt there are benefits to be derived from such upgrading, including more stability, better cornering, looks etc. However the question about fuel consumption still arises. Will putting bigger wheels and tyres on my car affect the fuel consumption? By how much? What is your fuel consumption after installing aftermarket wheels? etc....

 

Personally I feel that no matter where in the world you are, there is always a compromise of something when you take a particular action. If you are going for looks, then you should not be too worried about how much more fuel your car's engine will drink. Larger wheels, bodykits, engine devices such as airmax etc, ultimately increase fuel comsumption to a certain degree because once you fit these accessories, many drivers tend to drive faster and more "garang". Are we blinding and deciving ourselves to the fact and "try" to admit that these accessories can help us save fuel?

 

Granted, the price of petrol in Singapore is not as cheap as say, Australia. However when I was there and mixed with groups of modders, none of them brought up the fact about saving fuel with their mods. If anything, they lamented the fact that they could not get 98 RON in some parts of the land of Oz! The mods that they did were "real" mods, exhausts, for example. In Singapore, however, we are restricted by many strict laws regarding modification to cars, and that is perhaps why we end up modding with stuff like airmax, monster, capsule...but what do these things actually affect? Is an increase of 2hp to 5hp justifiable in making us cough up hundreds of $$$ to buy these stuff? Anything to return the power to the wheels, I suppose...

 

I guess living in SG makes one compromise on a lot of things. We try to have our cake as much as possible and eat it. From housing to cars and many other things, the cost of living can be considered quite high.

 

I don't wish to draw any flak for this posting, it's just something that I've been thinking about for a while. I guess some of the forummers might or might not agree with me, but that's fine.

 

In the meantime...happy modding!!!

[Metalslug]

i feel most drivers are concerned about FC, more so in SG where we pay so much for cars already. Its perfectly understandable that people will not want to pay more than is required.

 

not only FC, ever noticed drivers look for free parking pretty much too? i have a friend who never believes in paying for parking and he stays at a landed property.

 

personally, i also keep a watch on my FC and other car bills...wont want them to overtake my life!

[Hitman]

In my opinion ... FC is runing cost to owning a car. Its something the car will constantly need. Pumping a fuel tank of fuel can be painstaking when you consider it can go up to S$60 at any one time.

 

People's concerns are possibly , as mine is .... how can I lower this running cost. I'd like a faster car , but hey I cant afford it ... so I'll make wat ever I have faster , but will only the mod burn my wallet or will that result of the mod burn my wallet due to higher consumption.

 

I see the same in Malaysia ... where I hardly hear modders talk about fuel consumption. But I also learnt that their fuel is subsidised whereas ours is taxed heavily. Which probably reasons to why the givt wants to make cars more affordable. More cars = more fuel needed. More fuel people buy , more tax money into govy's coffers.

 

All in all ... its boils down to cost of living. I was doing my maths on setting up my biz in Malaysia and suprise suprise .... my initial calculations were dead wrong. I was planning to employ at RM$25,000.00 per annum and my Malaysian consultant went berserk "Thats too much !!!!"

 

In Malaysia ... you can get by with a Wira on a salary of RM$1000.00, yes RM$15000.00 per annum offered will get resumes flying in like shooting stars in the night. Try earning S$1200 in Singapore and you'd end up nowhere.

 

Its all cost economics .... thus people try to save on watever they think they can save on. Thats why 10% fuel discounts are like Pasar Malams to some people. Throngs of queues outside the petrol station.

Edited March 2, 2004 by Hitman

[Acemundo]

its normal cos singapore roads predominantly city driving whereby fc makes a whole world of difference. of course, sg petrols are so expensive too!

 

but as pointed out earlier, there is a trade off to everything.

 

u want good fuel consumption, u get light car body. and the handling suffers.

 

u want to pay cheap for korean car, u pay more for petrol.

 

so just look for the attributes that suits you best. u can't have the cake and eat it too.

[Cordia_gsr]

I think it highly depends on your requirement of work. If you got to cover high mileage per day, FC plays very deep impact on fuel cost per week. If you only drive short trips, can really see too much impact there.

[Metalslug]

agree about the point on trade off... but i guess human nature is like tat isnt it? we all want to have our cake and eat it too.

 

besides, wat else can u do wif a cake if u cant eat it?

Edited March 2, 2004 by Metalslug

[Pokie]

Agreed with the fact that FC is running cost to owning a car. Like vivioman, during my stay in Ozzy land, FC was never a concern to me....but when come back to singapore, I'm one of those in the queue at discount petrol stations.

 

As to owning a wira with juz RM$1000 salary/month Think that may be partly due to proton cars being heavily subsidised by the Malaysian goverment. Try owing a Jap or Korean car with RM$1000 and a whole new scenerio will appear. How long can the M goverment protect the Proton share of the market?? Sooner or later the price of protons will have to go up.

[Metalslug]

i think its the high import duties/levies on jap cars that make the protons so affordable (relatively speaking).

 

once those duties are lifted, malaysians would probably go for jap cars as the price will be cheaper then...

 

should be within next few years i guess due to AFTA...

[Mondeost220]

Ozzy Land...petrol is around AU 70cents...even though their price mayb flactuate..but the highest it goes is abt 99cents if im nt wrong...no wonder 4.0l giants are so darn common over dere...no 1 cares abt honda jazz i guess as mainly the selling pt of honda jazz is the fuel consumption....imagine driving a honda jazz in ozzy land ...super saver mode i guess

[Acemundo]

haha.......u can eat it all at once or in small slices over a longer time mah

[Genie47]

If Singaporeans are concerned about FC, they should all get 3-cylinder cars. Unfortunately, market forces and the govt has killed the entire 1.0L engined car market be it 3 or 4-cylinder.

[Genie47]

You mean super miser mode.

[Acemundo]

is it the cylinder or engine capacity that determines fc?

[Genie47]

Yes. See the FC figures for 3-cylinder 1.0L Daihatsu Charade, Sirion and Suzuki Swift. Lightfooted driving can see your FC in the 17-18km/L range. A 4-cylinder 1.0L Starlet can see up to 15km/L max.

Edited March 2, 2004 by Genie47

[Acemundo]

how come huh? i thought cylinder just determines input and output?

[Genie47]

For some strange reason, 3-cylinder cars are sippers. I got to check the technical details on why. You get very good FC figures at the expense of engine smoothness. 3-cylinder engines are very rough.

[Genie47]

Include the new Colt as well. The 1.1L version is a 3-cylinder engine. I doubt we can find one here.

[Acemundo]

3 cylinders usually means 2 input and 1 output is it? i believe it has something got to do with law of nature on combustion. maybe easier to output than input? someone good in physics please advise.