On Tue, 2006-05-09 at 17:10 +1200, Richard Prosser wrote:
> Gerhard,
> 
> 20km/l seems very efficient. I get 15km/l out of a small 3 cylindar 
> 1000cc motor (1987 vintage) . I can't see modern engines being that
> much more efficient
> 
> But I may be wrong --- again
> RP

It's on the "most efficient" end of things, but achievable.

20km/l equates to 5L/100km, on the highway a Toyota Corolla will come
close to that (according to www.fueleconomy.gov a 2006 Corolla, stick,
will do about 5.7L/100KM on the highway). A Yaris is slightly better
(5.5) but not available in the US, so not on that site (although the
2003 Echo is, 5.5L/100km).

The smaller diesels easily hit that number (and even beat it, 2003 Golf
TDI manual gets 4.8L/100km).

Note these are standard ratings, depending on how you drive it is
possible to do better then the ratings. 

Case in point, my 1988 Olds Delta 88 was rated at 8.1L/100km, but driven
correctly was able to get 7.8L/100km regularly when driving to the
cottage.

Another interesting tidbit to consider though is that modern cars are
MUCH more sensitive to the cold then older cars. My Olds didn't even
notice when it was -20C, it's fuel economy remained exactly the same.
OTOH my current car goes from 8.5L/100km in the summer to nearly
10L/100km in the winter, a dramatic difference. I thought something was
wrong with the car, but my brother has a car with the exact same drive
train and had the exact same result.

Interestingly, despite all the "warnings", I've NEVER seen air
conditioning effect my mileage at all. Now, I do drive bigger cars with
bigger engines (my Olds was a 3.8L V6, my current is a 2.5L H4). I
actually did a trial once in my Olds. I drove with the AC on, got a
mileage, drove with the AC off (and windows closed) and the mileage was
basically the same. I don't have definitive results with my current car
yet on AC usage, but so far it seems mileage is pretty much the same,
whether I use AC or not.

TTYL

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