Going the Extra Mile

How far can you go on a single tank of fuel? This was the question Petron asked the participants of the Petron Xtra Mile Challenge Media Edition, who were obviously members of the media corps.

The economy run, which started in 2005 with racing legend Pocholo Ramirez squeezing 1,114 kilometers from a full tank and was followed last year with the Zayco brothers, Tootsie and Mansu, establishing a new record by driving their continuously variable transmission (CVT)-equipped Honda Jazz 1,400 kilometers before running out of fuel in Nabua, Camarines Sur, was organized by Petron to challenge ten teams of media practitioners to try and beat the standing record. Honda Cars Philippines (HCPI) supplied the cars, Honda Jazz and City 1.3 models for the 10 media teams while Motolite batteries were installed in each car and Neo notebook computers were provided for each team to document the event.

Each of the ten Honda cars were inspected and sealed on a Friday, January 5, by the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP) while members of the Car Awards Group, Inc. (CAGI) were present to certify that each car was as close to factory production specifications as possible. After all, the primary goal of the Petron Xtra Mile Challenge was to show how far a production car that any Tom, Dick and Harry (or any Juan dela Cruz) drives can go on a single fill-up. Nifty idea during times like this, don’t you think?

Monday, January 8 found this writer and team mate Jeff Reyes drive off in our Team Philippine STAR Honda Jazz 1.3 from the Petron station in the North Luzon Expressway in Bocaue, where its fuel tank was filled to the brim, to Tarlac, Tarlac then to Vigan, Ilocos Sur for our first practice run. During practice, Jeff, who’s the marketing guy at The STAR, and I decided that he would be the lead driver because he had a better "feel" of the car while I would drive only when he’s exhausted to do so. Besides, we felt that I was better at the managing the Official Road Book than he was.

The next day, we drove to Bangui, Ilocos Norte where we finished our second practice run and had our fuel measured. Jeff and I managed a disappointing 19.89 kilometers to a liter — a far cry from the Zaycos’ record 33.34 km per liter. Needless to say, both of us slept lightly that night even though we were at a luxurious suite at the Saud Beach Resort in Pagudpud. We were both anxious about the ecorun and were thinking of ways to further improve our fuel mileage.

On a very early Wednesday morning, we lined up at the Petron Bangui station to have our fuel tanks filled to the very brim, sealed, and signed by representatives from Petron, AAP and CAGI. The participants were then asked to draw lots to determine which team takes off first and the Petron Xtra Mile Challenge was officially on. Team Philippine STAR’s Honda Jazz was the eighth car to be flagged off but with the pace we were running, we were soon overtaking some of the teams that drove off a few minutes before us except for the Honda City of Team Isports Laang composed of Ira Panganiban and Andy Sevilla who were running fast — as if they were in the Honda Media Challenge.

We reached our first rest stop at Petron Vigan, where we turned off our engine, locked our car and drove in our support car, chauffeured by the Zayco brothers to our native breakfast at Grandpa’s Inn. A little less than an hour later, we got back to our car, got flagged off and drove about five hours to San Fernando, La Union, where we left our car at the local Petron station and had lunch at Max’s. For the remainder of our run, we drove another three hours to Tarlac, where we left our cars at the Petron Tarlac station for parc ferme. I looked at our odometer and noted its reading, noted our fuel gauge, which hardly moved from "Full", and then left for some rest at the La Maja Rica Hotel.

At about 3AM Thursday morning, we got into our cars, and drove off from the Petron Tarlac station and had our trip meter reset to zero as we passed Hacienda Luisita to signal the second day of the Xtra Mile Challenge. We nearly missed the turn at Mabalacat, entered the 88-kilometer North Luzon Tollways, got to EDSA before the usual morning traffic build-up, reached Magallanes, entered the South Luzon Expressway and stopped for breakfast at the Petron station after the San Pedro, Laguna exit. I realized that NLEX, EDSA and SLEX are awfully short when traffic is light and that Manila desperately needs elevated road ways to handle its expanding vehicle population.

We were sent-off from the Petron SLEX station with well wishes from HCPI AVP-Marketing Arnel Doria and drove through Laguna, traversed the entire length of the STAR Tollway until Lipa, Batangas and drove through the towns of Quezon province until we reached Lucena, where we stopped for brunch, then proceeded to drive for a couple of hours until we got to Del Gallego for a late lunch at Mikainan Restaurant. After a hearty treat, we drove off to run the remaining 100-odd kilometers to Naga and reached the Petron Naga station in heavy rush hour traffic before sunset. Our gas gauge needle pointed to the one-fourth level when we parked. Boy, our Jazz was one thrifty miser!

Friday was the most crucial day. This was the day which would determine the winner so Jeff and I, with the valuable help of Tootsie and Mansu Zayco in our lead car, concentrated on our driving. We were flagged off from Petron Naga at six in the morning, reached Legaspi and were driving through Casiguran when our low fuel level indicator light went on. Jeff’s reaction was a classic one: he found it amazing that we loaded up on fuel near the northern tip of Luzon two days ago and the warning light only lit up almost at the southern tip. It must’ve been fatigue but wasn’t that the point of the Xtra Mile Challenge?

Anyway, our car was able to make a U-turn at Matnog, climb back up through Irosin, Casiguran, Juban and Sorsogon City, then reach the final run-off starting point at Petron Castilla. Five other cars — the Honda City of Team Top Gear, the Honda Jazz units of Team DZRH-DZRB, Team Radyo Patrol, Team Auto Review and Team Floresca-Perez — reached the run-off point while four teams namely Team Isports Laang, Team Cyberpress, Team AI and Team Stoplight TV ran out of fuel before reaching the station.

We rested for a while before we drove off for the final run. Our Jazz was the fifth car to be flagged off and almost immediately after we drove off from the Petron Castilla station, we saw the Honda Jazz of Team Radyo Patrol composed of Angelo Almonte and Ricky Velasco parked at the roadside. We overtook the slow pace of Team Floresca-Perez, and then passed the Honda City of Vernon Sarne and Jaykee Evangelista of Team Top Gear, which stopped near the zigzag roads of Legaspi. We drove on to the lowlands and passed by the parked Team DZRH-DZRB Honda Jazz of Jess Garcia and Joseph Javier. We were now confident of a podium finish.

About four to five kilometers after we passed our last stopped competitor, our own Honda Jazz sputtered to a stop. Jeff and I were happy that we were able to reach this far on a single tank of Petron Xtra Unleaded and were even more ecstatic when we were told that Team Auto Review of Ronald delos Reyes and Raymund Sanchez had stopped after leaving the station. We felt confident that we were a strong contender for the first place finish but then Team Floresca-Perez drove by. Darn!

However, Team Floresca-Perez’s win made it a 1-2 finish for The Philippine STAR in this Xtra Mile Challenge Media Edition. You see, Roman Floresca is the former Motoring Editor and current Assistant Business Section Editor of this newspaper while his partner, Del Perez is his counterpart at the Manila Bulletin. Competitive motoring obviously runs in the blood of most Philippine STAR journalists.

While nobody was able to break the 1,400-kilometer record established by the Zayco Hermanos, we were able to prove that we can come close to it. And if mere journalists like us can do it, so can average motorists. Because to save fuel and extend your mileage, you have to learn to plan your route, read the road and discipline your right foot. And perhaps, top up with the right fuel, too.

As of press time, the Official Results haven’t been released but this early, Jeff and I, as well as the other media competitors would like to have another go at the record because we’ve learned a lot about saving fuel during this run. The Zaycos would also like to break their own record and this would make an interesting Battle Royale. Stay tuned for the next Xtra Mile Challenge!

Here are some of your Backseat Driver reactions from the past week…

To James Deakin, Fuel for Thought Part 2 is very informative. Just like Manny de los Reyes’ 10 Best Things. Philippine STAR Motoring is a cut above the rest. Keep it up! — 09175405353

Our country should phase out jeepneys, they do not comply with international safety standards. And we should reconstruct our national transportation system. — 09167660911

Will the DOH or GABRIELA please get the malls to provide for some protection against carbon monoxide for the ladies at the parking booths? — 09202664571

Good morning, Manny! May I ask if it is okay to buy converted old Pajeros or any of those converted vehicles from Subic? Thanks. — Eric of Pasig City (You know my stand on this, don’t you? We sent this message to Manny just the same. Here’s what he had to say…"Quite a few people seem to be satisfied with their Subic-sourced purchases but quite a number as well have had problems, some of which may happen with any used car purchase, Subic-sourced or otherwise. Personally, I’m still not reassured by the conversion process of RHD to LHD, at least until I see it for myself.")

Speak out, be heard and keep those text messages coming in. To say your piece and become a "Backseat Driver", text PHILSTAR<space>FB<space>MOTORING<space>YOUR MESSAGE and send to 2840 if you’re a Globe or Touch Mobile subscriber or 334 if you’re a Smart or Talk ’n Text subscriber or 2840 if you’re a Sun Cellular subscriber. Please keep your messages down to a manageable 160 characters. You may send a series of comments using the same parameters.