People often think small engines equates to lower fuel consumption. In truth, a smaller engine will consume more fuel especially if your daily commute involves a lot of highway/motorway driving.
Here’s why. Say we take 2 cars for a comparison test. Car A, which is a small economic hatchback and has a 1 litre 3 cylinder engine, and Car B, which is a family saloon with a 3 litre V6 engine. The misconception is Car A will be more fuel efficient than Car B, because Car A’s engine is 3 times smaller than Car B. However, if we look at it from a logical point of view, say both cars are on the highway doing 62mph/100kph for 2 hours, Car A’s engine would have been working at say 3800rpm the entire 2 hours, while Car B’s engine did the exact same journey with the engine working at around 2000rpm. Basically, a bigger engine works less to maintain its speed than a smaller engine, and if we’re talking in the context of highway driving, less stress on the engine equals less fuel used.
However, if we’re talking about purely city driving with speed bumps, traffic lights, stop signs, traffic congestion, Car A would likely be more fuel efficient because it has the advantage of lugging around less weight, while exerting similar stress levels to the engine as Car B would (unless you’re flooring the pedal whenever you accelerate). The most important factor when it comes to fuel economy, is not the displacement of your engine, how many cylinders it has, or whether it comes with a CVT/DSG/traditional torque converter/manual gearbox, it all comes down to your driving style and how you actively reduce the stress loads on your engine. Keep the revs low and avoid accelerating when you’re travelling uphill. Learn to plan ahead, accelerate when you’re going downhill, and coast as much as you can.
People often think small engines equates to lower fuel consumption. In truth, a smaller engine will consume more fuel especially if your daily commute involves a lot of highway/motorway driving.
Here’s why. Say we take 2 cars for a comparison test. Car A, which is a small economic hatchback and has a 1 litre 3 cylinder engine, and Car B, which is a family saloon with a 3 litre V6 engine. The misconception is Car A will be more fuel efficient than Car B, because Car A’s engine is 3 times smaller than Car B. However, if we look at it from a logical point of view, say both cars are on the highway doing 62mph/100kph for 2 hours, Car A’s engine would have been working at say 3800rpm the entire 2 hours, while Car B’s engine did the exact same journey with the engine working at around 2000rpm. Basically, a bigger engine works less to maintain its speed than a smaller engine, and if we’re talking in the context of highway driving, less stress on the engine equals less fuel used.
However, if we’re talking about purely city driving with speed bumps, traffic lights, stop signs, traffic congestion, Car A would likely be more fuel efficient because it has the advantage of lugging around less weight, while exerting similar stress levels to the engine as Car B would (unless you’re flooring the pedal whenever you accelerate). The most important factor when it comes to fuel economy, is not the displacement of your engine, how many cylinders it has, or whether it comes with a CVT/DSG/traditional torque converter/manual gearbox, it all comes down to your driving style and how you actively reduce the stress loads on your engine. Keep the revs low and avoid accelerating when you’re travelling uphill. Learn to plan ahead, accelerate when you’re going downhill, and coast as much as you can.