When faced with manufacturers' claims on the fuel efficiency of their cars under "ideal test conditions," you needn't take them at face value. | |
| The Bosch Business Standard Motoring Mileage Run 2007, held on Wednesday, has helped set a different benchmark. |
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| In this first-of-its-kind event, manufacturers competed with one another for extracting the most out of their cars, that too in real world conditions. |
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Even with toll plazas, crowded suburban roads, highway traffic, and serpentine ghat stretches thrown in the 450-km-long loop, participating automobiles managed to deliver some amazing fuel consumption figures.
| THE WINNERS | | Category | Name of
winners | Make &
model | Overall
average | | Up to 1200cc Petrol | Rajiv Gupta & Ravindra Hande | Chevrolet
Aveo U-VA | 20.27 kpl | | 1200cc to 2000cc Petrol | Jatin
Tiwari | Hyundai
Verna | 22.14 kpl | | 1200cc to 2000cc Diesel | Mangesh Shanbhag & Sarosh Soman | Ford Fiesta TDCi | 25.63 kpl | | SUV/MUV class - open | Shreenand
Sadhale | Nissan X-Trail | 20.99 kpl | | 2000cc and above | Jay Menon | Mercedes
Benz C220 CDI | 16.33 kpl | | Most fuel efficient car | Mangesh Shanbhag/
Sarosh Soman | Ford
Fiesta | 25.63 kpl |
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| The Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi, for instance, managed 25.63 km to a litre, while the Hyundai Verna 1.6 petrol clocked a surprising 22.14 kpl. Even a large, luxury SUV like the Nissan X-Trail extracted almost 21 km from a litre of diesel, while the Mercedes-Benz C 220 CDI managed 16.33 kpl. |
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| Automobile manufacturers that participated in the Bosch BS Motoring Mileage Run 2007 included Ford, Hyundai, SkodaAuto, Mahindra & Mahindra, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors India, Nissan, and Audi. |
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| Participants had to drive without braking needlessly, yet maintaining certain given speeds. Most participants decided against using air-conditioning and ran the entire event with windows rolled up to ensure maximum aerodynamic efficiency. |
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| Demanding motorsport precision, the event followed a TSD (Time, Speed, Distance) format, which ensured that the participants drove their cars at normal speeds (instead of crawling and coasting to get better mileage). |
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| A series of disclosed time controls ensured that penalties were levied on participants slowing down excessively. |
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| A strict pre-event check ensured that the fuel in all the cars, including the fuel feed system, was drained and a measured quantity provided to complete the route. As expected, cars ran dry towards the finish. Each car had a minimum of two passengers. |
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