LAST AUTO NEWS – VOLVO ECO-DRIVE
Last Auto account – Volvo eco-drive How far can you get on one catchbasin of fuel? We set off in the super- economical new Volvo S80 on an ballsy drive to Italy to acquisition out!
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How far can you go on a abounding tank? Most of us anticipate we’re advantageous to get added than 300 afar from a individual fill-up – but that’s not abundant to amuse Volvo.
The close has added two added models to its eco-branded DRIVe line-up, the S80 alehouse and V70 estate. The above has a abstract ambit of added than 880 afar on one catchbasin – not bad for a big executive.
Armed with that information, administration challenged Auto Express to drive from the marque’s HQ in Marlow, Bucks, to Milan in arctic Italy. We affective a set of keys to see how far we could get…
Downloaded admonition from the Web had us extensive for our calculators. It seemed that even if we hit the Volvo’s accumulated abridgement of 57.7mpg, we’d still be active on effluvium by the time we accomplished our destination. And if we were to appointment abundant cartage en avenue to the city’s Malpensa airport, we ability not even bolt our flight home at all!
Some arena rules were required. So, while we chock-full abbreviate of taping up the gaps amid the physique panels to advance the S80′s aerodynamics, myself and my co-driver – columnist Matt Vosper – came up with four aureate must-dos. Firstly, the power-sapping air-con was to abide off, as it harms economy. Secondly, the job of advancement a abiding acceleration would be entrusted to the S80′s cruise control. The third aphorism was to complete ourselves to 65mph, which would acquiesce us to abstain bond with the lorries in the central lane afterwards accident too abundant activity or time – afterwards all, we had a flight aback to the UK to catch. Finally, we planned to drive as calmly as accessible and accumulate braking on the continued motorway adventure to an complete minimum.
With these rules established, we nosed out of Volvo’s car esplanade in Marlow and headed to the southbound M25 with our fingers beyond for free-flowing traffic. However, the aboriginal signs were worrying. Cruise computers are awfully optimistic, but for already we had acumen to adjure that our S80′s was inaccurate. The estimated ambit of the absolutely brimmed alehouse larboard us carper our maths – because it said we’d run out of agent in beneath than 300 miles!
This amount was affected based on the car’s antecedent consumption: the Volvo had acutely been apprenticed by anyone with a abundant appropriate foot. As we racked up the afar on the way to the Channel Tunnel, though, the affectation gradually increased, and by the time we bent our alternation it was account about 1,000 miles. By mid-afternoon we’d covered added than 250 of those – and the estimated ambit of 815 in the catchbasin showed that our economy-boosting methods were acutely accomplishing the trick. Our brief stop in the city-limits of Metz, in eastern France, apparent the center point in distance, yet we had added than bisected a catchbasin of agent left.
We were activity confident. And admitting our access beyond the Alps into Italy able to be far added arduous than the collapsed expanses of arctic France we’d covered so far, assurance was high. Cabin temperatures had been comfortable, too, admitting the self-imposed abridgement of air-con. Meanwhile, the allurement to attic the accelerator was getting choleric by an cutting admiration to see the accomplished accessible abridgement read-out on the dash.
As anticipated, day two brought abrupt inclines and added ammunition consumption, although our avenue abhorred Alpine passes and ambit bends. Instead, we took the beneath affecting but added eco-friendly 10-mile Gotthard Tunnel.
A few photography stops had put us abaft schedule, though, and with alone an hour larboard to bolt our flight, we were affected to aces up the pace. We needn’t accept worried, however, because as we accustomed at the airport we were afraid to acquisition we could accept gone abundant further.
The cruise computer claimed we had abundant ammunition to drive addition 200 miles, and afterwards awash the catchbasin we affected our consumption. We’d averaged 65.6mpg over 810 afar – beyond the car’s official accumulated amount in the process.
It wasn’t alone the S80 that was in a fit state, either: we could accept agitated on, too. Thanks to abundantly adequate seats we had no aches afterwards two canicule â??in the saddle’. So Volvo, how about traveling even added next time? With a astute ambit of about 1,000 miles, Marlow to Monza would be even better…
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