Rethink your vehicle type to counter record fuel costs
In a time of record fuel prices, are you driving the right kind of vehicle? When you’re looking to conserve as much fuel as possible, the shape and stature of your ride really matter.
Government levies its favourite kind of tax on fuel. Why? Because as long as there are motor vehicles travelling on our roads, fuel-tax revenue will top up the Treasury’s coffers. There is no way that you, the motorist, can’t avoid fuel tax.
Do you know that petrol and diesel prices have doubled in the past five years? Today, fuel prices are nightmarish… and they are about to get even worse. The brief respite government offered (with a softening of its fuel levy) will lapse in June.
Alarming? Without a doubt. If your vehicle is paid up, its associated costs (provided you are within the ownership shielding of a warranty and maintenance plan) are mostly fixed: insurance and licencing. But the price of the energy required to power that vehicle has escalated drastically.
Imagine if your car-loan instalments nearly doubled… You’d never tolerate that and probably trade in the vehicle for something much cheaper. But with fuel, you have to pay the mandated price. Unless you brew your own biodiesel, there is no possibility of using “more affordable” fuel.
Not many modern compact cars could best a 4th-generation Polo TDi sedan in terms of real-world fuel consumption.
Affordable diesel economy has disappeared
Suffice to say there’s little you can do about escalating fuel prices. However, record fuel prices really ought to influence your thinking about the kind of vehicle you choose to drive…
Middle- and lower-income drivers are most exposed to fuel-price pain… and there aren’t all that many highly fuel-efficient cars in the new-vehicle market that are offered below the average SA new-vehicle purchase price of R380 000.
Diesel is dead. And that’s a pity. Those who are old enough to remember those Volkswagen Polo turbodiesels of the early 2000s will recall their excellent compromise of performance and economy. Even Hyundai had a value-oriented diesel hatchback offering, the Getz. Such compact hatchback turbodiesels offered the best efficiency blend: reasonable aerodynamics, low weight and pint-sized diesel engines.
After VW’s emissions-testing transgression – “Dieselgate” – diesel motors have disappeared from most compact passenger cars. Not even VW, which popularised affordable diesel hatchbacks and sedans in South Africa, offers one anymore.
The problem is that small turbodiesels have been replaced by even smaller turbopetrols, which aren’t that light on fuel. In many markets, the 1.0-litre 3 cylinder motor has been an engineering solution to meeting emission regulations, but it is not the most efficient design for balancing performance and economy. It might work in a European city, where speeds are low. But in South Africa, where distances are greater and speeds are higher, those tiny petrol engines aren’t frugal.
Korean compact hatch build quality (and features) allied with turbodiesel power? It would be a great combination to counter 2022 fuel prices.
Small turbopetrol engines aren’t that light on fuel
Scrutinise the consumption of a 1.0-litre turbopetrol car when it’s driven using average to moderately high throttle inputs – you’re likely to see that its fuel consumption is higher than those of larger legacy 4-cylinder turbodiesel engines.
Small-capacity 3-cylinder turbopetrol engines (also known as “triples”) require very aggressive engine mapping and lots of boost pressure to avoid lethargic throttle responses. And you pay for the configuration in fuel consumption. The simple fuel physics is that diesel fuel has more energy than petrol. Therefore, a similarly configured turbodiesel engine will be lighter on fuel, when driven along the same route – and with a matching speed profile, as a turbopetrol.
The other issue working against the dream of milder consumption in a time of fuel price madness is aerodynamic drag.
Stop-start and (theoretically clever) fuel-combustion efficiency might make a difference when you’re stuck in traffic. But the moment that the vehicle’s wheels are rolling, an invisible force requires energy to overcome: aerodynamic drag. It’s an oft-unrecognised reality that buyers don’t think of when they select vehicles. Many drivers only notice the detrimental effect of drag when they attach something to their vehicles’ roof racks, after which fuel consumption invariably worsens.
Honda’s discontinued CR-Z proved the concept of an aerodynamically optimised mild hybrid.
With every passing kilometre, you pay for that crossover look
The truth is that your vehicle’s aerodynamic profile matters. A lot. And the selection of affordable cars with sleek aerodynamics has become frustratingly thin. It’s a development that can be directly attributed to the crossover craze.
By design, any crossover is less aerodynamic than the hatchback it is related to (based upon). Once you increase a vehicle’s height, its drag coefficient worsens. The sacrifice in fuel consumption between a Volkswagen Polo and CrossPolo, or a Suzuki Celerio and Ignis may seem trivial, but considering how crazy fuel prices are at the moment, it all adds up.
Then there’s the issue of utility. A crossover might offer marginally better gravel-road driving ability than the hatchback it shares a platform with, but how often do you use that ability? Remember, you pay for compromised aerodynamics with each and every kilometre that you drive. Is that worth the price for a few hundred kilometres of gravel-road driving a year?
For reference, our Government – and most automotive industry professionals – anticipate that the average South African motorist will drive about 30 000 km in a year. How many of those kilometres do you need the additional ride height of a crossover for? Not many. But for all of those kilometres that you will drive in your vehicle with its raised ride height, your wallet will be lightened further by the burden of greater aerodynamic drag.
Toyota’s Corolla platform offers hybridisation. But not everyone needs a petrol-electric hybrid crossover in the local market.
Where are the hybrid hatches?
What is the ideal fuel-sipper vehicle configuration for average South Africans? The lightweight turbodiesel hatchback is no more, but could petrol-electric hybrids be the alternative? Possibly.
Ironically, the one brand that never offered affordable turbodiesel hatchbacks provides the alternative. Toyota’s brought hybrid technology to a broader spectrum of buyers than any other brand, and with a measure of affordability.
The powertrain efficiency of the Corolla Cross hybrid is real, but it would be even better without the additional aerodynamic drag that comes part and parcel with a crossover configuration. Imagine the Corolla Cross hybrid powertrain in Toyota’s Corolla hatchback, instead of the 1.2-litre turbopetrol motor… The closest you’ll get to that is the Corolla sedan hybrid.
A vehicle similar to VW’s first local compact hatch turbodiesel would work a treat.
Small, light and simple
What should you do? Well, buy the lightest and lowest car you can, provided it satisfies your passenger comfort and load space requirements, of course. Unless you have to do significant gravel travelling each month, a hatchback is always smarter money, in terms of the total cost of ownership, than its crossover equivalent.
The market has moved so dramatically to crossovers that many buyers struggle to find a hatchback or sedan that offers excellent value for money. In truth, a crossover is superfluous for vehicle owners who are honest about their urban driving routine, rather than imagining adventurous gravel-travel weekends that will almost never happen.
What most South African vehicle owners need now, are affordable hybrids that aren’t crossovers. Failing that, you are best off buying the smallest car you need, preferably powered by a naturally-aspirated engine…
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