The odo on the SUV now reads a little over 22,000 after 26 months of ownership.
BHPian shankar.balan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
We drove the Thar (P AT HT) for a museum weekend in Hyderabad.
I had filled up around 36 litres of petrol the previous weekend to make a full tank because my plan was to take the Thar to Madras and back but I ended up taking the Cooper instead. Anyway, I had done some amount of internal driving in the Thar during that week but the tank in any case was showing full. The last fill was at 20,867 km. We left my house for Hyderabad with the odo at 20,900 km.
We filled petrol about on the way to Hyderabad in a big HP pump someway after the halfway point marked by Hotel Hampi Blue Moon Delight where we stopped for breakfast and when the odo was at 21,900 – 323 km since the last fill. The vehicle took in 30 litres so the FE is around 10.8 km/l. (normal petrol is expensive in TS at Rs 111.13 per litre) We then drove straight on to Hyderabad with a few short stops here and there and the usual battling through city traffic and so on and finally reached the odo reading showing 21489. Inside Hyderabad, we drove a little around Husain Sagar Lake early morning the next day and a little bit here and there through the city. The main visits to museums etc were done in the hotel car with their driver for reasons of pure convenience.
When we left Hyderabad we were at 21,526 km and we filled a full tank at Shamshabad at that point. The vehicle took in 34 litres (normal petrol is expensive in Hyderabad at Rs 109.58 per litre). So the consumption now is at 9.88 km/l.
We then drove through the day, with a stop at the Pyramid Food stop for cold butter milk and all. At a small place in Kurnool for a very light bite, then again outside Kurnool just off the road on a farm track to eating some fruit and again at an HP Pump in the middle of nowhere but which had an Amul outlet, because we felt the urge to eat iced lollies – it was in the afternoon heat. We kept driving until the DTE had come down to about 100km. And finally, after crossing the KA border after Lepakshi and Bagepalli, well before Nandi Hills and all, we stopped at a nice Big HP pump which had apparently just received fresh stocks of fuel (we saw the tanker lorry finishing up the fill and going out as we entered). We were at 22,022 km and we took in 45 litres. (Thankfully Petrol in that part of KA is priced more reasonably at 102.44) and luckily in the city, it comes down to 101.9 or so..) Anyway, this means the vehicle returned 11.02 km/l which is pretty good also considering driving through the heat of the day. I am sure that there will be some loss through evaporation etc especially when the vehicle is parked.
We got back through the city in the evening traffic and finally parked up with the odo sitting at a reading of 22,087 km in 26 months of ownership.
And now marks a nice long trip of 1,220 km on an excellent highway. Most of this Hyderabad trip’s driving was done with cruise control on and we stayed at the 80-90 km/h speed and never crossed 100 km/h. This was for the overall comfort of everyone in the vehicle (Dad, me and my wife plus light luggage by way of soft duffel bags and small knapsacks and the usual water and fruit and sandwiches). I drove most of the way up and down. My 80-year-old Dad took the wheel for a couple of hundred kms just to ‘spell me’. He also drove at a constant 70-80kmph with cruise control on.
I was never tempted to go at higher speeds and was quite happy to be overtaken by all manner of vehicles. Mostly kept to the left lane. There wasn’t all that much traffic. The occasional bit of trucks trying to overtake each other and block the lanes and some helmetless rider-propelled two-wheelers but not much else.
For us to overtake required sharper acceleration to get past a few slower vehicles and the occasional unruly traffic needed sharp braking. And of course, the regular stops and starts and minor detours to pit stops etc eat away at the mileage.
But on the whole, if one drives steadily and uses cruise control it is possible to get reasonable mileage from the Thar considering the big powerful and thirsty 2.0-litre turbo unit that propels it.
Keyword: 1,220 km trip on my Thar petrol SUV: Here's how fuel efficient it was!