Jekyll and Hyde Route Sorts Out the Gas Guzzlers From the Angels

Plymouth Evening Herald, The › October 10, 2009

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Summary

WHEN you've participated in more fuel economy challenges than you can remember, come within a whisker of breaking the 100mpg barrier in the first Ford Fiesta diesel, and more recently starred as fuel economy guru in Devon County Council's eco-driving DVD, pressure builds to always deliver startling fuel economy on demand, writes Dave Moss. Thus came the invitation to drive a Suzuki Alto in the MPG Marathon - currently Britain''s only annual, monitored, fuel economy challenge. Open to a maximum of 40 cars and vans, entrants know every driver will be expert in their field, and trying very hard indeed to take the crown of either best overall mpg - or best improvement over the government's official combined mpg figure. Entries this year ranged from widely tipped diesels such as the new Golf Bluemotion and established Peugeot 308 HDi, to the unlikely: the latest BMW M3, Ford Focus RS and the bizarre - like a fully equipped Sky satellite TV engineers' installation van.

A 350-mile, concentration-sapping, Jekyll and Hyde of a route, designed to be anything but economical, first embraced eastern England's easy going flatlands, but was followed by a tough day starting in traffic-choked Leamington Spa and Warwick. This gave way to long hills, endless dales and swarms of tractors in the Welsh borders, with a sting in the tail provided by deceptive inclines around Stow on the Wold and Banbury. Much of this is unnatural territory for the new Alto, with its smooth and willing 1.0-litre, 3- cylinder petrol engine boasting a 64.2mpg combined consumption figure. With my friend and colleague Reg Burnard on the maps and calling a particularly intricate route we never put a wheel out of place - vital since deviations bring instant penalties, enforced by satellite tracking systems.

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Jekyll and Hyde Route Sorts Out the Gas Guzzlers From the Angels

Meanwhile I applied time-honoured economy techniques: minimal braking, ligh...

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