Marine Silver Tata Indica Vista Aura Safire

I hope that's with a/c on. I filled the tank (full) yesterday and will take a few days to know mine. Thx.

I have it on recirculation mode.  Never tried fresh.  I keep blower level at 1 or 2. Thermostat knob fully towards the blue line.  A/C vents look the same to me.

They quoted me Rs. 4700/- and Rs. 5100/- as well.  But I checked and compared most of the things from outside and the dealer... including Alloys.

Should keeping the A/C knob at 50% improve the mileage?

The settings I mentioned were during afternoon. On recirculation mode, blower level at 1 or 2, thermostat knob fully towards the blue line.

But if the car is kept under direct sunlight for a few hours, then I turn the blower knob to 3 or 4 for a few minutes.

Post edited to remove 'quote' (same as previous post; NOT required, therefore).

Sunitha, I am not sure if you have tried this but this is generally the best method to use the AC esp in the afternoons. When you get into the car roll down all the windows and start the AC. once you see that the hot air is out then gradually increase the AC and roll up the windows. You will notice a great difference in cooling

Sunitha, I just keep the blower in fresh air mode for two mins, before switching on the A/C in the morning.

I keep the blower in re-circulation mode when the A/C is on. During afternoon, I keep the thermostat knob fully towards the blue end. And during evening I keep the knob at 60% or 50% blue, which keeps the A/C effect sufficient. I set the blower level to 2 when there are no rear seat passengers, and set to 3 when they are. Hardly it takes 15-20 mins for full effect whatever the case may be.

As Centaur mentioned, even I follow the same technique when the car is parked in sunlight, only difference is instead of rolling down the windows, I keep the front doors(both, which enables free flow of air) open for few seconds before getting in.

I feel this would help even more... while the door glasses are open, start the AC at full blow - that will help the hot air inside escape out faster - roll up the glasses after sometime & decrease the AC speed (as per requirement/taste).

It works like this - A/c on re-circulation mode takes the air inside the car and re-circulates the same.

Now, when the car is in sun, its like oven inside - so you should roll-down the windows for 2 minutes and then start the a/c. In this case, the hot air will escape and the a/c will get little fresh air from outside - which it can cool faster. Keep the windows rolled-down for another 2-3 minutes with the a/c on and then roll-up the windows.

NEVER start the a/c with rolled-up windows, coz this may put a huge load on the compressor and which in turn may fail in long duration / may be left inneffective.

Same principle with the house airconditioner. The a/c like LG / Samsung are made to Condition (Cool) the air with max Outside Temperature of 48 degrees. Whereas, Hitachi / OGeneral airconditioners can cool the air even if the Outside Air Temperature is 56 Degrees. SO in Saudi Arabia - you see onty these 2 brands - and not LG/Samsung.

Same in Car, with the rolled-up windows, and the a/c in re-circulation mode, you are feeding Extremely hot air inside the a/c - which in long term effect the compressor.

FINALLY, IF YOU CAN, BEFORE DRIVING A CAR STANDING IN SUN, OPEN 2 OPPOSITE SIDE COMPLETELY DOORS FOR 1 MINUTE - IT WILL GIVE TOTAL AIR CIRCULATION - AND THEN START THE SAME AS SAID ABOVE.

Enjoy.

Besides... switching on the AC on fresh mode initially for some time, like Arun does, also helps.