Save fuel and reduce your environmental impact – the two premises behind the emergence of green cars are also at the heart of Fiat’s new eco:drive campaign. Last week the manufacturer teamed up with the AA to show motorists how they can adjust their driving style.
The AA’s president Edmund King entered a Fiat 500 1.3 16v MultiJet into last week’s MPG Marathon 2008, a road rally from Bristol to Macclesfield and back, with the aim being to drive economically and show the greatest increase in miles per gallon compared to the manufacturer’s official figures.
Mr King used Fiat’s new eco:drive technology to assist his efforts which resulted in figures of 73.3mpg over 403.4 miles – a nine per cent improvement over Fiat’s official 67.3mpg figure.
The eco:drive system is a free of charge tool designed to help drivers understand the impact of their driving style on both fuel consumption and emission levels. With a USB plugged into the dashboard it records detailed information about the vehicle and how it is driven, which can then be uploaded on to a computer with suggestions about how to improve efficiency further.
For Mr King, the result was a 13 per cent improvement on day two compared with day one – the equivalent of saving £130 a year on fuel.
“We were very pleased with the result as we were driving a standard car in a normal, if economical, fashion. We also had to stop several times to film the car or conduct interviews with the media,” he said.
“At the end of the first day we were able to get a few tips from eco:drive on how to improve for day two, such as use of brakes, accelerator and clutch.
“In our view, eco:drive is an aid to economical driving because motorists can set themselves challenges and try to achieve them. Drivers need to have a target to save fuel and eco:drive gives them this. That’s where it will work well.”
If you’d like more information on eco:drive check out the Fiat website.
