I booked a test drive in something special

[Piwoslaw]

I asked on the local Pug forum whether the Polish Peugeot dealers were doing a similar contest. Nope.

I did find out, though, that in a similar contest in France the FE got down to 2 l/100km. See Ollie, you still have a chance to improve

[vtec-e]

Don't get your hopes up on an SG being accurate on a diesel. I've had mine since january and only now is it close to my tank measurements. They are currently at 3.2L/100k but the SG says i am doing 2.9 or thereabouts. It used to say i was doing 2.5 tanks...i wish!!
The course was on an open road at 15:00 on friday so i had a fair amount of traffic to contend with. Not the freeflowing kind either. The terrain was reasonably flat but even the very small hills took their toll on FE. The weather was almost perfect with only a slight breeze. But even this made a big difference when i turned around to come back to base.
I'll try some basic grille blocking and maybe air up the tires some more. The grille is massive too. Whats with that?? I doubt it is to duct air to the sides of the car via the front wheel arches. Thats for sure!
I haven't signed up for the next try but i will do so the week after next. I'm changing shift where i work and will be working weekend nights. This will be very helpful in trying for max mpg as traffic will be non existent. But if i'm to get it down to 2L/100k.......i'll need the mpg gods on my side!

ollie

ps: Thanks for the support guys. It means a lot.

[blueflame]

I received an email to test drive a prius, got down there within 1 hour and they gave me a $50 fuel voucher. No MPG contest though. Good luck! No pulse and glide next time just feathering off?

Love that engine bay photo, amazing economy.

[RH77]

Originally Posted by Cd

Why can't we have cars like this over here across the pond ? Instead, we are stuck with boxes on wheels that get horrible mileage, and look like a six year old designed them.

...and we can't even test drive them overnight, let alone close to 30 minutes!

Great pics and story! Best FE to you on future drives...

RH77

[vtec-e]

I have the 308hdi for the weekend until monday morning. Here goes nothing!!

ollie

[Cd]

If at all possible, can you please take more pictures of the underside of this car ?
( no pressure if you are too busy )

Thanks !

I'll bet that 99.5 % of Americans think that the Prius is absolutely the highest FE car in the world.
It's too bad that Americans like me are kept uninformed of cars such as this.
Pity.

[vtec-e]

Originally Posted by Cd

If at all possible, can you please take more pictures of the underside of this car ?
( no pressure if you are too busy )

Going to do that right now!

[vtec-e]

Ok, may be monday before i post pics.....just got to get ready for work. But the pics are good. There's a partial belly pan in front of the exhaust and diesel tank. It has a thin bit behind the tank too. Other than that it's pretty normal actually.

ollie

[vtec-e]

First trip done. 3.1L/100k over about 110km. At 70kph it does 2 to 2.5L/100k and that appears to be the best it will do. I tried P&G and it just drank the diesel. I'm no P&G pro but i have it reasonably sorted in my yaris.
Anyway, if i was going all the way around the country then i can see how 2.2L/100k is possible while driving reasonably normally.
Oh and another thing; It DFCO's like nothing i've seen before. There is very little decceleration in 5th when i lift off the throttle and i can maintain speed on a very slight downward slope while in DFCO. This helps mpg hugely and offsets the extra fuel used on the uphills.
And another thing, there is a full grille block available for people in cold climates. There is a drawing of it in the users manual and it sure looks smart!

Second half tonight. Here's hoping the weather plays ball with me!

ollie

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by vtec-e

And another thing, there is a full grille block available for people in cold climates. There is a drawing of it in the users manual and it sure looks smart!

I looked through the online manual for the Peugeot 308 and I found a picture of that grille block:



It's actually a snow guard to keep white fluff out of the radiator+fan (that's what you get with a grille opening that size). The manual mentions that it should be taken off when the outside temperature is above +10*C, towing, or driving faster than 120 km/h. But, in the hands of a good ecodriver, I bet it could stay on for most of the year.

When looking at the specs of the car, even though the 1.6HDi engine seems to be the same as I have in my 307, the 308 gets much better FE, about 0.3-0.5 l/100km, both city and highway. This can only partially be b/c the 308 is lighter (by less than 90kg, less than 6%), so maybe it's the intercooler bypass valve and the 6-speed gearbox? I'd like to have that for a weekend, but PSA apparently decided that Poles don't know squat about ecodriving I'm so jealous...

Ollie, if you have a minute, then please write some more about your experience with the 308. Would you exchange your Yaris for a 308 if you got the chance?