Economy driving: Peugeot 308

By Karl Peskett | July 04th, 2008

Economy driving: Peugeot 308

“How do you solve the fuel crisis? Drive smarter!”

By Karl Peskett

With fuel prices the way they are going, people’s budgets are being constrained. To keep our present car-dependent lifestyle, we have several alternatives. We can buy more fuel efficient cars, we can budget better, or we can drive smarter.

Several of these options will be detailed in future CarAdvice articles. But this week, we had an opportunity to test how smarter driving would improve our efficiency. The test candidate for this challenge was the Peugeot 308 XSE turbo petrol manual.

Of course, driving a diesel economically is relatively easy. In fact, a few days ago, John and Helen Taylor set about teaching our politicians a thing or two about smart driving using a couple of diesel 308′s.

Driving an allocated route around Parliament House, the MPs managed an average consumption figure of 4.18-litres/100km, based on the Taylor’s driving tips.

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What about a petrol powered car, though? Most cars on the road in Australia aren’t diesel powered, and therefore lose the inherent efficiency that diesel brings.

Plus, diesel is said to be skyrocketing price-wise, which negates any cost savings from using less fuel. Alarmingly, it is accelerating away from petrol in the price race towards $2/litre – in the city that is.

So petrol it is. But rather than try and set an economy world record, we thought it would be beneficial to do some real-world driving, but just change our style a little.

So, the air-con remained on. Carpets and seats were left in. The radio was cranked up. Seat heaters were used. A little bit of cargo was thrown in for good measure, and no, the car wasn’t washed or polished.

Our designated route was a mid-week cross-city trip, taking in traffic lights, road-works, and one stretch of freeway – a good mix of conditions replicated every day by motorists.

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The tank was filled to the brim, so that an accurate reading could be taken. Zeroing the trip-meter gave us a starting point for calculations.

We then set off, resisting the urge to drive like a normal motoring journalist would. Damn, it’s hard….

The trick to driving economically is consistency. If you’re smooth, you’re going to be much better off than having a constantly flexing right ankle.

So you need to look ahead to ascertain what the traffic is doing, in which case you can preselect gears, and judge your braking. The more you can keep on the roll, the better off you’re going to be.

The 308′s chassis also helps here, as it will corner without scrubbing off too much speed. There’s little understeer evident, which means the back will follow the front without resistance.

Sharp turns can be negotiated without losing momentum – this helps on the consistent speed front.

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Also, changing up early without labouring the engine is critical.

With a manual car, you need to just nudge the bottom edge of the torque curve to get the pull of the engine, but not enter too much of the powerband, which will increase your fuel consumption.

On the Pug 308, optimum changeup revs are about 1800-2000rpm, which is where we tried to keep it.

Also limiting the slipping of the clutch on take-off prevents excess fuel being used. Just get the car on the roll, and start changing up as soon as you can.

We travelled a total of 396.4km, and upon arriving at a service-station, rebrimmed the tank. Using just 26 litres of fuel, the turbo 308 came in with a fuel consumption of 6.59L/100km – the total distance cost us just $42.55.

The standard combined cycle is listed at 7.1L/100km, and the city cycle is 9.8L/100km. This means that our mostly city route returned a remarkable 20-25% improvement over the cars standard consumption.

All that you need to do is be a bit savvy with your driving, and the reward is immediate.

Combine that with extra fuel-saving measures – checking tyre pressures, keeping the air-con off, making sure windows are up, making sure good quality lubricants and fuel is used, removing the roof-rack, having a clean air-filter and travelling light – and you’re going to offset those fuel-price pressures.

And of course, you’ll be doing your bit to help the environment. Remember, the less fuel burnt, the less emissions you create.

2008 Peugeot 308 XSE

Engine: 1.6-litre petrol turbo
Power: 110kW
Torque: 240Nm
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Safety: Electronic stability control- front air bags – side airbags – curtain airbags – front seatbelt pre-tensioners and load limiters & much more.
0-100km/h: 8.8-seconds
Fuel tank: 60-litres
Fuel consumption : 7.9 litres/100km (claimed) – 6.59L/100km (tested)
Fuel type: 95 RON

Milar

Not rocket science but knowledge that is sadly lacking in many drivers. The key is that it takes a lot of energy to get the car to increase speed – especially from 0km/h.

The number of people I see stopped at a red light, move forward a bit, stop, forward a bit more, stop… or fly up to a light that has just changed green, only to stop behind cars that haven’t moved yet, it’s just not that hard to see what is happening ahead.
Ivan

Very hard for me because I like flexing my right ankle. Lol

But it’s very true. Most driver only see 5m ahead of them while they are driving. That’s why it takes them little concentration and they think that driving is easy.

All motorist should ride a bike for 1 year before they are allowed on the road, just to make them realise how much concentration you need to drive a car (although not as much as a bike).
Cameron

Milar I think you have nailed it.
Most drivers are in a flurry from green light to the next red. I usually get uncomfortable when someone else is driving me. They often brake late at lights, sometimes only for them to turn green seconds later! We seem to want to remove any space between ourselves and the car in front so no one will try to push in. The go-go-go mentality actually causes more stress, uses more fuel and doesn’t reduce much time from the trip.
Another great article CA, keep the driver education coming! The ignorance on our roads is overwhelming and the government obviously doesn’t care about it. Their idea of driver education is a stick: points and fine!
How about an article about merging? Wouldn’t life be easier if everyone knew how to merge……. Indicators anyone? They are “confimicators” in Queensland, if used at all. What about people indicating right when entering a roundabout, only to go straight!?!?
Reckless1

I was caught behind one of these drivers yesterday. The a$$hole stopped 4 car lengths behind the car in front of him, and wouldn’t move forward even though he could see he was blocking me from turning left up a side street.

I should have nudged the moron with the Jackaroo, but I don’t do stuff like that

So, guys, live in the real world and don’t take the crawling up to the lights too far, please.
Cameron

Perhaps he was thinking “who is this moron in a jackaroo”? Many drivers become indignant around 4wds, they assume the worst.
Of course a little reason and courtesy goes a long way. If someone is aggressive then I’m not going to go out of my way for them, but more often than not I’ll try to make peoples lives easier. From my experience there are some real cowboy 4x4ers who think that bigger gives them right of way. This ain’t Dallas Texas! Of course you would be Reckless1 by name and not nature right?
stevenc

Great article as usual guys. I did think that there are a lot more tips that you could give though. Are these going to be brought up in future articles? I hope so as this sort of stuff could really help people with fuel consumption, as well as being better drivers in general.
Golfschwein

I’ve just refilled the Golf after 910 kilometres, which gives me 5.9l/100, which includes lots of turbo tickling.

One thing I do in my suburban driving is engage the cruise control. Many of my friends do the same, more wouldn’t even think of it or be bothered, and a handful who still live with the eighties belief that you only use it in the country tell me how mad I am because it might get stuck and I’ll Crash The Car.

Not only does it help maximise fuel economy with its computer controlled inputs, it keeps me legal and it keeps me sane whilst the flashing brake lights and frantic lane swapping viewed through my windscreen provide ample evidence of other drivers jockeying for positions not able to be ultimately gained.
Reckless1

Ya just gotta luv guys like Cameron, who know it all.

Keep your 4wd hating to yourself, bud.
cameron

“4wd hating”?
Actually, I really like 4wds, they can be heaps of fun and are fantastic for camping. I just don’t like them in suburbia where they take up more road space, do more damage to the roads and sometimes have agressive “bully” drivers (which I know come in all types of cars).
There have been studies that have proven it is cheaper to have an ordinary car and hire a 4×4 for 2 weeks in the year. Makes sense to me – exactly what I’ll be doing for Fraser Island next holidays.
For the record, I certainly don’t know it all! There are certainly lots of good drivers behind the wheels of 4x4s. Its just my opinion that I’d rather not have them in the cities.
If you find yourself impatient in traffic, it sometimes pays to question why you are feeling that way. I sometimes get impatient because I allow myself to run late, which has a good easy fix!
On a lighter note: “everybody driving slower than me are stupid and should get off the road, everybody driving faster than me is a maniac!”
realcars

Cruise may be more economical in a diesel due to the greater torque at lower RPM but I have found in all petrol cars so equipped that I have owned that the cruise is often all or nothing especially in hilly terrain i.e the cruise floors the accelerator once u are climbing a hill to maintain the set speed. In manual mode driver anticipates the increase in gradient ahead building speed to maintain momentum and allowing the vehicle to travel slower than the set speed if economy is the goal. I limit cruise use to the flat.
realcars

Agree Cameron the world need less tailgating.

I reckon tailgating would have to be one of the main accident contributors.
Al Juraj

Another helpful fuel-saving tip is anticipating the road ahead. If you see a green light in the process of turning red, ease off on the accelerator and gently brake to a standstill. Shifting to neutral and letting the car roll may yield better economy, but generally not recommended for safety concerns as the engine is not able to assist in stopping the car.

In manual cars, shift gears quickly, but not to the extent that the engine will struggle to carry speed by starving it from the necessary revs. A lot of drivers tend to shift right away and mash the throttle at the higher gears thinking they can save more fuel. Engine wear is increased here, thus more stuff to pay for. Simply allow the motor to be comfortable.

There’s also a problem with most motorists when red lights turn green. They tend to accelerate rapidly to the maximum speed. A gradual build of speed will certainly help maximise fuel.

In the real world, we can never achieve the best economy possible, but we can certainly make the most of our tank with respect to our respective motoring environments by driving proactively, that is, knowing what lies ahead, knowing our cars well, and looking after our own well-being and that of others.
Cameron

I got to thinking today (yes it does happen occasionally) just about everybody complains about the cost of fuel, yet on my trip home tonight in peak hour traffic, its amazing to see how hard people drive when they can, only to jam the brakes on 30M when they catch up to the traffic. Many drivers are phobic that someone will pull in front of them so they stab at the accelerator to keep the gap closed.
This observation, which we are all familiar with led me to run a little experiment. I accelerated at a solid but not fast rate, the traffic seemed to surge away from me. Only 4 people in a trip of roughly 20KM jumped in front of me. I watched them to discover they were not to stay there long. The same drivers were all zipping between lanes as soon as it seemed they found a way forward. Of these drivers I recognised one about 5 k further up the road. I then slowly rolled past him only to see him changing lanes again.
I’m sure if everyone took the slower approach they we’d all dramatically reduce fuel consumption AND travel time.
Next time you are in peak traffic, give it a go!
radhoo

I read that the new 308 will have a BioFlux engine too that is going to run on ethanol. It’s a good thing that Peugeot is thinking also to a eco engine like this.
Lukasz

@Realcars: I thought distractions and driver fatigue were the leading causes of car accidents, then drunk driving and speeding… can’t remember seeing tailgating anywhere on the scale.

@Ivan: interesting idea about the bikes, suspend all of the country’s driver’s lisences until they complete 1 year of bike riding.