BRAND NEW SMART FUEL EFFICIENCY

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Permalink Reply by Ian Pellant on August 3, 2009 at 5:00am

smart fuel consumption is more variable than expected.

From my own 2008 pulse 1.0 L with turbo; hot climate, aircon always on:

6.1 lhk is about the norm for city driving without idling at the lights too long
6.6 lhk is city tops when stuck at the lights a lot
5.8 lhk is city with few stops
5.5 lhk on a highway trip

rarely below 5.5 lhk

When new, it hit 7.0 lhk then dropped down to about 6.5 lhk for town driving.

The smarts do take time to break in. And I suspect the ECU imposes some limits for the first 1,000 km, then eases up again at around 3,000 km. Takes about 8,000 km before it's really happy. Now at over 10,000 and still not a drop of oil consumed. Close tolerance engine. 15,000 km scheduled oil change as per owners manual.

Some achieve sub 5.0 lhk... but I doubt if I ever will unless I drive really gently and don't get ran over by a truck in the process. I have to drive on 100 kph single lane "highways" mixing it with big semi-trailers, SUVs and ambling tourists dragging caravans and boats... not safe to dawdle with a truck close behind and overtaking lanes are few and far between. Under those conditions, I'm happy at 5.5 lhk with city driving at each end.

All of the factory published fuel consumption figures are by industry standard static tests on a rolling road. They are not very realistic... but are intended to allow all car manufacturers to boast under the same test conditions.

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Cain on August 3, 2009 at 8:14am

A'right. 5.8L/100km has been my best so far. Although I'm feeling okay about 6.1 in the city.

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