Polo does a winning 28 kpl in VW champions’ ecorun

VOLKSWAGEN PH president and CEO John Philip Orbeta and Shell PH country chair Edgar Chua and VP for communications Ramon del Rosario join the winners at the prize presentation.

FOR A SUPERMINI whose history dates back more than 40 years, it’s no surprise the Volkswagen Polo brand can still outdo many of its more recent competitors in a number of performance and design categories.

For one, its powerplant is a class of its own, often described as smooth and flexible. The United Kingdom’s What Car? magazine gave the Polo five stars for its “Best Buy Small Cars” list in its November 2014 issue, noting its superb touchscreen system and excellent resale value.

On May 19, the Polo notched another achievement during the championship leg of the Volkswagen Philippines economy fuel run. The flashy red Polo Hatchback 1.6 MPI AT, driven by this author and fellow motoring scribe Love-Love Tengsico Tioseco of “Stoplight TV,” consumed the least amount of fuel (6.9 liters) after a 140-kilometer Muntinlupa City-Batangas-Sta. Rosa, Laguna run, for an official fuel-efficiency reading of 20.12 km per liter—the best result in its category.

But the diesel-powered Polo Sedan 1.6 TDI manual transmission—driven by the tandem of Ruel Asuncion of “Drive” motoring show and Paulo Subido of Top Gear Philippines came up with the biggest fuel-efficiency number—28.17 kpl—to top its category.

In the Tiguan SUV category, the duo of Ronald delos Reyes of the “Auto Review” TV show and Kris Lim of Business Mirror/Carmudi got the nod for its 21.04-kpl  result.

Volkswagen Philippines president and CEO John Philip Orbeta announced the winners at the Seda Hotel in Nuvali, Sta. Rosa City, while Shell Companies in the Philippines country chair Edgar Chua handed out the awards.

The route took the teams through the entire stretch of the Southern Tagalog Arterial Roadway (Star), which then looped back to the Southern Luzon Expressway (SLEx), ending at the Shell station in Nuvali for the fuel-efficiency measurements witnessed by Department of Energy officer Joan Sotelo.

The champions’ run of the Volkswagen Fuel Eco Fun Run is a culmination of the first three runs of the series, pitting the category winners of the first three legs in a fuel economy “showdown” using Volkswagen’s proven fuel-efficient sedan and SUV variants.

GETTING all set for the Eco Fun Run at the Alabang Town Center grounds

VOLKSWAGEN PH chief operating adviser Klaus Schadewald at the flag-off ceremony in Alabang

To make the champions’ run more competitive, the participants were not placed in the same vehicle category where they won. The fuel ecorun participants and their vehicles were subject to the same everyday road and highway conditions as all other motorists, and all motoring rules applied.

The vehicles used in the champions’ run were composed of three units each of: the Polo Sedan 1.6 TDI (MT), Polo Hatchback 1.6 MPI (AT), and  Tiguan 2.0 TDI (AT).

“In the past three legs, we were quite amazed by the numbers we achieved, and in this championship round, we once again reinforced the fuel efficiency of our VW models,” Orbeta said during the awarding ceremonies.

THE PARTICIPANTS loading gas prior to the fuel-efficiency measurements at the Nuvali Shell station

Noteworthy fuel-efficiency records from previous legs for the Polo Sedan 1.6 TDI (MT) were 30.47 kpl, Jetta 2.0 TDI (MT) at 29.47 kpl, and the Tiguan 2.0 TDI (AT) at 27.39 kpl.

The results came as no surprise to the participants, who had been previously briefed on the features of the participating Volkswagen models. The distinct characteristics resulting from the turbo-charged direct injection (TDI) engine technology are fuel economy, low emissions, high pulling power (torque), and outstanding power efficiency.

“We are looking forward to more events like this, wherein we can showcase the capabilities of our products in the most practical and realistic way,” Orbeta declared.