Letters from the Equator

Update: BHP petrol gave me a nice 10.45km/l after 470ish kms. And BHP is not the official distributor for licensed BP petrol per se… that’s from an ex-BP source, .

Update 2: Shell Super (the cheaper red one) is giving me tremendous results. Fuel consumption seems to remain the same, but the torque…… oh, the torque!

Readers of my previous post have been sensitive to my concerns of a continental fuel guzzler. Could I have made a mistake in my emotional decision to purchase an italian car?

800 kilometers have passed, and the results are back in - Shell Ron 97 fuel gave my a promising result of 9.5ish kilometers to the litre. That’s actually not too bad considering the fact that a typical Waja consumes slightly less petrol.

The way to compare that is:
Waja - RM7x for 400kms
Alfa - RM8x for 400kms
Emotional tax - RM10 per 400kms

Now, I have run 380kms on BHP petrol (that’s BP petrol licensed to provider), and it’s doing really well. It hasn’t even hit the 3rd mark yet, which I usually get to around 350kms. I’m expecting to get at least 10km/l back. Then I’ll swap with Mobil Synergy for another 400kms to see.

What did I do differently this time?

Well, I’ve been driving a fair bit on the highways, especially the Federal one. 3 days I had training in Cyberjaya, so I think that also helped. In between that has been city driving, so the combination has helped.

I’ve also been more sensitive to my driving style. The alfa loves to cruise, and is a willing sprinter given a length of tarmac. I managed to hit 180kph finally, on a desserted stretch of Federal one late night. The engine is a lot of go after the major service I did a month ago. Nothing short of exhilarating.

This points me back to what really makes a car? True sports sedans like the ones from BMW and Alfa can really reward at all the keen points of a driver. But everyone has their reasons why their car seems more appealing, and not everyone is a driver at heart.

Whatever it is, the value is somewhere in that exhaustive list of reasons that make up a car in someone’s mind. Driving is just the pleasure derived from appreciating all those values time again out on the road.

Tagged as 146, alfa romeo, cars, fuel consumption + Categorized as discoveries/cars