Maruti Suzuki India Limited, leading automakers in the country, are soon going to add a new engine auto stop-start feature on board their Ciaz and Ertiga. Once added, both these cars will return better fuel efficiency.
Maruti Suzuki cars were at the forefront when it came to fuel efficiency. But over the last 5-6 years, their cars no longer feature in the list of most fuel efficient cars in India. This was true until the launch of Ciaz last year. Not only Ciaz, which is now claimed to be India’s most fuel efficient car, Maruti wants all their cars to have the most fuel efficient engine in the market.
Launch of new Swift was a step in this direction. New Maruti Swift, though powered by the same engines as before, now claimed to offer 10% more mileage. Similarly, the addition of engine auto stop-start feature in their yet to be launch Ciaz Sports variant and Eritga facelift, is a part of the Maruti Suzuki India’s continued process to push for increased efficiency of their products.
So, how does the Engine auto stop-start feature help in saving fuel (or increase fuel efficiency)? This system allows the engine to be automatically switched off when the vehicle comes to a standstill. To drive off again the driver will only need to activate the clutch or if the vehicle is mated to automatic transmission will need to take foot off the brake pedal to restart engine.
This means, when you stop your car, or are stuck in a jam, or have to halt for a brief moment, when you usually don’t turn the engine off manually, this system will do it for you, and will also save you fuel.
When you consider a recent study, which claims that an average car switches off and turns on for more than 18,000 times in a year, this translates into a considerable fuel saving. With this system, you can expect fuel efficiency claim of Maruti for Ciaz and Ertiga to increase by 5-10%.
As Maruti Suzuki joins the band wagon of Start/Stop Starter Motors, they are not the first one’s to do so in the non-premium segment. Mahindra SUVs are already offered with this system while in the two wheeler segment, Hero MotoCorp has introduced the Start/Stop technology on board the Splendor iSmart.
