Polo BlueMotion on tonights Top Gear

[phaeton]

Seen this on the net its a good challenge of fuel consumption.

Go TDI

[gldgti]

just a hint.... 78MPG!

[Coaster]

*cough*80mpg*cough*

or 3.53l/100km

[Seano]

Honestly instead of any of those cars I'd have selected a Toyota Prado diesel which might've had slightly worse fuel economy (9.2L/100km) but (in Oz spec at least) can carry 180 litres of diesel....which'd give you the best part of 2000km range.

....but that would've been cheating.

[RhysQ]

yeah i don't think the test was really that good to be honest. it was an 'economical' test but they didn't say how much they spent on fuel in each car to begin with. fuel tank sizes would have significantly varied. a real test would have been to put the same amount in each car and then see how far they get.

although it was not a great test, it still was very entertaining!

[gareth_oau]

the objective of the test wasnt about who had the best economy, but who had the best range. thats why May used the subaru, he said it had a 'reasonable economy' but had a good sized tank to give it the overall distance.

And focussing on entertainment, I dont think there is any way that Clarkson could have gone that distance given his driving technique early on, but that wouldnt have made it an amusing watch

[RhysQ]

i see what you mean but talking diesels i believe money should really be a large factor. the jag had an 85 litre tank (which obviously would be very expensive to fill up), but only had the same, if not a little bit more range than a Polo Bluemotion which only has a 45 litre tank (significantly cheaper to fill up). putting running costs into the equation, is the jag really that good a car if in todays fuel prices it will cost you an extra $50 over the Polo each time you head to the bowser?

that's basically why i didn't think it was really a good test. i also think they needed to assess the remaining fuel in the Polo and Subaru.

[gareth_oau]

If they were genuine, I'm sure they would have used a lot more slipstreaming.

quite clearly a bluemotion is going to win on economy, but then its clarkson nature to be the fool and opt for a big turbo cruiser, and make it an entertaining story.

If the article had purely been technical, on economy, I probably would have skipped through it

[RhysQ]

one other thing, didn't they say that there were to be no modifications? didn't richard put masking tape over some of the cracks at the front.

[phaeton]

That was James in the Subie

[The_Hawk]

An interesting show to be sure, but it prvoes once again that it comes down to the drivers right foot as the main factor...

Gotta agree though that they didn't once mention the amount of fuel used as a comparison, other than Clarkson saying his was bigger

Still, it's now a entertainment show... so who cares about facts

[Coaster]

Exactly, they mentioned sweet stuff all about any of the cars. I was hoping they would at least give us some info on the vehicles! Noise levels, comfort, all those things you need when going long distance.
I guess that's why I come here

[Transporter]

It is not exactly the fuel economy orientated show. It's more about the performance, the speed and fun, than anything else.
In my opinion they don't like the diesel much

[dammfool]

wouldnt mind getting that grill that the polo had