The Real Benefits of 'Green' Driving

The 2007 AA/ALD Automotive MPG Marathon

The real benefits of ‘green’ driving came into sharp focus last week when competitors in the 2007 AA/ALD Automotive MPG Marathon proved beyond doubt that skilful eco-driving can dramatically reduce the cost of motoring and cut the amount of CO2 emissions produced by Britain's 30 million motorists.

 Amid a blaze of television and radio publicity, 30 drivers and navigators took part in this national initiative, a round trip between AA headquarters in Basingstoke and Torquay, to establish whether eco-driving can squeeze more miles per gallon (mpg) out their vehicles than conventional motoring. The objective of the 330-mile event was to ‘save pounds and the planet’ as the winning drivers put the manufacturers’ own estimates of fuel consumption to the test – and won.

The achievement was all the more impressive as the drivers had to deal with the glare of publicity and bright sunshine, roadworks, fog and heavy congestion during the two-day endurance trial.

Seventeen manufacturers agreed to publicly have a variety of their hatchbacks, saloons and commercial vehicles put through their paces by automotive journalists, 'green' organisations and motoring safety bodies, including the AA, over this gruelling 330-mile round trip.

It was a satisfying second year victory for outright winner, the Toyota Aygo which, under the driving stewardship of James Sutherland and navigator Richard Hill completed the course using just 19.12 litres of petrol to return a staggering overall fuel consumption figure of 78.39 mpg.

Second place in the competition to find the best outright fuel consumption figure went to the ALD Automotive UK team of James Hillyer and Dave McLaughlin, in a VW Polo Bluemotion with 74.42 mpg.

The MPG Marathon also sought out the drivers most capable of improving on the fuel consumption figures claimed by the manufacturer.

In this category, the Mazda3 MPS driven by Sue and Joanne Cooke came top by achieving 43.34 mpg against the manufacturer’s 29.1 mpg, an improvement of 49 per cent.

Second place in the “percentage improvement” class went to Simon Hacker in the new Renault Twingo, with an improvement of 47 per cent.

Another entry of note was the new seven-seater Chevrolet Captiva. Although perceived in the thirsty SUV 4x4 category, the vehicle driven by motoring journalist Matt Joy also sought to show what could be achieved in terms of personal carbon footprint reduction if each of seats was occupied.

Joy, accompanied by Richard Sowter, Alex Finlay, Kierra Blenkinsopp, Andrew Duerden, Amelia Fletcher and Christian McIntyre, achieved an overall fuel consumption figure of 42.42 mpg, an improvement of 14.35 per cent on the manufacturer’s estimates.