A SURVEY OF IN SERVICE PETROL CONSUMPTION OF PASSENGER VEHICLES IN AUSTRALIA

A survey of in service fuel consumption representative of the Australian wide fleet of passenger cars was carried out in 1984 and 1985. Some 700 vehicles completed the survey, almost 600 being in NSW. The tank fill method of the survey was checked against a metering method. Dynamometer tests were also performed. It was concluded that the city cycle (as 2077) was the best indicator of on road fuel consumption of passenger cars from the available as 2077 city and highway cycles or their accepted mixes. The fuel consumption in city and suburban driving reported by motorists was 10 per cent greater than the city cycle values from the Department of Resources and Energy (DRE) fuel consumption guide. The yearly vehicle samples from 1961 show a fall in average fuel consumption but the fall is more rapid from 1978. These sample fuel consumptions project an in service fuel consumption of just under 10 l/100 km for new 1987 passenger vehicles. Funding from the Department of Resources and Energy through the National Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Council was granted to the Society of Automotive Engineers, Australasia to cover the whole of the survey. The Australian Automobile Association was contracted to conduct the survey, and passed management to the National Roads and Motorists' Association of NSW. Further analysis of the data now available on magnetic tape will be made and reported at a later date. (Author/TRRL)