KEY POINTS:
Fuel is becoming more expensive every day, so could we live with much smaller motor vehicles?
Auckland businessman Don Purdon knows the answer. Purdon owns a 6.1-litre, V8-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.
It is among the thirstiest vehicles on the Government's fuel-saver website, with consumption of 16.4 litres/100km or 17.3mpg.
"I try very hard to make a tank of fuel last a whole week but it isn't easy," says Purdon, chairman of recently NZAX-listed power company Pulse Utilities.
Superwheels asked Purdon if he would like to swap his Jeep for one of the smallest new cars on sale, the new Kia Picanto.
The 1.1-litre four-cylinder engine in the five-speed manual Picanto scores 5.2l/100km (54mpg) on the fuel saver website.
But it doesn't offer the same room as the Cherokee when it comes to packing the family off to the Coromandel for the holidays.
Purdon, his wife and their three children had to leave the Picanto in Auckland until their return.
Now they're back in town and the Picanto has come into its own.
"It is much easier to have a small car around the city," says Purdon. "No worries with tight parking spaces, for instance, and it drives really well.
"It's got a nice gearbox, light clutch and good braking and the ride is not choppy, which you might expect in a small car.
"For the most part, it has ample power, although it does run out of puff on hills if you aren't in the right gear, and you soon forget about overtaking other cars on the open road.
"But it does cruise well and isn't noisy at all at 100km/h.
"The best thing is fuel consumption, which is more than a third less than what I would use in the Jeep."
But here's the skinny.
A mini car cannot fulfil the family transport role, which is why Purdon chose the Grand Cherokee SRT8. The Kia Picanto is ideal as a city run-about that can do the occasional long trip, with a couple of people on board.
Purdon recognises the angst that many motorists, who have been used to larger vehicles, would suffer at the thought of having to down-size to the extreme. But he soon got used to the Picanto and sees the sense in smaller cars for city use.
