KEY POINTS:
Volkswagen launched the arrival of its super-economical BlueMotion range with a mid-week, mid-city economy run.
The BlueMotion Polo piloted by this paper used just 3.13 litres of diesel driving a complicated Auckland city route totalling 72.9km.
That's 4.3 litres per 100km travelled, not to mention lower CO2 and
particulate emissions, the latter courtesy of a particulate filter.
The key to the BlueMotion cars - each badge denoting the most frugal version of a model line - is not the engines, for they are standard.
It's in the adjustments made to the cars' aerodynamics, plus minor internal engine modifications, longer gearing and low-rolling resistance tyres from Dunlop.
VW says there's no point achieving economy if driving isn't fun and the 1.4-litre TDI fitted to this $30,990 Polo, with its 195Nm of torque, certainly allows a bit of tyre spinning if required.
Frugal yet fun is a philosophy the brand will cling to as the other BlueMotion cars roll out, with the BlueMotion 1.9TDI Jetta arriving in March 2008, followed by Golf, Passat, Touran and Caddy BlueMotion cars. All will offer only manual transmissions, which are still more efficient over their whole lifecycle than even the company's clever DSG autos.
VW NZ general manager Dean Sheed says BlueMotion is more than just clever car tweaking.
It's a whole-of-life philosophy that calculates the most environmentally friendly car from design to eventual disposal. Choice of materials, reducing water consumption, minimising solvent use and energy consumption, improving residual waste and choosing clever transport options like moving cars by rail, not road, are all part of the calculations made before the coveted badge is applied.
Of course, feeling green because your car is recyclable is pointless in a country without the infrastructure to recycle, but buyers can still bask in the warm glow of eco-friendly build and low fuel costs pending the next new developments.
Sheed sees electric cars fuelled by hydrogen as the future.
Meanwhile, he's talking cars that can use petrol or diesel, their ECU adjusting to whatever fills the tank - and, of course, hybrids.
A Unitec-developed Polo-derived hybrid diesel rally car is in the build to compete in a demonstration class of the next World Rally Championship.
But first Sheed must get the message across that eco-friendly doesn't require a special effort; that "these BlueMotion models are ordinary cars with environmental benefits".