The All-New Urban Transport Solution
or,
why we bought a Honda Jazz
One (60 year old) driver, twelve days, six capital cities, 10,700 km, visiting three major oceans;
and returned an overall fuel consumption of 6.46 litres/100km!
But why would you bother?
The background to the exercise:-
After selling one of our ex-rental Uneek lightweight fibreglass touring trailers to a customer in Perth WA, we needed to deliver it as quickly and economically as possible; yes, we could have had it transported by truck, but what better opportunity to do some performance testing of our trailer!
We’ve always maintained our Uneek Touring Trailer to be ideally suited to a small car, so the first step was to get the right car! We bought a Honda Jazz VTiS 1.5 litre, with five speed manual transmission, had it fitted with a tow bar, then I, on my own, with all the luggage needed for the trip packed in the car (including camping equipment), set off on the 15th January 2008 (not an ideal time of year to travel the Nullarbor).
Taking delivery of our new Honda Jazz
The Trip:-
First I needed to travel 1,000 km, from Newcastle New South Wales to Hervey Bay, just to pick the trailer up; after picking up the trailer, late in the afternoon on the second day, I took some photos of car and trailer with Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world just off the east coast of Australia, in the background;
Some luggage loaded into the trailer at Hervey bay with Fraser in the background
I loaded most of the luggage I had into the trailer, to free up as much space in the car as possible, and set off for Perth, via the most direct route, according to my GPS, through Kingaroy and Broken Hill.
Travelling in drought breaking rain in western NSW
At dawn on the fifth day, I took some more photographs at Ceduna on the coast of the Southern Ocean in South Australia,
The Southern Ocean seen from the shoreline at Ceduna South Australia
then shortly after midday on the sixth day, I took photographs from Cottesloe Beach (in Perth) with Rottnest Island (probably the island most known on the western side of Australia) in the background.
The Indian Ocean viewed from Cottesloe beach (Perth)
In less than four days I had travelled 4,500 km from the Pacific Ocean, skirting the Southern Ocean, to the Indian Ocean, the start and end points being about as far apart as you can get in Australia, equivalent to travelling from New York to Los Angeles in the USA. All the roads along the way were sealed with a 110km/h speed limit. Travelling at the speed limit with trailer in tow; the Honda Jazz recorded an average fuel consumption of 6.58 litres/100km.
The return trip, (with all the luggage in the car) I passed through Bunbury, Esperance, and Adelaide to the South Australian / Victorian border. The fuel consumption for this section of the trip was 6.54 litres/100km; travelling at the same speeds in similar conditions; only 0.04 litres/100km less than the consumption towing the trailer!
The remaining part of the trip through Victoria and New South Wales mostly had 100km/h speed limits. I travelled into Melbourne, to pick up three 2.15 metre long rolls of carpet, adding weight and reducing car passenger space even further in the car. The trip back home through Canberra, returned a fuel consumption of 5.75 litres/100km; highlighting the fact that 10 km/h speed difference had more impact on fuel consumption than did towing our Uneek Touring trailer.
The route taken; 10,700 km in 12 days
Summary:-
The Honda Jazz handled the trip beautifully! One specific benefit I was very thankful for was the ability to recline the seats into a “sleeper position” which I used numerous times on the way to Perth for a power nap, and I also slept overnight in the car after the longest day of driving (1,300 km) from Ceduna to a roadside stop near Kalgoorlie Western Australia, unfortunately I didn’t have that luxury on the return trip because the luggage took up too much space.
For anyone who can’t comprehend the length of the trip, you may get a better picture from this comparison:-
Imagine travelling from Wilmington, North Carolina to New York (a similar distance as Newcastle to Hervey Bay), then towing a trailer from New York to Los Angeles, via Dallas (similar to the trip from Hervey Bay to Perth). Then return to Wilmington via Denver; an overall distance of 6,400 miles (10,700 km).
Anyone who thinks me a little mad, spare a thought for Jurgen, a German chap I met along the way, he enjoyed a far better fuel economy than me, plus he had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery; he was half way across the Nullarbor Plain travelling on his own, from Cairns to Perth, on a push bike!
I met Jurgen, a German tourist, part way across the Nullabour on his trek from Cairns to Perth
We chose a Honda Jazz for this trip because it is the highest towing capacity small car that we could find, and it didn’t disappoint for performance, fuel economy and being able to travel at the prevailing speed limits with or without our Uneek Touring trailer in tow, also its incredible options of seat positions that free up so much space.
To give some perspective of the luggage I brought home:-
The Honda Jazz loaded up with luggage, plus some carpet bought in Melbourne
All the luggage unloaded
Back home at Newcastle with our "shrink limo" (as we affectionately
refer to our Jazz),
with yet another Uneek Touring Trailer in tow!
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