TOTAL ECONOMY RUN – First thanks to little thirst
The bad news: petrol goes up again on Wednesday August 1.
The good news: Peugeot’s 107 city slicker is the most fuel-efficient petrol-engined car in the land, recording an overall consumption of just 5.063 litres/100km on this weekend’s Total Economy Run.
The 1-litre, three-cylinder hatchback saw off the opposition in a gruelling 1 105km test of a car’s economy, with Radio Tygerberg presenter Jeannette Kok-Kritzinger and navigator Riëtte Wannenburg tackling the Mpumalanga roads with aplomb. A number of hybrids couldn’t match the cheeky Pug, and only a trio of small-engined turbodiesels narrowly bettered its figures.
“This year’s event was run in the White River area and while it is very beautiful the mountain passes made it very tricky and technical,” said Kok-Kritzinger, who was perfectly at home on the route thanks to her motorsport experience. “On the uphills we had to preserve fuel by driving steadily and do everything we could to maintain momentum but on the downhills “Daisy” – as we christened our 107 – was more than capable of handling the turns and corners as we worked hard to make up time.”
“The 107’s results prove that modern small engines are very efficient and clean-burning, even on the open road. The latest engine technology combined with an aerodynamic shape and low mass design all adds up to a car with a miserly appetite,” commented Francis Harnie, Managing Director of Peugeot South Africa.
“Well done to Jeannette and Riëtte who have also written the 107 into the record books by becoming the first all-woman team to win a category overall in the 36-year history of the event.”
But efficiency goes deeper than just bald numbers and when you factor in the 107’s unrivalled five-year/100 000 km full maintenance plan versus the service plans offered by its oil-burning rivals (some of which cost more than double the price of the 107 crewed by Kok-Kritzinger and Wannenburg), and it becomes obvious which car was the real winner of the Total Economy Run.
