A rigorous round of real-world testing dubbed the ‘MPG Marathon’ has once again underlined the impressive fuel-efficiency of the new diesel powered Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC. In the test of 23 cars driven by independent journalists and company car drivers on UK roads, the Civic took third place for overall best miles-per-gallon, behind the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic and Renault Clio Dynamique – both much smaller cars than the Honda.
Over a 367-mile drive the Civic recorded an excellent overall mpg of 84.87mpg, just 4mpg behind the winner. It exceeded its official combined figure by some 8.12 per cent, placing it third place overall in percentage improvement on quoted mpg figures. The Civic also recorded the third lowest CO2 emissions of the models on test, with just 94g/km.
Organised by a motoring magazine, the ALD Automotive/Shell FuelSave MPG Marathon set out from Tankersley Manor, near Sheffield, on Wednesday 9th October. This year’s event is regarded as the toughest yet, with strong winds, long hill climbs and heavy traffic. Despite the conditions, Mark Armstrong-Read of Derbyshire NHS Trust steered the Civic to a podium place, thanks to both his own eco-driving skills and the no- compromise combination of performance and efficiency of the 1.6 diesel Civic.
The MPG Marathon is designed to be a true real world test that demonstrates the benefits to both the environment and the motorist’s back pocket of employing simple, smarter driving techniques. This year’s event saw the introduction of a new ‘navigational scatter’ format with competitors required to visit a number of fixed points via the route of their choice, as opposed to the fixed route used in previous years. As a result, drivers were faced with a number of decisions to find the optimum route, without incurring time penalties. The location, speed and direction of travel of each competitor were monitored in real-time by TRACKER satellite tracking technology fitted to each vehicle.
The new Civic 1.6 i-DTEC offers a class-leading combination of fuel economy and performance – emitting only 94 g/km of CO2 with a powerful 120PS. The engine is the first to be launched in Europe under Honda’s flagship Earth Dreams Technology environmental programme; offering customers an outstanding balance of high fuel economy, low emissions and dynamic performance. Sadly Malaysia will not see the fuel sipping diesel engine as we have very low quality Euro2 diesel on sale. Fuel efficient diesel engines like the one in this Civic need at least Euro4 diesel which is on sale in Singapore and other neighbouring countries.
