I booked a test drive in something special
 

A peugeot 308HDi.....oh....my...GOD!!!
Here is the link:How low can you go?
Check out the results tab. I may be in with a chance here! Pics tomorrow, all going well.....heh!

ollie

Nice! Let us know how it goes...

A couple years ago Peugeot had a Diesel-Hybrid concept (I think it was a 300-series) that really had my interest. Too bad it never made it to production (not that I could buy it in the U.S., but it could have perhaps forced some competition world-wide).

RH77

Sounds like fun! Good luck. :)

Um, Ollie, when will we see you in the "Winners" tab?
You're lucky! Too bad they don't do that around here :( I mean, sure, I can go for a test drive, but it's not the same...

I read an advert in a paper about it and it said the top prize will be given in time for Christmas so there will be plenty of time for others to try and better whatever i get later today. I think the winners tab is for the weekly winners that get a 100 euro fuel voucher.
Which worries me as the top dog in there at the moment is at 3.3L/100k. The next guy got 3.4 and he drove it like he drives his own car.....:eek: If he normally hypermiles then i have serious competition. If he drove like everybody else then there's a good chance i'll come back from the test drive having used no fuel at all!! I hope there won't be anybody in the car with me. Then i can throw the book at it.:thumbup:

Yes, but he doesn't have the whole EcoModder.com squad backing him, does he? ;)
Maybe you should have gone to a different dealer earlier and asked for a test drive. This would allow you to get a feel for the car beforehand. I guess that if you won't be alone (which is more probable), then tricks like EOC are out of the question :( Will you be able to check/change tire pressure before you get into the car? I doubt removing the rear seats is an opton, neither is mirror chopping :(

I wonder what they'd say if someone showed up with a strapon roof extension and wheel skirts? "Excuse me, will I have time to do a belly pan before it's my turn?"

Wish you best of luck!!!

That sounds scary!!

I did the test drive and it didn't go as well as i had hoped:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-vt...p-computer.jpg
I threw everything at it but it wouldn't play ball. I think my p&g technique is ok but it only made things worse. Coasting didnt save enough to offset what was lost when i accelerated again. EOC didn't work either as the computer didn't register anything then. Great.
I do think that it did well at 90kph so when i get a chance again i'll do more of that.
Here's more pics:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-vt...front-view.jpg
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-vt...-belly-pan.jpg
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-vt...258-engine.jpg
The belly pan is pretty good. Has vents pointing at the gearbox i assume. There were panels either side of the tank and they stopped short of the rear axle. Otherwise the underside was normal enough.
I thought the engine bay was fairly sparse too. I was expecting a jungle of wires and sensors but it was more like an old vintage car in there!
I'll get another two chances to drive it and can have it overnight some weekend too so i'll hopefully do better then.

ollie

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.

Oh, man! I just lost the money I'd put on your winning :( (Just kidding ;) ) I think you did pretty good with such a heavy car.
Is the car's computer the only measure of FE? If so, then I wouldn't even call it a "Contest", but more like "Let's see what random numbers you get this time". I know from other Peugeot owners that the comp can be off by as much as 2 l/100km (!), usually it's closer to 0.5 l/100km. And it's not constant for each car: I once did a 5.0 l/100km tank but the comp showed 4.5, a few months later I did a 4.7 tank and the comp showed 4.8. One of reasons I want a SGII is the hope that it will be more accurate.

In most eco-races the car's tank is filled to the top before and after each run, and a GPS in the car measures the distance (we all know that odometers are usually off by up to 5%). I've read about one eco-race in which the car and driver are weighed before and after the race, and the difference is translated into fuel. If your car wasn't filled up before and after, then every next contestant gets to drive a lighter car.

What did the test course look like? Was it a closed circuit, or city/rural driving? What was the weather? Did you have your coffee in the morning?

That's good. Getting used to the car is important. Plus you can fiddle with the tire pressure. I'd slap on a grille block, b/c the grilles in the newest Pugs are grossly oversized and just plain U-G-L-Y!! I bet that would be the most help, without doing anything more radical. Have you signed up for the next try?

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:)

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.

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.

...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

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

ollie

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.

Going to do that right now!

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

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

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

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...9&d=1255888402

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?

I got 2.9 coming home this morning and that was the level best i could do. The terrain is hilly around the peugeot garage and they have to be crossed. Traffic wasn't an issue and i just drove in 5th, top gear, and made use of the fuel cut on the big downhills and just barely kept on the throttle on the more gentle downhills. But the uphills sucked, literally!
Anyway, it was all for nothing because when the dealer looked at the trip computer he noticed the ODO didn't tally with the distance on the trip computer so my result is null and void apparently. Here's the relevant terms and conditions:

# A minimum distance of 20km test drive must be completed.

# The test drive duplicate form must be filled out in full by the Dealer staff to record the total kilometres travelled by the customer and average fuel consumption will be calculated using the odometer, the distance recorder and the vehicle’s trip computer.

I was not made aware that i should not zero the trip computer but they just said to read the terms and conditions.
I'd pursue it more but when i looked at the results table i got a shock:
How low can you go?

I have one more try at this. I might do it at another peugeot dealer......
Not really. I like my yaris and like it's superior fuel consumption that can be had at normal speeds! I wouldn't cope if i had to drive at 70kph all the time!

ollie

Here's a look at the cover in front of the diesel tank. I'm thinking it's similar to the one on the 207 that Piwo reported on.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-vt...iesel-tank.jpg
In this one you can see how it goes behind the tank.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-vt...iesel-tank.jpg
I have one last test drive booked for tuesday week at another dealer in a place called Clonee, Co.Meath. The terrain is flat and a friend has said he'll help me in his Hyundai Trajet....hint hint....
I'm thinking it's the only way to beat this.

ollie

Bumping.
Ollie, any updates?

Hint hint indeed! :D

Thanks for the link Hugh:thumbup:

IMO the Insight's milage should be added to the Excursion's milage, then who would win? If they wanted the Honda to have low fc, then it could have just been towed, without all the extra "aeromods" on the Ford.
Geez, so shortsighted:(

So, you jumped into a new car that you didn't know and got ~65mpg (US)? Now too shabby...