Are cars more fuel efficient when driven with open windows? Explained with Kia Seltos [Video]

Fuel efficiency of a vehicle is still a factor that many people consider before buying a car. We all know that the AC in your car draws power from the engine in order to cool the cabin down. This puts a lot more pressure on the engine and makes it less efficient. This is one of the reason why we see more vehicles driven with windows rolled down as we move to rural areas. Is it actually a correct that driving a car with open windows is more efficient than with the AC on. Here we have a video where a vlogger tests just that.

The video has been uploaded by Arun Panwar on their YouTube channel. In this video, vlogger and his friends were on a small road trip for some work. One of them proposed a test to check if the Kia Seltos is more fuel efficient with or without the AC. The vlogger was driving to a spot that was almost 100+ away from their place. They fill the diesel to the brim before starting the trip and reset the trip meter. They start driving through city roads and soon join the KMP expressway. The AC was on and all the windows were rolled up for this round.

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The driver set the cruise control at 100 kmph and continues driving it. After getting down from the highway, they drove the car for almost 25 km inside before refilling. The car in total did 127 km with AC and full tank diesel. Upon refilling, video revealed that the car consumed 6.94 litre diesel to cover 127 km which means, it returned a fuel efficiency of 18.29 kmpl. After refilling diesel to the brim, it was time for the next phase of the test. For this, they turned the AC off and rolled all the windows down.

They start driving the car and soon realised that it was a bad idea. The dust from the road was entering the cabin and the engine noise and other disturbances were making it difficult. Soon they joined the same highway through which they came. They drove in the same manner. The driver engaged cruise control at 100 kmph and continued to drive. Everyone in the car agreed that it was not very comfortable and with all the wind hitting the face of the passengers sitting inside the cabin, it was looking more like a bike ride than a drive.

Soon they reached the spot from where they filled the diesel before starting the test in the morning. They refilled to the brim and to everyones surprise, the Kia Seltos returned almos the same fuel efficiency. It consumed 6.83 litres of fuel to cover 127 km which means the fuel efficiency is 18.59 kmpl. When you drive with windows open at higher speeds, it creates more drag and reduces the fuel efficiency however in this case, it looks like the temperature outside the car played an important role. As seen in the video, vlogger started the drive when it was hot and sunny outside which means, the AC will have to work more to keep the cabin cool. At night, the temperature falls down and fuel combustion rate would also come down. This could be a reason why the car returned almost the same fuel efficiency in both the test. If the difference is so little, we would recommend driving your car with AC as it is more comfortable.

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