Comments on: 2009 Global Green Challenge

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:48:44 +0000

Whole thing is a waste of time considering most people drive 90% urban 10% extra-urban

By: Petrol Head

Petrol Head — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:22:13 +0000

Fuel economy gains with premium will depend on your engine and driving environment.
1) The Subie does have an engine that will take advantage of the premium stuff = tick there
2) If you spend large amounts of you driving sitting idling in traffic then premium wont help. Country touring will give you the biggest gains.

Also some economy tips from experience:
- avoid Shell fuel (a tank of BP fuel a full price is a better deal than Shell with a discount coupon)
- push a tank of E10 through every now and then, it cleans things out
- and the biggest one, fill up on one of the cheaper days. It won’t save you fuel but it will save you plenty of cash.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:19:27 +0000

Absolutely. My XR6T gets around 8L/100kms between Newcastle and Coffs with overtaking whenever I want… using hypermiling techniques should drop that lower. If the winner if determined by the best percentage improvement over quota ADR figues the SIDI Commodore has no chance

By: davie

davie — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:13:18 +0000

I drive a subaru AWD. lots of stuff causing friction including gearbox, hi-lo transfer case thingy, centre diff, front diff and rear diff.

I’m probably not a hypermiler but I do try to follow best practice in urban traffic. dont leave heavy stuff in the boot, only infrequent use of air-con, avoid unnecessary braking/accelerating, look ahead to avoid unnecessary stops, keep constant speed, shift up where possible and accelerate gently (but not so slow that you annoy others behind you!!)

It may sound a bit boring but Im getting older and find that I dont need to plant the right foot like I used to – as much

I find that simple stuff like that does help a tank of fuel last a bit longer. I think premium also gives you a little bit more range but I cant really prove that yet…

By: Anthrax

Anthrax — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:02:31 +0000

I went on the 2007 WSC and got to be a part of the Eco Challenge section… actually I was there as a guest of Greenfleet who sponsored that section in 2007.

I’m spewing I can’t be there again this year. It was a great event thru an awesome part of Australia. Gee we had some laughs… but what happens on the trip stays on the trip.

When looking at this years results make sure you look for comments on driving style. In 2007 some of the drivers went way beyond practical to obtain the figures they achieved.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:02:17 +0000

Young hypermilers isn’t as far-fetched as some may think. I’m a 17 year old P-plater armed with a 1.4 Petrol Fiat Punto and i happily identify as a hypermiler.

I have reduced rolling resistance tires on my Fiat, i drive slow and steady with the ultimate goal of saving money. As fuel prices go up; younger people (mostly males) are soon going to realise that impressing the chicks with burnouts etc is becoming costly and un-cool. So i think that naturally in order to run their cars, younger people are going to have to start adopting more economical driving styles; even if it is subconsciously.

By: Anthrax

Anthrax — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:51:02 +0000

Steve,

the figures from the 2007 WSC show that the Hybrid Prius did not “fail miserably” as you put it.

From memory it was driven by two blokes carrying all their own gear using real world driving techniques and it still got figures around those of the Diesel Peugeots.

So, while it did not perform as good as some of the others, it still held up well. AND if it was driven in a very conservative measure, with one person no luggage tyres pumped up to buggery at less than 100km/h (etc, etc) then I am sure it would’ve performed even better.

How do I know this? I was there!

By: Pete

Pete — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:03:13 +0000

I think the “real” reason there is no Prius is because it is full of hype – no substance, as mentioned by others above.

I drove a Prius from Sydney to Brisbane and returned no better than 7l/100kms. Mind you I drove normally (like I drive my Passat V6 and it returns low 8s on same trip), keeping up with the traffic, etc.

By: Pete

Pete — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:57:58 +0000

A noticable omission in the above list is ANY vehicles from VW (excluding the Skoda Superb). I thought VW may have put in a Golf 77 TDI or even brought in some new BlueMotions. I believe this is a chance missed.

Can’t wait to see the results.

By: Bucks

Bucks — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:56:05 +0000

Agreed.
How an under-powered 1.8Tonne car can be economical except when its already moving is beyond me. A gearbox can only do so much to help (same as SIDI)