AA Fuel Efficiency testing

Nissan is using the independent technical expertise of the Automobile Association to carry out fuel consumption testing on its vehicles.

While some motor manufacturers use results gained from laboratory testing, or competitive fuel economy trials, these are not representative of what the average motorist is likely to achieve in everyday use.

And the real world testing does not include a simple drive up and down the motorway or along State Highway One, which should produce the best economy figures.

Most of the test runs are a 420 kms drive from Manukau City around the Coromandel Peninsula and returning to Manukau.

The roads around the peninsula are winding and twisty and include numerous hill climbs and descents, hardly the ideal conditions to obtain the best fuel economy from a vehicle.

Some of the tests are modified to include more urban driving for the smaller models in the Nissan range, like the Micra.

All cars are fuelled at the same petrol pump in Manukau City at the start and finish of the test, so accurate results can be calculated.

Tyres are only inflated to the pressure recommended by Nissan – other fuel economy trials often have vehicles with much higher inflated tyres for less rolling resistance to produce more economical fuel consumption.

And the AA technical staff always drive with the air conditioning switched on, just like normal motorists. It is standard practice on economy trials to switch off the air conditioning, which is usually reckoned to improve fuel consumption by five to seven percent!

Each test car carries a passenger, who shares the driving and about 30 kgs of ballast to replicate luggage, so the test is not carried out with the lightest weight possible – another ploy to obtain the best fuel economy.

The AA try to replicate normal driving conditions as much as possible and travel around the legal speed limit on the open road, keeping up with the traffic flow, even though the best economy can often be obtained by travelling at between 60 and 70 km/h on the highway.

Nissan’s real world fuel economy testing is just that – real world. No artificial “tricks” or competitive fuel economy driving techniques are employed.

The result is fuel economy the average driver should be able to get close to, rather than an inflated figure that has been obtained in artificial conditions.