Outer Limits 4x4 Board

does anyone know details of the actual test procedure used to generate the fuel consumption labeling affixed to new cars?

I have searched a bit and keep coming up with the document that defines the label but nothing to define the actual test procedure(s).

I am under the impression that the test(s) are only performed

(a) over a relatively short distance/time
(b) in a lab/on a chassis dyno
(c) not repeated very many times

any evidence anyone can provide would be most helpful thanks.

You have like many bought a new car and get nowhere near the recommended figures?? CRD GU owners are in that group...

bogged wrote:You have like many bought a new car and get nowhere near the recommended figures?? CRD GU owners are in that group...

yes. and no.

I work in the automotive industry and drive a lot of different vehicles. some of them are easy to get as good or better economy than stated on the label. especially autos, especially in urban driving. generally (and probably not surprisingly) the bigger vehicles with larger engines are easier to get better relative economy than smaller, alleged "economy" vehicles.

for the "yes" above, we bought an i30 CRDi SLX manual and it has never achieved the manufacturers claimed numbers. it was delivered without a sticker though - and hyundai seems only to have published figures for the SL which is a bit lighter and rides on narrower, taller tyres. we get about 6.8l/100km urban driving, the quoted figure is 5.3. it doesn't look like a big difference but it's close to 30%. on the highway it is a lot closer to the claimed - I have done a couple of drives at 4.7 and the claimed is 4.3, so inside 10% difference. have read on i30 forums of some people getting under 4l/100km highway.

I don't really care, it's still a very cheap car to own and operate, but I am really curious to see how they are actually tested and from that work out whether it would be possible to road test in a manner similar to the ADR test.

You might find some info here:

http://www.ephc.gov.au/ltec/pdfs/ADR_81 ... _Paper.pdf

If I read it rightly the test is an "operating cycle" over 1200 seconds, basically 0-15, 0-35, 0-50 for urban and then 50-120 for highway. (Going by the chart top of p. 6).

Manufacturers report their own results...? Hmm.

This was a discussion paper on altering the test, no idea what was eventually decided.

The japanese, european and US test standards are available online. Your three points appear to be accurate.

I'm interested in your longer term impressions of that car. I might buy one in the next year.

http://autospeed.com/cms/title_Fuel-Sav ... ticle.html

vaguely describes the test - but the graphic in chimps article should be accurate enough to make it possible to simulate.

the green vehicle guide actually quotes the SLX CRDi as 4.1l/100km for extra urban driving. that would provide a theoretical range of almost 1200km.

from the graph the tests are a lot more stop/start than I expected - I don't think it will be possible to get anywhere near the quoted figures under those conditions.

Kiwi there is a lot to like in the i30, and not a lot of disappointment. for the price it is very hard to beat.

dumbdunce wrote:http://autospeed.com/cms/title_Fuel-Sav ... ticle.html

vaguely describes the test - but the graphic in chimps article should be accurate enough to make it possible to simulate.

the green vehicle guide actually quotes the SLX CRDi as 4.1l/100km for extra urban driving. that would provide a theoretical range of almost 1200km.

from the graph the tests are a lot more stop/start than I expected - I don't think it will be possible to get anywhere near the quoted figures under those conditions.

Kiwi there is a lot to like in the i30, and not a lot of disappointment. for the price it is very hard to beat.

The guys on the i30 owners club report as low as 3L/100km if you really baby it on the open road.
I test drove one about a year ago but it was auto, I'd only buy a manual. I've driven the Kia Rio diesels as well, well impressed with those too.
Initially we were looking for a tdi golf, but the onl manuals sold here were 4wd and no longer (if you want a manual 4wd then it's a tiguan).

Don't forget that modern diesels need thrashed every now and then to burn the soot out of the moving turbo vanes.

KiwiBacon wrote:
The guys on the i30 owners club report as low as 3L/100km if you really baby it on the open road.
I test drove one about a year ago but it was auto, I'd only buy a manual. I've driven the Kia Rio diesels as well, well impressed with those too.
Initially we were looking for a tdi golf, but the onl manuals sold here were 4wd and no longer (if you want a manual 4wd then it's a tiguan).

Don't forget that modern diesels need thrashed every now and then to burn the soot out of the moving turbo vanes.

we looked at the golf but it is way overpriced for what you (don't) get. it also wouldn't fit three kids seats across the back (neither would corolla or tiida, not that they are available in diesel). the i30 is obviously slower than the golf but is smoother and quieter.

I wanted a second hand one but looked for a year and could not find one in manual either SLX or SX with the airbags optioned in so figured that just about everyone that had bought one in the 3? 4? years they had been on the market had kept them.

good: space, economy, adequate power. cruise, climate control, USB MP3 slot. reasonable visibility. 5 star safety (although I wouldn't rate it against the 80 series which only has 2 star power-up plugins are cheap and plentiful. no DPF to fluff up. I feel slightly (very very slightly) guilty about buying a vehicle without a DPF but it's one less thing to go wrong.

gay: some controls are hidden, especially the trip computarr mode button. does not come with bluetooth. ordered with optional bluetooth. was delivered without bluetooth. had big fight with dealer. ended up with cheesy generic bluetooth that does not integrate with the vehicle in any way - does not mute the stereo, does not utilise the sound system display.
have to hold the clutch in to start it (like all hyundais?) I suppose it would be pretty easy to circumvent that.


yes I assure you the turbo is kept clean, there is a rigorous in-service maintenance schedule.

Here the i30 is ~$36k loaded, golfs new start at 42k in basic trim and BMW 120d's not far away.
We have diesel corrollas, but the 2L is the same price as the golfs and that's poverty pack with steel wheels.
http://www.toyota.co.nz/NewVehicles/Mod ... er/Corolla

I've also noticed the complete lack of second hand i30's. Always a good sign.

dumbdunce wrote:it also wouldn't fit three kids seats across the back .

Gee, I'd have thought you would struggle to get 3 in the bck of the i30 too?

bogged wrote:

dumbdunce wrote:it also wouldn't fit three kids seats across the back .

Gee, I'd have thought you would struggle to get 3 in the bck of the i30 too?

ours is white. maybe white ones are wider?

it is tight, capsule in the middle, child seat behind the driver and booster seat on the left. to do up the seatbelt on the booster seat you have to slide it out a couple of inches to get a hand down almost under the capsule.

we'll be moving to two boosters plus a child seat in the next few months, the baby is almost too big for the capsule. more shopping with teh tape measure.

on the fuel economy side I just filled up and did a 10km urban loop with all 5 of us in the car at 5.9l/100km - about 8 red lights, a dozen roundabouts, so on a straight flat road with no passengers or luggage it could probably scrape down to the 5.3 as advertised.