We’ll also provide you with the list of cars according to their realistic mileage that you can expect based on mixed city-highway usage (50:50, 70:30 & 30:70). This will help you gauge what mileage you can expect based on your driving requirements. Next, we’ll list out the fuel cost based on similar 3 mixed usage conditions (50:50, 70:30, 30:70). Lastly, we’ll provide you with the driving range of all V3Cars tested models based on the minimum and maximum driving range you can expect based on city driving and highway driving on a 90% of fuel tank capacity.

For quick reference, here are the headings in this article:

• Real-World City Mileage vs ARAI
• Real-World Highway Mileage vs ARAI
• Mixed Usage vs Claimed Mileage (50:50 City-Highway Usage)
• Mixed Usage vs Claimed Mileage (70:30 City-Highway Usage)
• Mixed Usage vs Claimed Mileage (30:70 City-Highway Usage)
• Fuel Cost Per Kilometre
• Cars With Best Driving range

Cars With Best Real-World City Mileage vs ARAI

Among all the cars we have tested so far, the Toyota Hyryder hybrid petrol-automatic is the best with a city mileage figure of 18kmpl. But, it was still a staggering 35.5% less than its claimed mileage figure of almost 28kmpl. The Honda Elevate petrol-manual, with its real-world mileage of 13.57kmpl was only 11% off from the claimed mileage figure of 15.31kmpl.

The worst offender, in terms of deviation from the claimed fuel efficiency figure, was the Citroen C3 Aircross turbo petrol-manual. It only managed to deliver 8.35kmpl while having an ARAI mileage of 18.5kmpl — almost 55% deviation from the claimed numbers.

Cars With Best Real-World Highway Mileage vs ARAI

In terms of highway mileage also, the Hyryder hybrid petrol-automatic sits safely in the top spot with a 23.8kmpl mileage figure. It’s still 15% lower than the 28kmpl ARAI figure. The worst offender here is the Kia Syros with almost 23% deviation from the claimed mileage figure of 17.68kmpl. In our test, it only delivered 13.65kmpl.

In the highway test, many cars managed to beat the ARAI mileage figure. The best performer was the Toyota Fortuner Legender 2WD diesel-automatic. It has a claimed mileage of 14.2kmpl while it delivered 15.29kmpl — almost 7.7% improvement.

City Highway Mixed Usage vs ARAI-Tested Mileage (50:50 City-Highway Usage)

The following table presents the mileage with a mixed usage (50:50 city-highway split) that you can expect from the cars we have tested so far:

City Highway Mixed Usage vs Claimed Mileage (70:30 City-Highway Usage)

For buyers who have a heavier bias towards city driving, the following table presents the real-world mileage with a mixed usage that they can expect with these cars:

City Highway Mixed Usage vs Claimed Mileage (30:70 City-Highway Usage)

The following table presents the real-world mixed usage mileage that you can expect if you have a heavier bias towards highway driving:

Fuel Cost Per Kilometre (Assumption Petrol @ Rs. 100, Diesel @ Rs. 92)

In terms of fuel costs, the Lexus RX 350h surprised us the most as its mileage (and thus, fuel cost) remained quite consistent in our tests regardless of city or highway driving conditions. Do note that in the old days it was a fair assumption that bigger, more expensive cars meant higher fuel costs.

This is not so obvious anymore as a much more expensive car like the Lexus RX350h manages to offer much lower fuel costs in all conditions compared to a cheaper car like the Syros, which has a tiny 1.0L turbo petrol engine. Even the Mercedes GLC 300 has lower fuel costs than those of the Syros turbo petrol. Meanwhile, diesels continue to make tremendous sense for people with high running as the Nexon diesel’s fuel costs are comparable with those of the Hyryder hybrid while delivering better torque output.

Here’s a look at what you can expect to pay per kilometre in fuel cost based on your driving requirements ranging from 100% city to 100% highway:

Cars With Best Driving range (90% Of Fuel Tank)

In terms of max and min range you can expect from each car, the Toyota Fortuner Legender is the one that managed to blast past the 1000km mark with ease. It’s worth noting that the Lexus RX 350h is the only car in this table, which had a longer range in the city than on the highway as its city mileage is marginally better than its highway fuel efficiency.