Cars
The GCBC Driven review of Chevrolet's smallest car will be published soon, but here's a sneak peek. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ratings suggest the automatic-equipped Spark will travel 28 miles on a gallon of gasoline in the city and 37 on the highway.
In our testing of the Spark - which was mostly driven on the highway - we travelled 38.7 miles per gallon. Rounded up, that's two mpg better than what Chevrolet says the Spark can do. These numbers were measured at the pump, not by the on-board computer. The Spark told us it achieved 6.3 L/100km, or 37.3 miles per gallon.
How'd I do it? Instead of travelling over Nova Scotia's very hilly Cobequid Pass, we took the old, slightly less hilly highway through beautiful Wentworth Valley. That might have helped for two reasons: fewer hills and a lower speed limit. Cruise control was used as much as possible. I might not have been smack dab on the 110 kmh (68 mph) speed limit for the majority of the trip's near 1000 kilometres, but I wasn't much beyond. And once we arrived in Prince Edward Island, "highway" speeds were often restricted to 80 or 90 kmh, just 50-55 mph.
Still, the Spark was loaded with two adults, a rather small Labrador Retriever, and enough stuff to completely fill the seats-folded cargo area. Temperatures were barely above freezing for most of the trip. And almost all of the PEI tour's 200 kilometres were done with four adults aboard.
As many factors as there were contributing to favourable conditions for ultimate Chevrolet Spark efficiency, there were factors that could have limited its ability to match its EPA ratings.
And for readers who are wondering why we're not talking about Natural Resource Canada's numbers, the ones published by the Office Of Energy Efficiency, well... they're a joke. Not a funny joke, either. The OEE's numbers suggest the automatic-trans Spark could achieve 5.2 L/100km on the highway, equal to 45.2 miles per gallon.
In other words, we easily beat the EPA's highway ratings but didn't come close to matching the Canadian numbers.
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Historic Monthly & Yearly Chevrolet Spark Sales Figures
2013 Chevrolet Spark Review - Maritime Tour To Prince Edward Island
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- Chevrolet Spark Sales Figures
Here you will find monthly and yearly Canadian and U.S. sales figures for the Chevrolet Spark. Use the dropdown at the top right of this page or at GCBC's Sales Stats home to find sales figures for any other vehicle currently on sale in North America....
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Cars
2013 Chevrolet Spark Real World Fuel Economy Testing
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| The Chevrolet Spark In New London, Prince Edward Island, Birthplace Of Lucy Maud Montgomery, Who Was Not Born On Great Big Sea |
In our testing of the Spark - which was mostly driven on the highway - we travelled 38.7 miles per gallon. Rounded up, that's two mpg better than what Chevrolet says the Spark can do. These numbers were measured at the pump, not by the on-board computer. The Spark told us it achieved 6.3 L/100km, or 37.3 miles per gallon.
How'd I do it? Instead of travelling over Nova Scotia's very hilly Cobequid Pass, we took the old, slightly less hilly highway through beautiful Wentworth Valley. That might have helped for two reasons: fewer hills and a lower speed limit. Cruise control was used as much as possible. I might not have been smack dab on the 110 kmh (68 mph) speed limit for the majority of the trip's near 1000 kilometres, but I wasn't much beyond. And once we arrived in Prince Edward Island, "highway" speeds were often restricted to 80 or 90 kmh, just 50-55 mph.
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| The Chevrolet Spark In Victoria-by-the-Sea, Prince Edward Island, Birthplace Of The Grandmother Of GoodCarBadCar's Photographer All Photo Credits: Steffani Cain ©www.GoodCarBadCar.net |
As many factors as there were contributing to favourable conditions for ultimate Chevrolet Spark efficiency, there were factors that could have limited its ability to match its EPA ratings.
And for readers who are wondering why we're not talking about Natural Resource Canada's numbers, the ones published by the Office Of Energy Efficiency, well... they're a joke. Not a funny joke, either. The OEE's numbers suggest the automatic-trans Spark could achieve 5.2 L/100km on the highway, equal to 45.2 miles per gallon.
In other words, we easily beat the EPA's highway ratings but didn't come close to matching the Canadian numbers.
2013 Chevrolet Spark | March 14-23, 2013 |
Total Kilometers | 937 |
Total Miles | 582 |
Litres Consumed ($1.352/litre) | 56.988 |
Gallons Consumed ($5.118/gallon) | 15.055 |
Overall L/100 Kilometers | 6.08 |
Overall Miles Per Gallon | 38.7 |
Cost Per Kilometer | $0.08 |
Cost Per Mile | $0.13 |
EPA MPG Combined | 32 |
EPA MPG City | 28 |
EPA MPG Highway | 37 |
EPA MPG Combined Converted To L/100km | 7.4 |
EPA MPG City Converted To L/100km | 8.4 |
EPA MPG Highway Converted To L/100km | 6.4 |
RECOMMENDED READING
Real World Range & Fuel Economy Testing In The Chevrolet Volt
Real World Fuel Economy Testing In The Ford C-Max
Historic Monthly & Yearly Chevrolet Spark Sales Figures
2013 Chevrolet Spark Review - Maritime Tour To Prince Edward Island
- 2013 Chevrolet Volt Real World Electric Range And Fuel Economy Testing
We don't all feel the need to justify the pizza we ordered last night or the latte you bought this morning at Starbucks, or for that matter, the new Honda CR-V your neighbours just leased. And although I wish to take a stand against the bizarre...
- Real World Fuel Economy Testing In The 2013 Ford C-max Hybrid - Matching Epa Estimates
If you've just read GCBC's review of the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, you know that the newest Prius rival achieved EPA-matching fuel economy numbers while in our safe keeping. And you want to know why, unlike most every other auto reviewer who has...
- Chevrolet Spark Sales Figures
Here you will find monthly and yearly Canadian and U.S. sales figures for the Chevrolet Spark. Use the dropdown at the top right of this page or at GCBC's Sales Stats home to find sales figures for any other vehicle currently on sale in North America....
- Official 2012 Scion Iq Epa Fuel Economy Ratings
Fuel economy will play a major part in attracting buyers to the 2012 Scion iQ when the car is launched in the fall of 2011, but the EPA efficiency numbers aren't as high as we all hoped. According to Scion.com where specs and on-sale dates are...
- Scion Iq Fuel Economy Ratings
Oft-discussed but never touched, official fuel economy figures for the 2011 Scion iQ are now available (and now, official U.S. numbers too.) Canada's Office Of Energy Efficiency has ratings for numerous new models available in their searchable database,...