‘Average kya hai’ has been the fundamental question in the Indian motor scene for ages. Getting the maximum out of every litre has always been a very important factor and with rising fuel prices and the looming global slowdown, this is becoming increasingly important everyday. It is little wonder that diesel cars are so popular in our fuel economy crazy country. Ford has recently given the Ikon a new lease of life by introducing the frugal 1.4-litre TDCi powerplant of the Fiesta.

In the Ford Cross Country Drive, Ford and Autocar India have come together yet again to prove that if you drive carefully and patiently, you can bring your running costs down. This combined with the reduced spare parts costs of the Ikon is surely going to be a revelation. The first time we did was when we drove the Fiesta around the VRDE track in Ahmednagar. The next drive we took up was the Bangalore to Mumbai on the beautifully paved NH-4 and we achieved 33.4kpl in real world traffic conditions.

This historic drive will cover 26 states and 3 union territories. Over this period, two Ford Ikon TDCis and one Ford Fiesta 1.6 will traverse a distance of roughly 21,000kms in 45 days. Not only will fuel costs be taken into account, but also service costs as the car will go through two scheduled services at 10,000kms and 20,000kms. Today was the inaugural day of the Ford Capital Drive. We were to cover 123kms from Ford’s plant to the union territory of Pondicherry. The day began with the press briefing at the plant where editor Hormazd Sorabjee, Nigel Wark - Executive Director, Marketing and Sales and Michael Boneham – MD & President Ford India gave the present media an overview of the drive.

Right on schedule, we were flagged off at 12:15pm. We brimmed all the three cars and checked the tyre pressures and eased out of the Ford complex. It was clear from the very beginning that heat will play a major factor on not only the cars but also the drivers. We even recorded a baking 44 degrees in the lead Ikon driven by me and accompanied by Prakash Singhi of KPMG for the validation of the drive.
The roads were delightful but we kept our cool despite the heat and kept our foots as light as possible. The traffic was thin and we juggled places as the TV crew took their turns shooting the cars. As the sun rose higher, so did the temperatures, our resolve of keeping the windows up to reduce drag was soon broken as the heat was too much to handle. Driving with the windows down brought some relief at the cost of a few kpls. We hit the outskirts of Pondicherry at 4pm and headed straight for the Pondy beach for our photos. After a short session with the shutterbugs, we headed to the pump to get the all important economy figures. The first Ikon recorded 22.18kpl and the second Ikon managed a slightly better 24.24kpl. The support 1.6 petrol Fiesta returned a decent 12.89kpl.

Sitting in the hotel room, the team sat for a meeting to log the data from the day. Tomorrow, we head to Madurai and expect the drive to be good and expect no respite from the heat. Until tomorrow then. Signing off.

Data
Team – Manish Sarser, Ravi Dhama, Baljinder Singh, Rahul Kakar, Niki Sorabjee, Noel Alok Krishnan, Ashley Baxter, Prakash Singhi and M. Sathya

Trip Details
GPS Distance – 122.9kms
Average Speed – 32.4kph
Total Time – 3hrs 50mins
Moving Time – 2hrs 39mins
Stopped Time – 1hr 14mins
Ambient Temperature – 41 degrees

Fiesta 1.6 Support
Odometer -1819kms
Trip – 126.9kms
Fuel consumed – 9.84 litres
Fuel economy – 12.89kpl

Nigel Wark – Executive director, Marketing sales and service
Naveen Solomon – Sr. Associate Brand
Sanjeev Shukla – General Manager, Marketing