Fuel economy, a topic of concern for many
Motorists and consumers will soon know just how economical various manufacturers' vehicles are as the 2019 Wesbank Fuel Economy Tour is in full swing.
A convoy of 55 vehicles reached Durban yesterday after completing the first route of the inaugural 2019 Wesbank Fuel Economy Tour that started in Johannesburg yesterday morning and is set to finish in Cape Town on Saturday.
The 12 participating vehicle brands in the economy tour are Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Mahindra, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Renault, Suzuki, and Toyota with a total of 40 different models participating. The vehicles have been divided into classes, based on a variety of factors, such as engine capacity, petrol, diesel or hybrid, turbocharged or normally aspirated, and the only hybrid entered is the Lexus UX.
The first car set off around 8am yesterday from WesBank’s head office in Fairland, Johannesburg, and by late yesterday afternoon all the teams had arrived at the Parc Ferme at the Elangeni and Maharani Hotels in Durban. The 2,600km route includes overnight stops in East London, Port Elizabeth, George and the end point in Cape Town.
The main objective is to provide consumers and fleet buyers with realistic fuel consumption figures, obtained on a road trip on main roads in South Africa, using a variety of vehicles. Currently vehicle buyers only have access to manufacturers’ fuel consumption figures, obtained in laboratory test conditions, and those in a few motoring magazines.
The Fuel Economy Tour provides for all cars to be driven on the same roads, under the same weather conditions and time of day, the fuel consumption of similar specification vehicles can now be compared directly, which would ultimately benefit consumers in making a more informed buy when purchasing a new or even a used vehicle.
“Not only will the Fuel Economy Tour produce real-life fuel consumption figures, but also travelling times between these cities which are all on major holiday routes,” said chief organiser of the event, Charl Wilken of Wilken Communications Management.
Leading vehicle tracking and telematics provider, Ctrack has fitted tracking devices to all participating vehicles and will monitor the vehicles in real time on the route regarding obeying traffic rules and sticking to the designated route and time schedule. Driving behaviour will also be monitored via dash cameras.
