Last Thursday and Friday, I participated in the 3rd leg of the Ford Figo Amazing Rally which saw groups of journalists from various cities pitted against each other in an Eco Driving Challenge.
It was a very hush hush affair with none of us knowing where we were starting the race and what exactly we had to “do” on the rally. All we were told was to pack an overnight bag and that we would all be flying somewhere and would return safely to our starting point, the following day. So off we went, fulled with anticipation, to Cape Town International to board a plane to the secret destination of Port Elizabeth. Once we had landed in PE, we were bustled off to another secret location which turned out to be the very plush Radisson Blue in PE´s suburb of Summerstrand.
After receiving our media packs and signing our lives away on various indemnity forms, we received a briefing from Team Ford and Nokia. Nokia kindly provided us all with the uber sexy, new Nokia C7 touch screen phone which kept us all constantly connected and in touch while on the road. Catch a recap of our journey in tweets here.
After learning a bit more about Ford´s new, affordable diesel passenger car, the Figo, and some necessary safety tips it was off to bed in order to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for the next morning´s early start.
All contestants received points for checking in at various landmarks along the route from PE to Cape Town whilst completing challenges at each location, all the while keeping a very close eye on the fuel gauge…because this is where the Rally got really interesting: all competitors had nothing more than a tank of diesel to navigate from start to finish. Lucky for us, the Figo 1.4 TDCi is one of the most fuel efficient cars currently on the market.
After a 12 hour long and 765km car journey along the Garden Route, we arrived safely in Cape Town around 7pm on Friday evening. Team liveeco came in second place in the time trial (technically we won but due to an accident on the N1 and Team Cosmo sneakily taking a detour home, we came in second). We did not fair so well unfortunately on the fuel efficiency side, where we placed 4th out of the 6 teams. This is mostly due to the fact that I hate slow drivers and stuck to a steady 120km/h for most of the journey (isn´t a constant speed efficient, regardless of the actual speed?!?!?).
The liveeco team at Pitstop 1 – The Big Tree outside PE
Team Ford at Pitstop 1
Big up to the facebook fans though for winning our leg, obviously driving like grannies is the answer to fuel efficient driving 😉 They came in second last in the time trial, I think they would´ve placed last had Team Seventeen not got horribly lost and technology had not failed them! But congrats none the less, and to all the other facebook fans for winning all three legs! (The fans obviously had something to prove to us journo´s!)
The liveeco team passing the Facebook fans in a blur 😉
Our sexy little Figo at the final pitstop, the exquisite Arabella wine farm in Robertson
An exhausted Team liveeco at our welcome home bash at Ford Mekor in Claremont
Click here to see more pics of all three legs.
The Ford Figo definitely exceeded my expectations. For a 1.4, this car can move – even with the aircon on, we were overtaking vehicles in 5th gear! Now as I currently drive a 1.4, I can say without a doubt that overtaking in 5th for a 1.4 is an extremely impressive feat! The fact that it is economical, affordable and eco-friendly (the 1.4 TDCi produces 139g of carbon dioxide per 100km and demonstrated its frugality in last year´s Total Economy Run where it used just 4.7l/100km ) this little car is definitely worth considering for a first time buyer or someone that does a lot of driving in and around the city. I think our fuel efficiency was around 4.82l/100km and the overall winners was somewhere around 4.6l/km so they did extremely well to beat the official record! Although they did drive like Miss Daisy at around 80km/hour all the way! In my opinion the turbocharger makes this car as it provides that extra bit of much needed power that the car deserves. The only thing lacking, for me, was the mod cons such as electric windows and a multi function steering wheel. But all in all I was totally blown away by the power that a so called “green” car can have. Who said eco driving had to be slow and boring…
All contestants were required to film a 20 second commercial for the new Ford Figo with our snazzy new Nokia C7’s. Watch the clip below to see Team liveeco’s rendition:
My Figo highlights:
- The impressive boot space – loads of room for shopping bags (FYI 22 Grade 8´s can fit inside the Ford Figo) and all the seats fold completely flat so plenty room for my hounds
- The superior handling – this little car hugs the road beautifully and provides a smooth, safe ride
- The DTE (distance to empty) feature on the dashboard so that you can never be caught unaware and run out of petrol (great for someone like me who hates to drive with less than a quarter tank of gas)
- The smooth gearbox and clutch control
- The purr of the diesel engine – I have always been a petrol head but am now a staunch diesel fan. Cheaper and greener, what´s not to love?
My top fuel efficient driving tips:
- Drive at a constant speed
- Ensure 5th (or your highest gear) is selected when driving over 50km/h
- If stopped for more than 20 seconds turn your engine off instead of idling. Idling for 3 minutes is equivalent to driving for 1km at 50km/hour. Contrary to what people believe this will not damage the car.
- Open your windows when driving under 100km/h and use the aircon when driving over 100km/h
Efficiency, safety and connectivity… what more could an eco chic girl ask for!
Nics
xx
