HALIFAX, N.S. — “Bring it back with no more than a quarter tank of gas,” my keeper told the driver who was flying into Halifax for a week of mixing business with pleasure.
“It’s being trucked back to Ontario next week and needs to be close to empty for shipping purposes.”
Since finishing the cross-Canada tour in St. John’s I’d been languishing in Halifax, but was due to return to Ontario where I would be on display in two week’s time at the annual Georgian College Auto Show at Barrie, before embarking on the annual cross-Canada auto show circuit through the fall and winter months.
My tank gauge registered full when the driver picked me up at Robert L. Stanfield International Airport, about 20 miles west of this historic, beautiful city. There should be no problem draining it over the next five days through a mix of stop-and-go city driving, back-road blasts and highway cruising, he mumbled aloud to no one but himself.
I had performed flawlessly on the cross-Canada drive, delivering an average fuel consumption of 4.3 L/100 km (65.6 mpg). On the worst day I recorded 6.2 L/100 km (45.4 mpg) at the hands of one lead-foot driver crossing the great, bald Prairie and on the best day returned a creditable 3.8 L/100km (74.3 mpg) running from Parliament Hill in Ottawa to downtown Montréal.
Over the next five days the driver pressed me into service, often with three other grown adults in the car, making trips along the South and Eastern shores of the province, back to the airport and all around hilly Halifax.
When it came time to return me to my handlers, my fuel gauge registered just under a half tank, so he set my transmission to ‘sport’ mode, floored the throttle and hit the highway, doing his best to thwart my fuel-sipping ways.
Three hours later as we rolled back into Halifax, the gauge rested just above the quarter-tank mark.
More driving would be necessary to bring the tank closer to empty, but he wouldn’t be the one to do it.
He had a plane to catch.
“Bring it back with no more than a quarter tank of gas,” my keeper told the driver who was flying into Halifax for a week of mixing business with pleasure.
“It’s being trucked back to Ontario next week and needs to be close to empty for shipping purposes.”
Since finishing the cross-Canada tour in St. John’s I’d been languishing in Halifax, but was due to return to Ontario where I would be on display in two week’s time at the annual Georgian College Auto Show at Barrie, before embarking on the annual cross-Canada auto show circuit through the fall and winter months.
My tank gauge registered full when the driver picked me up at Robert L. Stanfield International Airport, about 20 miles west of this historic, beautiful city. There should be no problem draining it over the next five days through a mix of stop-and-go city driving, back-road blasts and highway cruising, he mumbled aloud to no one but himself.
I had performed flawlessly on the cross-Canada drive, delivering an average fuel consumption of 4.3 L/100 km (65.6 mpg). On the worst day I recorded 6.2 L/100 km (45.4 mpg) at the hands of one lead-foot driver crossing the great, bald Prairie and on the best day returned a creditable 3.8 L/100km (74.3 mpg) running from Parliament Hill in Ottawa to downtown Montréal.
Over the next five days the driver pressed me into service, often with three other grown adults in the car, making trips along the South and Eastern shores of the province, back to the airport and all around hilly Halifax.
When it came time to return me to my handlers, my fuel gauge registered just under a half tank, so he set my transmission to ‘sport’ mode, floored the throttle and hit the highway, doing his best to thwart my fuel-sipping ways.
Three hours later as we rolled back into Halifax, the gauge rested just above the quarter-tank mark.
More driving would be necessary to bring the tank closer to empty, but he wouldn’t be the one to do it.
He had a plane to catch.