Fuelling an efficiency drive

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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).

A series of disclosed time controls ensured that penalties were levied on participants slowing down excessively.

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.