RECORD SETTING
CROSSCANADA CRUZE
We did it! My husband and I broke a Canadian record for lowest fuel consumption. We drove from Vancouver to Halifax in a 2014 Chevy Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel.
After 5,956 kilometres, we achieved an average overall fuel economy of 4.21 L/100 km (67.09 miles per imperial gallon). That’s the lowest fuel consumption, beating the existing record of 5.59 L/100 km. In total, the Cruze consumed just 250.9 litres of diesel fuel.
On Friday Aug. 30, the final day of the drive, departing Woodstock, N.B. in the dark, there was silence in the cockpit. After an hour, the first words I heard were: “Once the fog clears, the big question will be which way is the wind blowing? Will it be in our favour?”
My husband continued to mutter about getting ‘the number’ down. Mutter. Mutter. “You can’t believe the numbers in my head!” he said. “Elevation. Average speed.”
“Oh yes I can,” I replied. “You’re saying them out loud!”
Back into the silence. I recalled a story he told me about a similar run he did through Scandinavia on a fuel economy challenge in 1991. I had thought of this story often over the previous 5,000 kilometres.
That trip took place before my husband and I met over 15 years ago. His female travelling companion at the time was, by all accounts, a patient, sane woman.
On that trip, however, the Fuel Nerd had stretched her patience to the limits. Near the end of the trip, as the incessant rattling and muttering of numbers intensified, she threw a jar of peanuts at Fuel Nerd across a hotel room.
When he would tell me this story, I would think: ‘Wow, I can’t imagine losing my patience to that extent.’ Now, I could.
Through my silent musings in the vehicle that last morning, Garry cheerily and suddenly asked: “You ready to throw a jar of peanuts at me yet?”
After completing our mission to break the record for lowest fuel consumption between Vancouver and Halifax, husband and tenacious Fuel Nerd said: “We feel very good about the outcome. If someone wanted to take a crack at breaking our record, they’d have to think hard about attempting it.”
A road trip with the mission of beating a record must have parameters. These were ours:
1. Average overall speed of 80 km/h or above. This may seem slow but speed limits through most of Northern Ontario are 90 km/h. There is not that much four-lane highway in Canada where the speed limit is 110 km/h. We were at no time a hazard on the roads. We drove the speed limit, slightly under where it was safe to do so. We travelled with the flow of traffic on two-lane highways and used passing lanes to their full efficiency.
2. The entire trip must be completed in eight days, or 192 hours. We did it in 189 hours.
3. The entire route must be within Canada between Halifax and Vancouver. Direction of travel is up to the drive team.
4. No boats, ferries, airplanes or trains allowed.
5. You must use the least amount of fuel. We used 250.9 litres of diesel fuel.
6. Vehicle: to the discretion of the drive team but it must be a stock, production vehicle currently on sale in Canada. We used a 2014 Chevy Clean Turbo Diesel Cruze, which is, according to Chevrolet, the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid car on the market.
7. You’re allowed to bring your own pillows.
We had a memorable road trip across the country and made some remarkable friends. We showed Canadians and ourselves that a massive drive across the country can be fun, frugal and fuel efficient. Confessions: 1. Feather pillows. We are not those people that travel with pillows. We smuggled those pillows into every motel room every night. We may not have completed the drive without them.
2. Shoes. In my first column about this trip, I stated that, to keep weight down in the vehicle, I would only take one pair of shoes. I knew there would be two urban nights: Vancouver and Ottawa. Of course I had to bring a pair of ‘going out’ wedges. Final Shoe Statistics: five pairs. Least worn? Those ‘going out’ ones, of course.
3. You’re waiting for me to admit that we hypermiled, drafted behind transport trucks, waited out headwinds by the side of the road and got in huge daily arguments. None of these things happened.
4. At the outset of the road trip, I thought I would try to quit chocolate. This didn’t happen.
5. I did not throw a jar of peanuts at my husband.
6. We’d do it again in a heartbeat.