Just got back from a long trip from Bundaberg up the coast to Innisfail and Cairns. Took our late '96 VS series 2 Berlina (of course...) with Ecotec V6 and auto. The car is bog stock Berlina (15 inch alloys, etc).
It was loaded with two adults up front, (and I'm not a little guy...) and our two sons in the back seat. Number One son is 17 years old, 6 foot 2, and weights 115 kg (don't mess with him on the footy field) and he had plenty of legroom in the back. Number two son isn't far behind his older brother in the built-like-a-brick-****house stakes, but weighs about 80 kg. We had the boot absolutley stuffed with the gear we would need for a week or more away, and it is the first time I've noticed the rear suspension a bit lower than normal. I wouldn't be surprised if there was almost 200 kg of stuff packed in tight.
We had the car fully serviced and checked over, and off we went.
The first night we stopped in Bowen, (878 km) and the next day went off to stop in Townsville for a while, then on to Innisfail. That made a total of 1380 km, including the driving around Bowen and getting lost in Townsville
and we ended up using 125 liters to do that distance, or 31 miles/gallon in the old money...pretty bloody good I reckon.
Then we spent a lot of time running around and up and down the Atherton Tablelands, then when we returned, we did a 1040km day down to Rockhampton to stay with my brother.
When we got back, we did the figures and they came out like this:
Total distance: 3688 km
Fuel used: 347.75 liters
Cost $320.72 (ordinary unleaded)
Average fuel economy: 10.6 lt/100km (or about 30 mpg)
On the highway with the cruise control on, the figures on the trip computer quite often dropped to sit around 8.2-8.4 lt/100km (34-35 mpg!)
The car didn't use a drop of oil, and never missed a beat.
Could a Camry or a Magna have done such a thing? No doubt it would. Would they have done it hauling such a load as we had with such comfort and effortless feeling of reserve grunt if needed? I'm not so sure...
...and even if it did, I like the feeling of a "big" car made here....
Best thing we ever did springing the bucks for that VS!!!!!!!!
Reliable or what!!!!
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