Challenge to economy rules

For the past decade, the event has run from Darwin to Adelaide as a solar car race every second year, but in 2009 the organisers added a production-car ‘Eco Challenge’ category which won a lot of support from car brands - with entries from Mini, Hyundai, Holden, Ford, Suzuki and others - but sparked controversy over the judging and procedures.

Competing vehicles were assessed by how much better their crews could drive them in comparison to their official fuel-economy ratings.  Since the Green Challenge runs down the Stuart Highway, one of Australia's straightest and flattest roads, the advantage fell instantly to cars with relatively-poor showroom rankings.

The road conditions made it much easier to get a percentage improvement on a poor overall rating than a good rating, since running at a constant, low average speed boosts the relative efficiency of big engines.

The run down the Red Centre was won by an HSV Maloo R8 ute, which used 7.74litres/100km to fuel its 6.2-litre V8 engine over the entire 3000km route, notching up a 48.76 per cent reduction on its official figure of 15.1litres/100km.

However, the Maloo’s consumption was still double that of some of the smaller cars, with the Suzuki Alto, Ford Fiesta Econetic and diesel Mini all coming in under 4litres/100km.  So the South Australian Motorsport Board, that oversaw the event, is meeting at the end of next month to analyse and review the event to set the rules and regulations for the next running of the Global Green Challenge in 2011.

“Obviously this was the first event of its type, and the board is looking to improve it in every possible way. The event was a success, with plenty of interest – but there is room for improvement,”  Challenge spokesman Mike Drewer says.

“They will consider whether there need to be changes in procedure, route and even the types of car that enter.  There has been a reasonable amount of criticism from the manufacturers who participated, and the board is going to discuss that and make decisions for the future.”

Apart from the method of judging, Drewer says the board will also discuss the route and types of competing vehicles – which last year included large car and medium SUV categories.“There was considerable criticism about whether some of the cars were of the types that should be in the Eco Challenge,” Drewer says.

“There will be an analysis of whether they are really what the public perceives as ‘eco’ cars – and whether the format should be changed to encourage other kinds of vehicles, such as hybrids.  The board wants to improve the event both for participants and for public perception of eco-friendly cars."