RV FEATURE
Our trip began in suburban Melbourne . I filled up the diesel tank , and when the nozzle clicked off , I trickle-filled right to the brim . Then , I reset the trip-meter and entered the stop-start traffic of Melbourne , before venturing over the West Gate Bridge towards Anglesea , a beautiful town near the start of the Great Ocean Road .
After taking care of some business in Anglesea ( and grabbing a pie and iced coffee ), we headed back . The road from Melbourne to Anglesea is mostly freeway , with the speed limit varying between 80km / h and 100km / h , dropping to 40km / h here and there because Melbourne always seems to have road works .
Over $ 98 to fill the tank at the start of the test !
The vehicle drank about 21L of diesel .
As we approached the West Gate , we ran straight into peak-hour traffic . My foot was on and off the accelerator for at least 45 minutes as we plodded towards Kings Way and St Kilda Road .
Finally , after a long day , we arrived back at the same servo from that morning . The trip-meter revealed that we ’ d driven 282.2km .
I re-filled the tank , trickle-filling to the brim . The bowser told me that the D-MAX had used 21.28L at a cost of $ 45.95 .
A quick calculation showed that the vehicle consumed 7.54L / 100km – an excellent result that , to be honest , I was not expecting . I figured we ’ d see fuel consumption of around 8.5 to 9L / 100km , but 7.5L / 100km is a figure that most people would be happy with , I think .
There was nothing about the weather that I felt would ’ ve significantly skewed the results of the test , and I drove in a fairly consistent manner , according to the speed limits and prevailing road conditions .
Next , we ’ ll test the fuel-efficiency of the D-MAX when towing as heavy a van as we can – stay tuned !
THE FIGURES
Kilometres travelled : 282.2 ( combined highway and city )
Diesel used : 21.28L Result : 7.54L / 100km
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