While Buick was busy taking the Regal GS to 162 mph during the Nevada Open Road Challenge this past weekend, it also welcomed owners in China to participate in the GM Consumer Fuel Saving Challenge. And one such LaCrosse equipped with a 2.4L Ecotec engine was driven by a man called “Mr. Fu”.
During a very wet second stop of the 2012 GM China Consumer Fuel Saving Challenge in Hangzhou on May 19, a Buick LaCrosse driven by Mr. Fu achieved an average fuel consumption of 6.3 L/100 km, or 37.34 mpg. That’s pretty amazing, and it leaves us wondering what the Taylors could do with the same model.
Comments
That’s great!!
I’ve been saying this ever since driving my Cruze. The current generation of GM cars are so aerodynamically efficient that all you need to do is drive your car in a non-aggressive, “smart” way to get significantly over the advertised fuel economy. Set it to cruise on the highway at or 5-10 below the speed limit; I got 47 on the highway in my Cruze continuously!
Alex, you are always correct…scary!!!!!!!!!! I wonder what ATS and Verano get….with the 2.5? I bet 40 🙂
That’s so true. A lot of modern cars are engineered so that a constant state/cruise control sweet spot can be found at highway/freeway speeds getting the best efficiency. Hooking up a ScanGuage to the Cruze would bear this out. I’d advise constant state driving for the freeway/highway and pulse-and-glide for streets. Hypermiler extremists are a pain, but mild hypermiling ( where you don’t back people up behind you ) is not diffiicult.
Aero mods can add to this significantly. I think grille shutters on the main grille which are connected to the thermostat would work wonders for mileage, esp. in winter. Check out vids re: BMW’s i8 Concept. Six large vent doors cover the grille and open horizontally as cooling is needed. Chevy Cruze Eco and other makes’ models have shutters on the lower grillework. Check out EcoModder.com for aero-obsessed people who get surprising results. They do downhill coast tests to validate aero mods.
Full hybrids like mine don’t do best with constant state cruising. I use pulse-and-glide techniques which I just naturally started doing in my V-6 truck also. It has increased my combined truck mileage to over 23 mpg. Momentum is an amazing thing – it’s so surprising how folks slow down going downhill, and tromp the accelorator going uphill. Pulse-and-glide uses momentum and transforms the way you drive.
Ride height: I’ve noticed that a one inch reduction of ride height results in really significant fuel savings at freeway speeds. Of course, if a suspension isn’t adjustable from the cabin – I wouldn’t lower a car so that it rubs on every driveway, curb and speed bump. It is amazing though, how it makes such a difference.
Clean underpan. ( Not clean underpants!!! 🙂 ) Some guys take a sheet of coroplast, cut a pattern that fits under the lip of the front bumper and cleans up the gap behind the front bumper and up underneath the radiator. This stops turbulence and directs the air underneath the car.
I live in hilly country. But even on flats lots of people think driving slower is the key to city/suburban fuel savings. It’s not.
On rare times when traffic is light, I can speed up five mph or so above the posted limit and “glide” 1/4-1/8th mile to the next stoplight which saves more fuel than creeping along under the limit. Also speed up on slight downgrades and let the car’s momentum carry you over the next rise. I do this on freeways too – with my hybrid/CVT. It works with my automatic trans too. On trips where I have long gradual downhills it’s gravy. Round trips kill you ’cause what goes up must come down, etc. which equals out all your efforts – yet it gets creative choosing your trip home/ etc. by elevation gain and loss, number of stoplights and traffic avoidance.
The end result is, as Priya in the latest Volt commercial says: “Saves me a crapload of money”.
Whatever you do, DON’T buy a ScanGuage! I mean, it’ll drive you nuts. But it’s a lot of fun too!
Plug the thing in and it’s suddenly telling you what your mileage is real-time/trip/… I’m not obsessed — ANYMORE! I went to S.A. – ScanGuage Anonymous and I confessed: ” Hi, I’m James and I’m a ScanGuageaholic…” and today I’m a free man.
What’s fun is when say, you drive the same route as your spouse, say picking up the cubs from school, or to the market. She drives the car and gets 32 mpg and you do the exact same route and return home with 44 mpg and pump your fist in the garage and try not to gloat!
Those are all great suggestions James. I’ll stay away from the ScanGuage but will have to look at the clear underpan method… But then I may have to get the Guage just to compare te difference.
All your ideas and efforts are great, we at GM know that fuel economy is directly effected by the driver buy up to 60% and in rare cases more. that said in the future models you will find very high tech and low tech solutions to easily increase fuel economy we value all ideas keep them coming. Alex you showed what reasonable driving can achieve. we will have more videos in the future on our technology and also real world drivers saving a crapload of money. you will also see 4 mode hybrid in the future that does a great job using available energy to improve fuel economy.