JUST how relevant is a car company’s published fuel economy figure for a four-wheel-drive when towing a typical family boat, and how capable is a compact four-wheel-drive as a tow vehicle? The distributor of Suzuki vehicles in Queensland, Suzuki Auto Co, recently set out to find the answers to these questions.
Accordingly, the challenge was:
Determine a typical family holiday and boating destination located a considerable distance from Brisbane. The route should include city driving conditions as well as plenty of hills and secondary roads. Select a family boat that accurately represents the market. Select one as close as reasonably practical to 5 metres in overall length which registration statistics show, covers 73 per cent of all boats sold in QLD and ensure it is fibreglass and therefore heavier than a similarly configured aluminium vessel.
Finally, use a Suzuki Grand Vitara that has covered the minimum amount of recommended kilometres before towing is permitted, as the test vehicle. Drive safely and observe all speed limits, but drive as quickly as conditions allow.
The destination chosen was the town of 1770, around 493km from Brisbane. The route included the relatively hilly sections of the Bruce Highway around Gympie as well as the secondary roads stretching north from Bundaberg. A fibreglass CruiseCraft Explorer 485 with a 70hp outboard on a trailer with all safety gear and tipping the scales at just over 1,100kg was the tow vessel.
The distance was covered in six hours and 24 minutes at an average travelling speed of 80.5 km/h in moderately windy conditions during daytime.
Fuel consumption for the trip was 9.3 litres per 100km or just over 30 miles per gallon. This compared with the Suzuki Grand Vitara diesel’s advertised combined urban and extra urban figure of 7 litres per 100km when not towing a boat. The trip of around 500km over city and highway traffic towing a boat motor and trailer added $16.90 in fuel costs to the journey (based on a diesel cost of $1.47 per litre and using the standardised combined fuel economy figure).
Suzuki Auto Co.General Manager, Mr Adam Le Fevre said: “We committed to undertaking the test as a service to potential purchasers and the marine industry.
“The results conclusively demonstrated that you can tow a substantial, fibreglass family boat behind a Suzuki Grand Vitara diesel and still achieve fuel economy figures near to, or better than, those advertised for Australian built six cylinder family cars not towing anything.
More information: www.suzukiqld.com.au
