How Renault makes a 50mpg 7 seater January 11, 2010
Posted by richard in : Technology , add a commentRENAULT and I won our class in last year’s MPG Marathon – a right ol’ result, it was, after 400 miles’ somewhat steady driving.
But how? All down to the Grand Scenic I drove – fitted with the 1.4-litre TCe ‘downsized’ engine.
In Renault parlance, this is a 2.0-litre power-puncher with 1.6-litre fuel-sipping ability. Tiny turbo, no direct injection, Nissan all-alloy block and plain efficiency. It’s a canny wee thing, alright.
Particularly if you want to drive economically. See, its key characteristic is delivering loads of torque at really low revs – diesel-like revs, in fact. Throughout the entire Marathon, I honestly didn’t exceed 2000rpm. And still managed to summit the 1-in-2 climbs dotted through the route.
That tiny turbo allows this; it spools up fast, which is just what you need for eco driving. Here’s traits I exploited:
• Responsive to light throttles
• Ability to select 6th at ridiculously low speeds
• Linearity when modulating the throttle
• Turbo doesn’t ‘run away’ from you
• If you’re genteel, then so will it be
Being eco is about fluid motion. You need to swim along, with not a misplaced stroke, slipping along like an eel. Only with infintesimal control over the fuel being pumped into the engine can you do this.
Tiny turbo engines often produce great figures on the test rig, but plunge in real life, due to the turbo sucking in air like an iron fist, and forcing fuel injection to throw petrol in accordingly. Many people who drive at low revs and in a seemingly eco manner actually get mediocre economy – because of the lack of control the engine seems to have over itself.
None of that with the TCe. If you want to accurately throttle back as far as necessary to maintain pace, you can do. No torque-free gullies to fall into, no risk of being left floundering. It’s almost electric-like in its reponsiveness when you’re taking it steady.
The result of this is 50.3mpg in a 7-seat Grand Scenic. Official.
RenaultSport past to inspire turbo future
Image of the Week: 4 April 2009 April 4, 2009
Posted by richard in : Uncategorized , 1 comment so farBMW Shows Off Its Emissions
This is one of those images that I find oddly satisfying. Renault did a poster, years ago, with a tiny icon of every F1 car to win bearing its name.
Now, BMW’s done something similar – but, this time, showing off winning emissions, rather than race chargers.
I stumbled across the image on the company’s EU media site – hence, why fuel economy is listed in litres per 100km, rather than mpg.
Here, the logic is simple: lower is better. As it is for CO2.
The image is showing off just how many BMWs creep into the ‘low emission’ general category, and you have to admit it’s quite impressive.
I’m no BMW apologiser. It’s just impossible to deny how ‘green’ its current cars are.
Come on, Renault, Peugeot, Fiat and so forth. Your posters would be similarly impressive. Let’s be seeing ‘em!
China’s green example to the world March 13, 2009
Posted by richard in : Uncategorized , add a commentEarlier in the year, I had dinner in London with visitors from China’s motoring media. They were here on a fact-finding mission, and were keen to touch base with like-minded sorts from the UK.
It was a superb evening, full of lively debate and contrasting viewpoints. I tried to give them lots of insight, but reckon I took just as much from the evening, if not more. I promised in particular to follow one tip-off closely: mark my words, said several of our Chinese guests – new car sales back home are going to skyrocket.
This was in complete contrast to the dreadful 2008 gloom we in the UK had been suffering. What made them so confident? Over to Kevin Chen, CEO of Gasgoo: ‘From January 20, the Government will cut the sales tax on cars 1.6-litres and under, from 10 percent to 5 percent…’
In other words, smaller, more eco-friendly models were to be given an incentive: they’d carry half the tax of thirstier ones.
And how it’s worked. From being in the doldrums, China’s new car market was up a startling 25 percent in February. A quarter! To get a measure on how many cars this is, consider that in February alone, over 600,000 new cars were sold…
The net effect is huge. Massive. Even though 1.6-litres and under doesn’t sound that green compared to UK green schemes, it’s a big difference for China. Over there, the European ‘downsizing’ trend has yet to catch on. This is thus an admirably green and eco move – and, with the promise of more cash in its back pocket, has seen a generally save-not-spend society hit car dealers in droves.
Why do I mention this? Well, I’ve just been called by City Talk Liverpool, to speak on their Sunday morning show with Edward O’Hara MP. Rob McLoughlin is the presenter, and we’ll be debating this week’s potential good news for Land Rover Halewood, plus the implications of what Mandelson’s been saying.
The relevance of China, then? Well, the car tax reduction is a useful case study of how the world’s biggest car market responded to green new car sales incentives…
Clever cars? We ‘aint seen nothing yet March 9, 2009
Posted by richard in : Uncategorized , add a commentLand Rover, Orange and the Ordnance Survey aren’t known for being particularly complementary bedfellows.
But, with the TRL smoothing the waters, they’ve come up with something that’ll make yet another potential big difference to car CO2 emissions. The Sentience test bed.
This is the Clever Car. It uses smart sat nav to plot a route, see what traffic conditions are ahead, moderating engine accordingly. Clever, aye? You’re suspicious. Well, (for now) fear not. This is not (intended to be) ‘dumb waiter’ style speed restriction.
Rather, it is the car using adaptive cruise control to idealise the acceleration and deceleration – as per traffic up ahead, the necessary speed gain needed to scoot between point and – get this – counter the gradient of the road in the most eco way possible.
Like the driver who looks ahead, and adjusts the throttle accordingly, rather than the less clever ‘point ‘n squirt. Oh, and then brake’ merchant.
Orange provides the ‘net-enabled telecommunications, but it’s OS’s mapping data, detailing gradient, bens in the road, roundabouts, even speed bumps, that really gives it intelligence.
An example. Green drivers know that accelerating at the bottom of the hill creates momentum for ascending it. So, uses less fuel. This is what the Sentience car does. Ingenious. And generating claimed fuel savings of nearly a quarter.
What’s more, with real-time navigation systems, it can alter profiles according to traffic flow as well as road conditions up ahead. It can even vary and restrict speed, according to the probability of something slowing the car at a junction up ahead, and meter speed for best flow through traffic lights.
There’s been a lady from Brake today, banging on across all the news channels that speed kills. Yes, speed. Not a single other factor, just speed. Make everyone drive at the speed limit and accidents will be cut to zero.
What utter guff. Luckily, companies such as this quartet are being a damn sight more intelligent, and developing mobile comm cars that will both save the world and a few lives in the process.
Their only problem is, the degree of autonomy they’re calling upon drivers to hand over. With the Brake woman in mind, that’s maybe a debate for another day…
