India was always a fuel efficiency-conscious country, but triple-digit pricing has made the average car owner even more obsessed with FE.
BHPian QuentinTino recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Hey everyone,
I think there’s one thing which needs to be said but hasn’t been said till now. I think we all feel it but aren’t saying it yet.
In the city, everyone is slow due to poor infrastructure (especially here in Dehradun). But out on the highways I have been noticing that the new cars are way slower than the old ones now!
This is like because the majority of new cars on the road – the new MS like Balenos, Swifts and even the Hyundais have nearly the same “pick up” and hence move in “convoy-like clusters” of 7-8 cars.
This I have attributed to the following reasons:
- The new BS6 cars are tuned in a way that the in-gear acceleration is slower, likely due to the emission norms and to preserve efficiency
- CNG replacing diesel as the go-to fuel for small cars with high highway runs especially in Taxis (Dzire, Ertiga).
I feel it’s more like an EPIDEMIC since the same cars now are slower than they used to be especially in the sub-10 lakh bracket.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this!
Here’s what GTO had to say on the matter:
I hit the MH highways very frequently and don’t see this at all in my home state. That being said, there are some cars that are slow. My guesses:
- Remember that taxis have a speed limiter of 80 km/h. That’s the max they can drive at! Plus, taxi drivers are petrified of speeding cameras as one ticket of 2000 bucks & their entire earnings from the drive are wiped out.
- Speeding cameras also deter private car owners from driving at high speed. The fine of 2000 is stiff.
- The last 3 years have seen more first-time car owners than ever before. I would like to believe that newbie drivers will be a bit more cautious on the open road than experienced ones.
- EVs will always drive at 80 km/h. Any higher and their range drops drastically.
- Petrol cost ~70 bucks a litre in 2020. Today, it’s over 100 rupees. India was always an FE-conscious country, but triple-digit pricing has made the average car owner even more obsessed with FE.
Here’s what BHPian Shreyans_Jain had to say on the matter:
This is a real problem here in north India. I see three reasons for it
1. The death of diesels, and them being replaced by CNG.
Make no mistake, while modern turbo petrol has democratised power, the bulk of car sales is made of weedy 1.0 and 1.2 NA petrol. These engines, in fully loaded cars, often running on gas, struggle to accelerate quickly. Drivers refusing to downshift and lugging from 50kmph onwards in 5th gear only compounds the issue. Basically, the delta between these cars and more powerful modern machinery has increased to the point where these cars become a nuisance. Especially when they hog the fast/overtaking lanes.
Contrast this to 7-10 years back when diesel cars like Swift, Dzire, Punto, Verna, Duster and Cruze were highway kings.
2. Proliferation of speed cameras.
As soon as people see a speed camera sign, they just drop speed. It is usually down to 50-60kmph, and not to the actual prescribed limit. Seems to be instinctive, and it is extremely irritating. You have modern, access controlled 6 and 8 lanes expressways with 100 and 120 km/h limits, and after every few kilometres, idiots are braking and slowing down to city speeds. They disturb the entire flow of traffic and then struggle to get back up to speed (refer to point 1)
3. Higher speeds on modern roads.
Most new highways/expressways here up north have a speed limit of 120, or 100 minimum. We have a plethora of cars nowadays which actually cruise at 3-digit speeds all day on these roads. However, budget cars, the likes of Eeco, Alto, SPresso, Tiago, Bolero etc, are not conducive to this kind of driving on this kind of road. Be it because of the weak engine, short gearing, poor high-speed dynamics or any combination of them, especially when loaded. Add to this zero-lane discipline and a pathological resistance to downshifting to get a move on, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Here’s what BHPian subraiyr had to say on the matter:
I am not too sure if this is true. Most of the new vehicles are quite powerful. Even the i10s and the Wagon Rs of the world are now pushing past their initial limits. With the plethora of new cars with better-tuned engines and gearboxes coming through, they seem to hold on to their speed. Of course, AT does have challenges with pickup esp if the gearboxes are not tuned properly. With fuel becoming dearer, we Indians still go with the question of “Kitna Deti Hai” and the manufacturers are forced to detune engines + gearboxes to afford better fuel economy
The other interesting thing I noticed is that post covid, the driving styles of people, in general, have changed. Folks are driving a little slower, laid back within the city. Especially in Bangalore, I see the need for speed within the city has reduced. Also, driving slowly in the middle of the road, erratic turns have crept up. Earlier, one could guess what the person up front is going to do and you would invariably be correct 80% of the time. Post covid, this has dropped to about 50% I would think.
The observation above is not based on hard statistics but is based on sharper on-road observations. Either others have changed or I have.
Here’s what BHPian cryptarchy had to say on the matter:
I feel personally attacked.
Kidding aside, this is mainly due to one person driving while using their phone and the rest having to slow down if there is no space to overtake. Experienced this personally yesterday on a national highway, when the person in front of me was driving slowly despite the clear road ahead and I had to follow him because the rest of the lanes were not empty. After overtaking saw that the driver was busy on their phone.
Keyword: Are there an increasing number of slow cars on Indian highways today?