Topic: The Ups and Downs of Going Green in BC: 2014 AJAC Eco-Run

[Autos_Editor]

Steven runs with the Ecos again, this year out in BC in the majestic, hilly Rockies.

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[Ace]

Why no VW TDI or Hybrid entry?

[quadzilla]

Day 3 Afternoon — Volvo S60 Drive-E T5 FWD, Howe Sound to central Vancouver, 59.6 km

Ups: On the mountain inclines, that Drive-E is the little engine that could! Only four cylinders? Yes, but supercharged and turbocharged. For clarification, see the Downs for this, Day 1 and Day 2’s mornings. Plus, its fuel-economy stats were realistic: city 9.4 L/100 km and highway 6.3 L/100 km. I achieved 6.39 L/100 km.

Isn't the T5 ONLY turbocharged? The T6 is both turbo and supercharged.

[jyarkony]

Day 3 Afternoon — Volvo S60 Drive-E T5 FWD, Howe Sound to central Vancouver, 59.6 km

Ups: On the mountain inclines, that Drive-E is the little engine that could! Only four cylinders? Yes, but supercharged and turbocharged. For clarification, see the Downs for this, Day 1 and Day 2’s mornings. Plus, its fuel-economy stats were realistic: city 9.4 L/100 km and highway 6.3 L/100 km. I achieved 6.39 L/100 km.

Isn't the T5 ONLY turbocharged? The T6 is both turbo and supercharged.

You are correct.... For some reason I thought the drive-E meant both for any badge. The fix is in.

[Steven Bochenek]

Thanks Mr Quadzilla (and congratulations on the impending reboot of your long-successful series).

Here's 411 from Volvo. If the use of "supercharging technology" doesn't mean supercharged, then I was loose with the words. My bad. No soup for Steve. It was a pleasant hour behind the wheel but I didn't look beneath the hood — we were off to another event.

"Utilizing both supercharging and turbocharging technology, these direct-injection powertrains have been optimized to deliver higher performance than today's six-cylinder units while offering lower fuel consumption than most four-cylinder engines." 

BTW, my pretty colours didn't translate into the online ink. The Volvo was the only Eco-Run car whose actual ratings came within 10% of EnerGuide's. (The other 3 bolded ones — Cadillac ELR, Ford C-MAX Energi, Porsche Panamera S E-hybrid actually beat them!) 

Regards,
sb

[dkaz]

The best news is that the AJAC drivers scored an overall average of 88.2 percent. MyCarma’s president says he typically sees scores in the 60s and low 70s.

The greenest driver was long-time Toronto Star Wheels Correspondent Jim Kenzie with an impressive 99.5 percent score. I placed 5th, while fellow Autos.ca writer Greg Wilson was 6th, and our respective scores 93.9 and 93.7. Who brought the average down?

Without getting nastily specific, of the lower ten drivers, eight were Vancouverites.

Damn out-of-towners driving slow and taking in the majestic scenery!

I don't think I've done better than 5.6 L/100km on that highway, yet I did 4.9 L/100km between Calgary and Vancouver.

[EV Dan]

Mazda 3 vs Cruze diesel comparison goes to show that these real world tests are important. Why spend the extra thousands of dollars for the modern diesel complexity and unknown reliability, unless you like the diesel smell on your hands with every fill up 

[cruzzer]

Great review and useful information about differing approaches. Just for the record though, these are the Coast Mountains, not the Rockies. Those are a day's drive towards the east.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Nice article. I think you guys are getting better, even if I don't always agree with your findings.

[X-Traction]

Excellent basis for an entertaining article.

"Day 3 Morning — Honda Accord Hybrid, Whistler to Howe Sound, 63.2 km

Ups: The floating car in the green-lined dial gives real-time lessons in achieving excellent mileage. So I achieved an astounding logged 3.57 L/100 km. This is the real world — or a very steep imitation of it anyway."

Mileage from Whistler to Squamish is always good since there is a net 2000' vertical elevation loss. 

For comparison, the '09 Escape Hybrid with awd gets 7L/100 km on this round trip, but with avoiding excessive speeding as the only high mileage technique, and typically with one or more passengers.  An fwd Escape Hybrid driven carefully might get into the low 6's.

[jyarkony]

You guys should do this test on the flat MB prairies...your numbers would be worse.  What with all the wind, and minimal downhill sections, I'd wonder if any of them would beat their ratings. 


I say this only because the F150 (summer 2011) did mid 20's in the mtns (11-12l/100) at 120 kmh where it won't get 20 here without a good tailwind at 110 (normally 15-17l/100)...but then you have to go home which inevitably means driving into the wind, which in my case usually ends up being both ways anyway, so it's worse than driving in the Rockies. (plus not anywhere near as scenic, you could really concentrate on driving efficiently  )

I'd be curious how the Spark EV would stack up here.  With an 82 mile 131 km range and 400 lb ft of torque it should haul up the hills with aplomb, and not leave you hanging...right?

Spark EV is essentially a California special and available only as a fleet vehicle in Canada. From what I've heard, that torque is awesome in a vehicle so light.

Would have been pretty neat to have an Accord four-cylinder driven in tandem with the Hybrid to see the comparison, Cruze diesel vs 1.4T, and same with other cars that have conventional equivalents, especially the affordable mainstream cars that are highly relevant to consumers.

[dkaz]

Excellent basis for an entertaining article.

"Day 3 Morning — Honda Accord Hybrid, Whistler to Howe Sound, 63.2 km

Ups: The floating car in the green-lined dial gives real-time lessons in achieving excellent mileage. So I achieved an astounding logged 3.57 L/100 km. This is the real world — or a very steep imitation of it anyway."

Mileage from Whistler to Squamish is always good since there is a net 2000' vertical elevation loss. 

For comparison, the '09 Escape Hybrid with awd gets 7L/100 km on this round trip, but with avoiding excessive speeding as the only high mileage technique, and typically with one or more passengers.  An fwd Escape Hybrid driven carefully might get into the low 6's.

That's what I wondered as well, you want to test the vehicle both ways.