Which 4WDs
Are Most Fuel Efficient? |
Richard Oliver |
The National Roads and Motorists
Association released a survey in 1998 which showed that the biggest petrol
guzzler in Australia at that time was the Range Rover HSE. This premium
4WD used a staggering 23 litres of fuel per 100kms in the city and 17.5 litres
on the open road.
I guess that if you can afford
a Range Rover, fuel consumption is probably not a major concern to you. But
when you think that the average vehicle pours 4.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere each year, it probably should be!
Still, the Range Rover's abysmal
fuel economy is more a reflection on Range Rover's engine technology rather
than 4WD fuel economy in general.
4WD's
Are Fuel-Efficient
The fact is that there are
4WD engines that do produce brilliant consumption figures.
Mitsubishi has a
3.5 litre V6 petrol
engine, for instance, that produces consumption figures of 10 litres
per 100 kms and produces close to 200kw of power.
They achieve this by directly
injecting the fuel into the combustion chambers rather like a diesel.
According to the NRMA's survey,
the most fuel-efficient 4WD vehicle in Australia in late 1998 was the Suzuki
wagon , which produced figures of 5.6 /100 km, followed closely by the Mitsubishi
models (my preferred 4WD, I have to admit).
...And Could Be Even
Better
We could achieve even better
fuel economy figures if the fuel in sold in this country was of a high enough
standard for the latest engines being produced by the auto manufacturers.
Haven't we all noticed how
engines "ping" on unleaded fuel and that we need an occasional burst of Premium
(it must be called that because of the price!) to get the engine to run well?
According to the NRMA's survey,
the Institute of Petroleum said there's been a general improvement in fuel
efficiency in recent years and that trend is expected to continue.
It is now part of Australian
government policy that car manufacturers increase their fuel efficiency.
I wonder if it is also government
policy to expect the petrol industry to increase the quality of their products
so we can all take advantage of the new technology that is already available?
PS: If fuel efficiency is of
concern to you, we've have had a lot of success with the
Hiclone. |