I embarked on a team economy car test last Monday. The four vehicles were all from the Skoda Green Line fleet ranging from the smaller Fabia to the large Superb. We had four drivers in each team, with one taking control over each of the four stages writes Padraic Deane.
The object of the exercise as far asSskoda was concerned was to display to often cynical journalists and special guest drivers that it has secured its place at the forefront of eco-driving with the introduction of its innovative GreenLine technology in their fuel efficient range of vehicles recently.
With the cost of fuel continuing to rise, and bullish claims from Skoda that affordable motoring is at the heart of its offering, their challenged 10 Irish journalists to compete in this unique team test drive over 267 kilometers. The route ran from Dublin to Cavan, onwards to Longford and back to Dublin to assess the fuel efficiency of the vehicles across a mixture of national and regional roads and motorway driving.
Working in groups, each team had the opportunity to drive the Skoda GreenLine Yeti, Fabia, Superb, and Octavia across the designated route. The winning team scored a combined average consumption of 3.48 (81.1mpg ) across the four models. The average across the four teams was 3.53 (80.1mpg ), which underscores Skoda’s boast of what can be achieved by combining their efficient technology with economy driving.
I was happy to record a very pleasing 97.41 mpg (2.9 Litres/100km ) for the duration of my spell behind the wheel of the Fabia. I was slightly disappointed because it was coming in over 100 mpg until we faced a long steep hill close to the finish.
Skoda Ireland’s marketing manager, Ray Leddy told the Advertiser, “Skoda diesel models are renowned for their quality and fuel efficiency. The latest range of Skoda GreenLine models take efficiency to the next level and what better way to put them to the test than to conduct our very own eco-friendly team driving challenge. The GreenLine Challenge demonstrated that our eco-fleet can deliver an optimum fuel efficiency of 3.53/100 km. With fuel prices continuing to increase, the GreenLine range is proving very popular as it’s not only better for your pocket, it also lowers environmental pollution.”
Skoda’s innovative GreenLine technology also delivers rounded eco-friendly driving with tax-friendly reduced CO2 emissions while maintaining driving performance. GreenLine models produce less than 120g/km of CO2 placing them in Band A which is the lowest possible road tax and VRT category resulting in annual road tax of €104.
The Octavia, Superb, and Yeti GreenLine models are powered by Volkswagen Group’s 1.6 TDI 105 bhp diesel engine, while the Fabia receives a compact three-cylinder 1.2 TDI producing 75 bhp. In fairness, both units allow for efficient fuel consumption without compromising on agility.
Intelligent technologies in the GreenLine range include a start-stop system and brake energy recuperation which reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Further efficiencies are achieved thanks to elements such as tyres with lower rolling resistance, modified engine control units, recommended gear feature and aerodynamic modifications to the body and chassis.
Below is how our winning team (B ) did during this test and my team mates were Paul Keown (Sunday World ), Mark Hogan, and Michaela Cabejsková. Teamwork came in to play through encouragement, good humour and helping the driver of each stage to concentrate on achieving the best economy possible.
I drove home slower than I had driven to the economy event that morning but a few days later I was back to near normal. I had come to the conclusion that if I was to drive all the time as I had driven that Monday, my heart rate would have to drop a lot and my blood pressure would most certainly head off in the opposite direction. That said, my driving is more economically without being any less fun, and I hope it stays that way.
