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The smell of an oily rag

In the approaching gloom of dusk we read the sign – “Welcome to the Romantic Bay of Islands”. My passenger, Dean Sheed, General Manager of European Motor Distributors the importers of Volkswagens to New Zealand, reassured me he would rather be doing so with his wife, so we continued on towards our unexpected and at that stage unknown destination. Our mission that evening was to run out of fuel. We had expected to do this about 300km earlier much nearer Auckland.

The last time I had intentionally tried to run out of fuel was in the very distant past in a Ford Anglia while in the company of what I believed on that particular night, was the most desirable young lady in the world and who I was certain, considered she would be very fortunate to be marooned on a back country road with me. Sadly she knew a shortcut and the gas station appeared before the car coughed. Not every good plan is a success. However, the plan conceived and executed by Volkswagen New Zealand with assistance from BP Oil NZ Ltd was turning out very well.

The day before we had departed Auckland in a Volkswagen Passat Variant BlueMotion in the company of a Passat BlueMotion Sedan and a BlueMotion Polo. Our purpose was to drive from Auckland to Wellington … and back to Auckland. The question – could it be achieved on 1 tank of fuel?

This was no mean undertaking and, given the distance of about 1280km, we understood had not been previously achieved. The challenge was no high tech planned ‘economy’ run in especially tailored vehicles with highly trained personnel. To the contrary, the BlueMotion Volkswagens were prepared to the manufacturer’s specification as handed over to any new car purchaser. The tire pressures were normal and the engines were not even ‘run in’. Two of the drivers had never sat in one of these models before departing to fuel up at BP Newmarket. After sealing the tanks the cars departed in Auckland morning traffic heading south through the Waikato, National Park, the demanding Parapara Highway (SH4), Wanganui and on to Wellington. The rules were simple … ‘drive at normal traffic speeds’ as a typical New Zealand family would. This was certainly not a hardship for me as the Volkswagen Passat provided is a beautifully handling car with torque aplenty. Following ‘normal’ Kiwi’s in a vehicle designed for Europeans heading for the Riviera or demanding company ‘reps’ actually meant it was to be a very relaxed journey with the greatest challenge being not to amass too many speeding tickets.

The lead Passat sedan was driven by TV3 presenter Sean Summerfield and who quickly demonstrated that he intended to remain on time for planned rendezvous’ with camera crews along the route. His progress was more reminiscent of a Cannonball Run than an economy demonstration. Proof indeed that the BlueMotion range of Volkswagen diesel vehicles is not in any way compromised and perfectly suited for New Zealand family conditions.

My Variant, more commonly referred to in New Zealand as a ‘Station Wagon’ was a delight to drive. During the first morning, my time was spent trying the wide range of standard specification features, commenting on the smoothness of the ride, the perfect feel of the electronic steering and the quietness of the engine. It was a beautiful day doing what I like best in an excellent car. Heaven holds no attraction for me if I can score more of these rides.

Our 3^rd car was the pretty little Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion – a 1.4 litre, diesel engined 5 seater hatchback with an astonishing 195nm of torque. This car has a reputation for penny pinching fuel thriftiness and the 2 guys strapped in were likely to perspire faster than the car used fuel. It may have been tempting for Volkswagen to crew the Polo with lightweights but, in demonstration of their determination to make this a ‘real world’ test, neither of the lads could ever, in ones wildest imagination, be considered anorexic. The fuel tank on this car is only 45litres but it is one of the worlds fuel economy stars and expected to do well in the challenge.

‘BlueMotion’ is Volkswagens initial answer to environmental responsibility.  Not only does their advanced technology offer outstanding economy and a huge reduction in CO2 emissions, but their construction techniques minimise impact on the environment at every stage and at the end of their long lives BlueMotion vehicles can be totally recycled in an environmentally friendly way.

Meanwhile, somewhere near TeKuiti I commented that the fuel gauge had released its seemingly reluctant grip on ‘full’ and had ever so slowly started it’s descent. Approaching Raetihi I tapped it to check if it had changed its mind. The country was rapidly disappearing but the fuel wasn’t.

Wellington was achieved in undramatic fashion with each set of occupants expressing astonishment that the fuel gauges showed less than half empty. Equally impressive was the lack of fatigue and the enthusiasm to party among the countries ruling class. There is no need to rest when driving and setting records is this easy.

The route North all the way up State Highway 1 in heavy traffic was always going to be challenging – but so is the future of vehicle technology. Lunch at Taupo revealed that the Passat Sedan was confident of making its scheduled TV appearance in Auckland on time and the Passat wagon was considering stopping and selling fuel on the side of the road to defray expenses – but the Polo boys looked a little concerned. Their calculations indicated a shortfall so they decided to go out in a blaze of glory and ordered the biggest plates of burgers and chips I have ever seen! That’s attitude.

BlueMotion P1 succeeded easily to roll into Auckland on time and subsequently featured on TV3 News. Mission easily accomplished at an impressive average speed of 83kph. BlueMotion P3 fully loaded with beef and fry’s zipped along and in spite of constant calls from the other concerned crews suspecting they were stranded in the current Waikato desert, finally topped the Bombay hills and coasted down into Auckland. Their diesel consumption was a miserly 3.6 litres per 100 kilometers. Some individuals drink more water than that every day!

BlueMotion 2 meanwhile arrived in Auckland with lots of fuel still in the tank – so Dean & I decided to continue north until it finally ran dry. Our calculation was that, in spite of being caught in the 5pm northbound motorway traffic we may make it to Warkworth. That soon passed, so did Wellsford - and the fuel sucking Brynderwyn Hills. Whangarei slid behind and we continued up Highway 1 without a hesitation, looking at the low fuel warning symbol shining ever more brightly as the sun set. The computer told us we had zero range remaining and an audible warning desperately instructed us to find a fuel station. Given the voice was female we decided to ignore it and continue north. At Kawakawa I confessed to Dean that I had for many years wanted to go visit Waitangi to see where the annual fuss took place. Why not? We had missed dinner and failed to make all our evening appointments so with night falling and a car apparently running on the emissions of Japanese Camper vans, we passed the 1500km point since last docking at a fueling station and cruised into Paihia where we posed among the tourists to photographically record our progress. Onwards through Haruru towards Kerikeri wondering if Transit New Zealand had actually provided us with sufficient road to discover the range of a Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion. Finally with a shudder, a gallant effort to recover and another shudder, the quietness turned to silence. Not far from Kerikeri and 1544km since our start the previous morning, we had an answer to the question.  

We now know that a standard 1.9 litre TDi engine in the astonishing Passat will drive from Auckland to Invercargill – almost the total length on New Zealand - on a single tank of diesel doing little more than driving modestly and following instruction from a little symbol on the dash that indicates when to change up or down gears to remain in the most engines ‘sweet spot’. My Granny could drive this car and, if she did 12,000 km’s each year like a typical Kiwi, realistically she would only visit the fuel station 8 – 10 times. That’s astonishing. Thanks to Volkswagen technology the worlds fuel stocks are going to last a lot longer than we imagined. 

Pictures available on request

Maurice O’Reilly - 19^th February 08