Ecotour 2008 report

Publication date: 14 November 2008

Under the lead of ANWB the European FIA clubs organised the third edition of the EcoTour, based on a concept first elaborated by a number of FIA clubs in the nineties. 14 clubs participated together with the FIA European Bureau in the 2008 edition of this rally.

42 cars in six different categories (small, small family and family, gasoline and diesel) with 42 teams, from 14 different countries competed in the tour that crossed nine European countries to promote fuel-efficient cars and fuel-efficient driving in the media, with policy-makers, with FIA club members and with the general public. In order to demonstrate that even motorists towing caravans can choose economic cars and practise eco-driving techniques, a team from the British Caravan Club shadowed the competition with a car/caravan combination.

The EcoTour started on the 13th of September 2008 in Barcelona and ended, after seven day long stages and a total driving distance of 2800 km in The Hague. The objective was to identify the most economic car models and those teams with the most economic driving techniques. For each category the seven most fuel efficient models, according to the official manufacturer data, had been selected. Within each category the teams were allocated a different car model to drive each day. This “7*7” concept made it possible to obtain and rank team results independently of the models driven and conversely the individual car models could be ranked according to their results independently of the teams that drove them.

The results obtained from this event provide e a good comparison between what actually can be achieved by practicing eco driving and the official manufacturers’ data provided on the basis of the European regulation 80/1268 EEC.

For both, the fuel consumption and the CO2 emissions, the EcoTour results as well as the official manufacturers’ data are listed in the table below. Within each category the individual models are sorted by the EcoTour results. Due to the fact that the overall measuring tolerance was about some ± 0.8% the models having achieved results within the same tolerance band were allocated to the same rank.

THE SEAT IBIZA 1.4 TDI ECOMOTIVE IS THE ABSOLUTE ECOTOUR WINNER

With a consumption of 3.73 litres per 100km, the Seat Ibiza 1.4 TDI Ecomotive is the absolute EcoTour winner.  In terms of CO2 there are 2 winners, the Seat Ibiza Ecomotive with an emission figure of  99 gCO2/km and the Daihatsu Cuore 1.0 with an emission figure of 100 gCO2/km. The Daihatsu Cuore’s emission figure achieved with a consumption of 4.23 litres of gasoline per 100km.

The winners in the gasoline categories are the Daihatsu Cuore (small), the Toyota Prius Hybrid (small family sized vehicles and the BMW 318i as well as the VW Passat 1.4 TSI (both family size vehicles).

BLUE MOTION TECHNOLOGY CLOCKS UP A BIG SUCCESS FOR ECO DRIVING

The winners in the diesel categories are the Seat Ibiza 1.4 TDI Ecomotive (small), the Audi A3 1.9 TDI e (small family) and the VW Passat 1.9 TDI BlueMotion. With 4.04 l/100km this family car only consumed 0.3 l/100km more than the best performing small car. This is a very remarkable result and marks a big success for the BlueMotion technology.

Diesel cars showed significantly lower consumption than gasoline cars, and the benefit of diesel cars in comparison to gasoline cars increased with category size: In the small category, the best diesel consumed 0.5 l/100km less than the best gasoline, in the small family category, the difference already was 1.4 l/100km (except for hybrid cars) and in the family category, the difference was as much as 2 l/100km.

The hybrid cars showed significantly lower consumption than the conventional gasoline cars, but they still did not achieve the low rates of the best diesel. A reason for this is that on the EcoTour, the majority of the driving was done on rural roads and highway.  There was very little urban driving required, where hybrids generally achieve their highest savings potential.

ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS ARE LESS GOOD THAN EXTRA URBAN MANUFACTURERS’ DATA

When compared with the manufacturers’ NEDC (European driving cycle) data, 55% of the cars showed lower figures. 20% of cars produced results that exactly corresponded with the manufacturers’ figures and 25% exceeded them.

The picture is completely different however, when the EcoTour results are compared with the EUDC (extra urban driving cycle, which is the second component of the European driving cycle, the first being the urban driving cycle) manufacturers’ data. In spite of the fact that EcoTour driving was extra urban driving, only one car, the VW Passat BlueMotion, consumed less than the manufacturers’ data promised. 90% of all cars exceeded the manufacturers’ figures significantly. This outcome of EcoTour shows very clearly that the EUDC cycle does not simulate extra urban driving in an appropriate way and thus is in need of improvement in future European regulation.

The table also shows the mean consumption of the best and the worst performing team within the individual categories. The difference on average was some three quarters of a litre per 100km. This shows that eco-driving is a skill developed differently by different individual drivers. It also proves clearly that eco-driving education is an important element in the whole package of consumption saving measures.

As a towing vehicle, the Ford Focus1.6 TDCI consumed 8.32 l/100km. This is only 4 l/100km more than for the solo Focus which proves conclusively that eco-driving also is achievable for car/trailer combinations.

For more information contact:  Wilfried Klanner, FIA European Bureau

Download table of results:

ecotour_2008_table_of_results.pdf (14 KB)

Download EcoTour results versus manufacturers' data (EUDC):

ecotour_versus_eudc.pdf (39 KB)