Nissan Lightfoot Quest 2010
Nissan cars have yet again proven to be among the most frugal vehicles on the road during the Nissan Lightfoot Quest 2010 held over the weekend of May 15th and May 16th 2010. The Nissan Lightfoot Quest is a contest open to owners of the Nissan Latio, the Nissan Grand Livina and the Nissan Sylphy. And, the Nissan Lightfoot Quest 2010 is the second such event after the first one held in 2008.
“Aside from organizing another interesting event with good prizes for our valued Nissan customers, our objective for having this event is very clear. Fuel prices are bound to go up and we at ETCM believe that it is important to inculcate good driving habits to achieve fuel savings and also, with the assistance of our media friends present today, to share this information with other Nissan customers and the general public. “said Dato’ Dr. Ang Bon Beng, Executive Director of Edaran Tan Chong Motor Sdn Bhd (ETCM), at the prize presentation ceremony held in Orna Golf Resort.
“I understand that the results this time are very impressive, and I am pleased to see that many of our participants have gained some valuable experience from the previous event and have managed to get even more out of their Nissan cars. Of course, one must bear in mind that this is a competition and many economy driving techniques were used to garner such fantastic fuel consumption figures. In normal driving conditions, we know that our customers will not achieve such figures. But at the same time, these figures go to prove that our Nissan models are economical cars to start with,” he added.
This time around, the Nissan Lightfoot Quest traversed a route heading south that was mostly highway except for the short section from the start at the Holiday Inn Glenmarie to the NKVE, and the one kilometre stretch from the Air Keroh toll plaza at the end of the run to the Air Keroh Petronas Station.
A total of 30 Nissan owners, each with a nominated co-driver to do the navigation, took part in the Nissan Lightfoot Quest 2010. The lowest fuel consumption scored was 21.517 km/l, while the highest was 165.801 km/l. The average fuel consumption of all the participants was 51.176 km/l, again a testament to the overall fuel efficiency of the three core Nissan models, the Latio, the Grand Livina and the Sylphy.
The greatest achievement of the day was the 165.801km/l achieved by Sylphy driver Kenneth Chiew, who coincidentally is a multiple Champion in the 1.3 litre category in the GRA Autocross Championship series. When asked about how he achieved such an incredible figure, Kenneth shared some of his techniques with us. “I did many practice runs between Shah Alam and Melaka – I noted every place where I could coast in neutral, and marked every hill that I had to climb. The idea is to use as little fuel as possible by running my Sylphy in its ‘sweet spot’, which is around 65 to 70 km/h. I drove barefoot, and used as light a throttle pressure as possible, gently ‘feeling’ the car and the road.” When asked if he switched off the engine or not, he said, “No, I didn’t, as the ‘coasting’ sections were quite short, and based on my calculations, it would take more fuel to restart the engine.”
“I also made sure that I kept the weight down to the minimum – I selected my co-driver based on ability to navigate using tulips and body weight. In order to keep drag to a minimum, we drove without the air-conditioner on, and kept all the windows wound up. It was hot in the car, but winning the class was worth it.” Added a jubilant Kenneth, who walked away with a cool RM3,000 as the first prize for the Sylphy category.
Elsewhere down the line, it was a similar story – the ones who best absorbed the briefing by the event organizers on “How to drive and win the Lightfoot Quest” emerged as the eventual winners.
The total purse for the event was RM25,000 – with a total of 13 awards.
Besides being a fun and rewarding experience for Nissan owners, the Nissan Lightfoot Quest is slotted to educate Nissan loyal customers on techniques of driving economically and is a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) exercise.
Results:
| Category | Model | Top-up Fuel (in Litre) | KM/Litre |
| 1.6 Manual | Grand Livina | 1.451 | 101.240 |
| 1.6 Auto | Grand Livina | 1.307 | 112.395 |
| 1.8 Auto | Grand Livina | 4.188 | 35.076 |
| 2.0 X-CVT | Sylphy | 0.886 | 165.801 |
| 2.0 X-CVT (media) | Sylphy | 3.701 | 39.692 |
| Best Latio Overall | Latio 1.8Ti (A) | 3.402 | 43.180 |
| Best Grand Livina Overall | Grand Livina 1.8 (A) | 1.307 | 112.395 |
text & pix: ETCM
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