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The real benefits of ‘smarter’ motoring came into sharp focus this week when competitors in the 2008 ALD Automotive /TOTAL Excellium MPG Marathon proved beyond doubt that skilful eco-driving can dramatically reduce the cost of motoring and cut the amount of CO2 emissions produced by Britain's 30 million motorists.

The 40 teams taking part achieved an average improvement of 23 per cent over the manufacturer’s official combined figures and, if replicated by all of Britain’s car and commercial vehicle drivers, would save a total of £8.2 billion per year in fuel costs.

Eighty drivers and navigators took part in this national initiative, a round trip between ALD Automotive’s headquarters in Fishponds, Bristol and Shrigley Hall, Macclesfield to establish whether eco-driving can squeeze more miles per gallon (mpg) out of their vehicles than conventional motoring. The objective was to ‘save pounds and the planet’ as the drivers put the manufacturer’s own estimates of fuel consumption to the test – and won.

The achievement was all the more impressive as the drivers had to deal with the glare of publicity and congested roads during the two-day endurance trial. Twenty two manufacturers agreed to publicly have a variety of their hatchbacks, saloons and commercial vehicles put through their paces by automotive journalists, 'green' organisations and motoring safety bodies, including the AA, over this gruelling 400-mile round trip.

While seven vehicles achieved more than 70 miles per gallon, eight amazingly secured more than 80 miles per gallon, a record for the event which is in its sixth year, but the overall winning position went to the Toyota Yaris driven by Andrew Andersz which achieved a staggering 84.66mpg.

Second place went to Sue and Joanne Cooke in the Mazda2 1.4 Diesel with 84.58mpg.

James Sutherland and navigator Richard Hill, who have won the last two MPG Marathons, failed to achieve their ‘hat trick’ in the Toyota Aygo Blue2 although it came in fifth place with 82.39mpg, a 34.18 per cent improvement over the manufacturer’s combined cycle figures, and using just 22.71 litres of petrol. This was the best figure achieved by a petrol-engined car in the event.

The MPG Marathon also sought out the drivers most capable of improving on the fuel consumption figures claimed by the manufacturer.

In this category, a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 with a manufacturer’s combined mpg of 19.2, managed to achieve 30.96mpg, an improvement of 61.26 per cent, despite its massive seven-litre engine. Driver and navigator Richard Hammond and Carla McAlpine proved that even so-called ‘gas guzzler’ sports cars can be driven more economically.

Second place in the percentage improvement class went to Christophe Duprat from ALD Automotive International and French motoring journalist Emilie Eyzat in a Honda Accord, with an MPG of 73.98, an improvement of 49.16 per cent. Their achievement was made even more remarkable because of their limited experience of right-hand drive vehicles.

Another entry of note was the Ford Focus driven and navigated by Devon and Cornwall police officers Martin Davis and Malcolm Curnow who achieved a fuel consumption of 62.43mpg against the manufacturer’s figure of 54.2mpg, an improvement of 15.18 per cent on the standard Focus, although more significant because the vehicle would be heavier with additional equipment. The force is attempting to cut its £2.3 million annual fuel bill because, with a fleet of 1200 vehicles, officers drive an amazing 29 million miles per year as a result of there being more miles of roads in the two counties than in the whole of Belgium.

AA president Edmund King, sharing the driving with BBC Transport correspondent Tom Symonds, achieved 73mpg in a new Fiat 500, an improvement of 9.01 per cent.

Van-tastic results….…
Vans, or light commercial vehicles were not to be outdone and proved what could be achieved if driven more thoughtfully. The LCV entries were also measured upon ‘cost per tonne’ per mile (CPTM) in the absence of manufacturer’s combined figures.

Commercial vehicle drivers in the ALD Automotive/TOTAL Excellium MPG Marathon clearly demonstrated the potential for fuel savings that can be achieved through skilful eco-driving.

Ten commercial vehicles took part in the event that included urban centre driving, motorways and country roads and presented competitors with the sternest possible test of their driving skills.

Vehicles competed in separate classes according to their gross vehicle weight, each carrying the equivalent of half its gross payload in order to give the event the highest possible relevance to the freight industry.

The winner here was the Ford Transit 350M driven by Jerry O’Sullivan and Alistair Fraser-Birkby, recording the overall lowest cost per tonne mile of 11.35 pence.

The overall winner of Best MPG for vans was the Citroen Nemo 1.4 HDi driven by John Kendall and Paul Nieuwenhuis who achieved a remarkable 84.09mpg.

The victory sets a new benchmark by which other vans’ productivity will be measured.

The objective of the MPG Marathon was to promote eco driving for all motorists to save lives, money and reduce a motorist’s overall carbon footprint. The Government has also this year changed the company car tax regime to reward vehicles with a sub 120 CO2 grammes per kilometre.

This is becoming increasingly important in the commercial world where businesses run large fleets of company cars and vans. Here reducing costs, wear and tear on the vehicles and improving fuel efficiency add to the business bottom line as well as helping fleet managers meet their health and safety obligations. In the future, the growing importance of telematics will add to this mix to help control overall business costs.

The event highlighted the increased significance of eco-driving and how it will importantly deliver business value for money and play a leading role in reducing CO2 as climate change leads to behaviour change.

ALD Automotive marketing director, David Yates, said: “It is all about attitude and behaviour because, after vehicle depreciation, fuel expenditure is the biggest cost facing every fleet manager. With fleet budgets continually under the corporate microscope, cutting fuel bills is not only financially beneficial to business but vehicle emissions are also reduced.

“While fleets should spend more time examining vehicle choice lists and by operating vehicles with low CO2 emissions, fuel economy is a major spin-off. Just as importantly, we all need to encourage employees to adopt a smoother – and ultimately safer - driving style.”

Event organiser, Ross Durkin adds: “It’s not what you drive, but how you drive that makes the difference and once again the combined efforts of all the participants and sponsors delivered a first class, educational event which has proved, if proof was needed, that skilled driving techniques work and can make a dramatic impact upon miles per gallon.”

Smarter Driving Tips
The challenge is to first measure your MPG – either by checking your car’s on-board computer or the manufacturer’s manual – and see if you can improve upon it by:
Changing up through the gears at between 2,000 and 2,500 rpm
Ease your speed. Driving at 70mph uses around 15 per cent more fuel than at 50mph
Anticipate to avoid unnecessary acceleration and braking
Use air conditioning sparingly as it greatly increases fuel consumption
Switch off the engine whenever safe to do so
Check tyre pressures regularly
Remove unnecessary weight from your car
Reduce aerodynamic drag whenever possible, e.g. by removing roof racks when not in use.

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