710km - Kota Bahru to Johor Bahru on one tank of fuel. This is what happend in the 2nd edition of the PROTON 1 Tank Adventure. The fuel efficiency challenge finals concluded recently where the finalists completed an epic drive that set off from Kota Bharu in Kelantan, and all the way south to Johor Bahru. Real world conditions with time limits and a distance which was at least 50 over kilometers farther than the previous adventure last year. Amazing.
36 finalists comprising of owners and members of the media undertook the 710km journey in 18 Proton cars. with everyone having to drive at real world speeds and face everyday traffic over a variety of road conditions. This time, the distance was longer and there was a tighter control of the time limit required to complete a certain stage. More drama and white knuckles as the drivers must balance speed as well as eco-driving to finish.
This time around, PROTON took into account on what happened during last year's adventure. So to ensure the safety of all participants, rule changes were introduced for this year's challenge. As stated above, there were nows stricter time limits between checkpoints to ensure the speed difference between competitor cars and other road users were minimised. The changes resulted in an average speed of above 70km/h, which in all honesty is a fair representation of real world driving conditions.
From experience (as we participated in it last year), this is quite a realistic speed as we can actually see people actually driving at a more sedate pace compared to those in the larger towns and cities. The pace in rural Malaysia is actually slower than what we normally see in big cities and we have seen kampung folk drive leisurely at around 65-75kmh even on the North South highway. Last year, the average speed was closer to 60kmh with 70-80kmh only on the highways.
For the final, all cars were fuelled exclusively with PETRONAS Primax 95 with Pro-Drive, which has proven to deliver a smoother, more responsive and efficient drive. The folks at PETRONAS must also be keen to help out in this adventure. Anyway, the 1 Tank Adventure is a fantastic challenge to most drivers as it is all about managing the car to the very last drop of petrol.
But even with that amount of pressure, the drive was memorable as there was also fun involved as well as a lot of food along the way. The first checkpoint was at Pantai Rhu in Terengganu where every team participated in a challenge to try some delicacies from the regions visited over the last three weeks before feasting on a packed lunch of nasi kerabu with chicken and keropok lekor. After an overnight stop in Kuantan, all teams then made their way to Puteri Harbour in Johor Bahru the next day, where the final award ceremony took place.
The best figures posted in the final were 4.82L/100km for the Proton Iriz, 5.03L/100km for the Proton Persona and 4.65L/100km for the Proton Saga. In theory, both the Iriz and Saga could have done 800km (based on a 40L fuel tank) while the Persona would be close to that figure. These figures were not a fluke as the results posted by all teams were really close together.
As an example, of the six Proton Sagas which competed, fourof the cars achieved figures of less than 5.00L/100km. This does show that in normal driving conditions with a number of different drivers and driving styles it is possible to post outstanding fuel economy numbers. Also note that the average speed that they travelled should be around 60-70kmh. Quite an interesting achievement by these Proton cars actually.
“The PROTON 1 Tank Adventure covered more than 2,305km to measure the fuel efficiency of our cars. Multiply that by the number of competing teams over all four events and over 40,000km would have been logged. This is a ringing endorsement for the fuel efficiency of Proton cars as the figures were obtained by owners and members of media on public roads instead of the confines of a laboratory test,” said Dr Li Chunrong, Chief Executive Officer for PROTON.
“PROTON would like to have more customer driven events in the future as we want to show all car buyers what Protons are truly capable of. From their fuel efficiency to their styling and advanced features to the ride and handling balance engineered in to all our cars, there are many reasons to choose a Proton as your next car and events such as the 1 Tank Adventure are a great platform to showcase those reasons,” added Dr Li Chunrong.
We hope the PROTON will keep on organising the 1 Tank Adventure. At least for a few more years as this actually proves that their cars can be efficiently driven. It also allows Proton car owners to strive for something. It isn't often that affordable car brands have such events or contests for their customers. This is something different and we hope that it continues for a while longer.
PROTON 1 Tank Adventure results:
Proton Iriz
Media
Mohd Farid Aualuddin
Tan Zhi Jian
4.82L/100km
Owner
Mohammad bin Saat
Rosmena binti Saat
5.31L/100km
Proton Persona
Media
Iffah Hazirah binti Ab Hadi Latifi
Aznan Johari bin Adenan
5.03L/100km
Owner
Mohd Sha'airies bin Shafie
Hajar Fadin binti Baharuddin
5.16L/100km
Proton Saga
Media
Ho Weng Sum
Nurhazah binti Ibrahim
4.78L/100km
Owner
Muhammad Nur Izwan Bin Mohd Rizal
Izzati Syafinaz Binti Mohamed
4.65L/100km
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