| It was an event that was not just unique, but eye-opening too. The Bosch Business Standard Motoring Mileage Run 2007 was an event conceived to see how much can a car stretch a litre of fuel in real-life conditions, conditions which you and I encounter on a regular basis. |
| At the end of the event, cars from different segments came up with startling fuel consumption figures, and how! Here then is what this first-of-its-kind event was all about. |
| The concept Fuel consumption, along with the price of the car, is the most important factor that influences car buying decisions in India. So car makers cannot be blamed if they try and project the best possible mileage figures that can be achieved by their cars "" of course, in ideal testing conditions. And as you would know, driving conditions on our roads are far less than ideal. |
| Business Standard Motoring along with title sponsors Bosch and co-sponsors JK Tyre decided to come up with an event that would see car makers compete with each other in real life conditions to extract the best fuel efficiency. |
| Sportscraft, with more than 250 motorsport events under their belt, was roped in to ensure that the event was run to FMSCI (Federation of Motor Sport Clubs of India) standards. The rest, as they say, is history. |
| Classification It is nice and easy to talk about a real life drive to evaluate fuel consumption and entirely another thing to execute it to precision. After considerable thought, the blueprint of the event was established. |
| Car makers were requested to enter only two cars that they thought made a sensible case for this event. Cars sold in India were divided into five categories which broadly outlined the buying patterns in the country "" up to 1200cc petrol, above 1200cc petrol, above 1200cc diesel, SUV/MUV open class and above 2000cc open class. |
| Participants Automobile manufacturers such as Ford, Hyundai, Skoda Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors India, Nissan and Audi participated in this unique event. |
| Ford fielded the highly economical 1.4 TDCi, Skoda Auto had the frugal Octavia Rider and the luxurious Superb 2.5 TDi entered, Mahindras sent across their CRDe diesel-powered Scorpio and the direct injection diesel Bolero, Nissan's entry was its flagship X-Trail SUV, General Motors was represented by the new small car Chevrolet Aveo U-VA and the Tavera, DaimlerChrysler entered with the C220 diesel and also brought along a biodiesel powered C-Class for good measure. |
| Execution The Bosch BS Motoring Mileage Run 2007 was spread across two days. The first day saw participants streaming into the K-Star Hotel at Navi Mumbai, which was to be the rally HQ for two days. |
| A strict scrutiny session ensured that the cars were all stock "" as in, they were not modified for the occasion. Then all the fuel in each car was drained (including the fuel feed system) and each car was allotted a measured quantity of fuel (different quantities for different segments). |
| That done, fuel tanks of all cars were sealed and signed by the scrutineers and the cars sent to a parc ferme (closed parking where participants were not allowed) to spend the night. |
| TSD? What's that? A drivers' briefing at the end of the first day ensured that the drivers understood the way the event was to be run. |
| To ensure that the cars ran at normal road speeds, a TSD (Time, Speed, Distance) format based on a clear GPS-based tulip chart was to be implemented. This meant cars had to reach pre-disclosed time controls at specific times. Those who decided to crawl and drive as slow as possible would get penalty points in kilometres (0.5 km for every minute). |
| In short, participants would be driving the car normally. Of course, they were advised to stick to the laws of the land and the TSD format ensured that cars would never be pushed to dangerous speeds. |
| Each car was to carry an observer who would ensure that the engine was running all the time and participants did not resort to old tricks such as coasting downhill. The observer would also ensure that the car was stopped the moment the engine stalled out of fuel starvation. |
| The route The 450-km route was chosen in such a way that the cars went through metro traffic, suburban traffic, a clean national highway stretch (NH 17) and even mountain roads. The NH 17 stretch did have its share of truck traffic but it was not so bad that the cars had to struggle to keep a good, steady pace. |
| How did it go? The event was executed to motorsport precision by Sportscraft. It was as flawless an event as any. All the cars reached Quality Resort The Riverview Chiplun (half way point of the rally) where a sumptuous lunch awaited the participants. Almost all cars covered more than 300 km on the allotted fuel and then one by one they started coming to a halt. |
| Results The results of the Bosch BSM Mileage Run 2007 revealed some incredible fuel efficiency figures. The Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi, managed 25.63 kilometres to the litre, winning not just the 1200cc to 2000cc diesel category, but the most fuel efficient car award too. |
| The Hyundai Verna 1.6 petrol clocked a surprising 22.14 kpl, taking away the 1200cc to 2000cc petrol award. Even a large, luxury SUV like the Nissan X-Trail extracted 20.99 km to the litre, winning the hotly contested SUV/MUV open class segment, while the Mercedes-Benz C 220 CDI managed 16.33 kpl, taking the above 2000cc open class award. The under 1200cc category winner was the little Chevy U-VA, which attained a figure of 20.27 kpl. |
| Though the others did not win the honours, the fuel consumption figures they attained was no less amazing. The Skoda Octavia managed 24 kpl, while the Superb 2.5 TDi attained 14.10 kpl. The Mahindra Scorpio 2.6 CRDe extracted 15.18 km from a litre of fuel, while 18.44 kpl is the figure for the Bolero DI. |
| The Chevrolet Tavera emerged with a fuel consumption figure of 17.60 kpl, and the Hyundai Tucson stretched a litre of fuel to 19.03 kpl. Even the humongous Audi Q7, with an automatic gearbox and Quattro permanent four-wheel drive extracted 11.01 kpl from its V6 diesel engine. |
| So what will happen next year? And who will take the honours? We'll tell you all about it then. |
Top Section
Explore Business Standard