Fuel economy tags on new private vehicles for sale

**valacirca** · September 12th, 2012 02:42 PM

With all the fuel consumption/effiency talk surrounding discussions about cars, I've realized that a lot of figures I see are not taken within the context of the traffic conditions they were measured in.

Kunwari may magsasabi na nakakuha siya ng 5km/L using a Hyundai Accent driving 10km for 2 hours from point A to point B in bumper-to-bumper traffic... the kneejerk reaction of people is usually "OMGWTFBBQ 5km/L LANG?!?!?! Ang panget ng fc ng Accent!!!!" And then they will ignore the fact that the measurement was taken driving for 2 hours with an average speed of 5 kph.

So my question is this:

1) What average speed would constitute driving in heavy traffic? What about moderate traffic? Eh light traffic and highway driving?

2) For your typical line of sub-compact sedans (Vios, City, Rio, Accent, Fiesta) --- what km/L should one expect to get when driving them in different traffic conditions (heavy/moderate/light)?

Just asking this so that everytime I see fc figures and measure fc of my own, I can take them in the proper context. Thanks!

**niky** · September 12th, 2012 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by uls

diba si Mr. Nuvi-Nuvi nagpapatesting sa UP?

can the govt use that as the testing facility?

Hahaha... what testing facility? UP has no dyno and no climate-controlled testing chamber. All they've got is a simple gas analyzer. The only advantage over an emissions testing facility is that it records NOx.

Testing at UP or at the DTI or DOE involves going out to the road, driving back and forth, and measuring the fuel used. It's so ridiculously easy to game that test that Khaos used that trick on the DOE when they did the "certification" that it saved fuel.

**uniport** · September 12th, 2012 03:19 PM

ill try to answer your questions
1. average traffic speed - heavy 0-20 kph moderate 20-60kph
anything consistently above 60kph is light na for me
2. in my 03 vios 1.3 m/t im getting roughly 13 plus km per liter on mixed heavy, moderate and light traffic. i actually refuel every sunday so i get to measure it with regular frequency. id probably get better fc if i ditched my sub box, any well maintained 1200 to 1500cc car would get roughly 13-15kpl

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**uls** · September 12th, 2012 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by niky

Hahaha... what testing facility? UP has no dyno and no climate-controlled testing chamber. All they've got is a simple gas analyzer. The only advantage over an emissions testing facility is that it records NOx.

really?

and i thought meron dyno yung UP VTRL

ang fancy pa naman ng name -- Vehicle Testing Research Laboratory

charging P25,000 daw per session sabi ni Mr. Nuvi

**niky** · September 12th, 2012 03:34 PM

Originally Posted by uls

really?

and i thought meron dyno yung UP VTRL

ang fancy pa naman ng name -- Vehicle Testing Research Laboratory

charging P25,000 daw per session sabi ni Mr. Nuvi

Oops. Meron pala.

UP Vehicle Research and Testing Laboratory - Diliman - Engineering/Construction | Facebook

I really haven't been back to UP for a while.

Mahal nga. 25k for dyno session with analyzer. A private facility could do that for just 5k per hour.

You can probably do all the tests for one vehicle within a one hour time frame. The government could force all the manufacturers to do a test for each car they sell, but they'd have to ensure the tests are affordable.

**valacirca** · September 12th, 2012 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by uniport

ill try to answer your questions
1. average traffic speed - heavy 0-20 kph moderate 20-60kph
anything consistently above 60kph is light na for me
2. in my 03 vios 1.3 m/t im getting roughly 13 plus km per liter on mixed heavy, moderate and light traffic. i actually refuel every sunday so i get to measure it with regular frequency. id probably get better fc if i ditched my sub box, any well maintained 1200 to 1500cc car would get roughly 13-15kpl

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks sir. Kasi since buying my car, 6-10kph lang ako sa sobrang traffic during morning and evening rush sa Makati, Fort and Pasig areas eh :p Kaya yung fc ko naglalaro lang sa 5km/L

**Bitulo** · September 13th, 2012 12:39 AM

It should be a government certified number. Since the investment in terms of equipment and facilities is expensive, then there is a need for a high level of technical competence and there is need for some carefully thought out test protocols, the concerned government agencies will probably have to pool their resources. But the DOE and LTO would probably be the lead agencies. All of these would be patterned after the US EPA system. Kung hindi pa kaya ng ating gobyerno ang testing na ito at this time, these tests pwede siguro econtrata sa US EPA para sila ang mag test at magbigay ng fuel economy figures ng mga bagong modelong kotse. Just my thinking.

**Bitulo** · September 13th, 2012 12:49 AM

Agree with Bin Diesel so long as standardized across all manufacturers and dealers para comparable lahat. If the test protocols can capture or even remotely approximate the driving reality sa Pilipinas so much the better. Ang importante parepareho ang basis ng comparison.

**niky** · September 13th, 2012 03:08 AM

The US EPA tests don't apply to the Philippines. The speed ranges are not realistic for our conditions.

Aaaaaand... The EPA itself doesn't test all the cars it certifies. Only a tiny fraction of US sold cars are tested by the EPA. The rest of the numbers are self-reported by the manufacturers.

Which leaves you back at square one. You can't trust the numbers.