(TG) 20 Fun Facts About 'Eco-Motoring'

Kuali Baba SG

Courtesy of TopGear.com

No one likes a tofu muncher, least of all one who hasn't got his facts straight. Here's some ammo to ensure you're scratched off his Christmas-card list once and for all:

1. According to Euro NCAP, an Audi Q7 is less harmful in a pedestrian impact than a Ford Fiesta.

2. A season of F1 racing burns less fossil fuel than a single transatlantic 747 flight.

3. The Stern Report found that cars make up less than half of all transport emissions in the UK.

4. The average British home emits 1,500kg more CO2 per year than a Ford Focus.

5. Buy local. A car carrier burns 1,756 tonnes of heavy fuel oil one way from Japan to the UK.

6. Oxford Street is the UK's most polluted street. Most of Oxford Street's length is closed to cars.

7. Like trains, cars are only efficient when they're full. A fully loaded Discovery emits less CO² per occupant than a fully loaded Smart.

8. Acid rain created from mining nickel for Prius batteries has destroyed the landscape in Sudbury, Ontario to such an extent that NASA now uses the area to test drive its latest lunar vehicles.

9. It's at least three times cheaper to drive a small diesel from London to Edinburgh than it is to take the train.

10. The average saloon car is responsible for its own kerbweight in CO2 per year. The average Brit accounts for 30 times his own body weight.

11. The UK's superminis emit three times as much C0² as its SUVs.

12. While 85 per cent of cars are recyclable by law, trains go unregulated, with much of each heading to landfill.

13. A domestic flight emits around 400g/km of CO² per passenger, four times that of a small diesel car with only the driver onboard.

14. Despite being smaller and emitting less CO² than a Toyota Prius, the Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion is not exempt from London's Congestion Charge.

15. Farting cows are responsible for 18 per cent of all greenhouse gases, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.

16. Anti-car evangelist Ken Livingstone doesn't even have a driving licence. But he does have a Prius.

17. A Land Rover Discovery has a smaller carbon footprint than a London Cab.

18. Carbon offsetting could do more harm than good. Forests north of the Tropics retain heat and actually contribute to global warming.

19. A Boeing 747 emits 400 tonnes of C0² in 24 hours. It would take 250 cars a year to achieve this.

20. Some electric cars aren't even governed by today's safety legislature. The G-Wiz being one example.

Kuali Baba SG

Also from TG:

Don't scoff. Racing drivers, teams and, crucially, rule makers, are really starting to wake up to the environmental impact their sport might be having.

Carbon offset programs are cropping up everywhere - this year's Rally Norway was carbon neutral and the FIA has been planting trees in Mexico for the last 12 years to try and reduce F1's considerable environmental impact.

Even historic cars are doing their bit, because the Orwell Super Sports Cup racing cars are carbon neutral. And these things are 8.0-litre McLaren and Lola Can-Am cars, possibly some of the hairiest things ever built.

Of course, certain aspects would still make an environmentalist choke on his muesli. Just think of how much cargo the F1 circus airfreights around the world each year, or how many private jets are used to ferry drivers and senior personnel to tests or promotional 'do's.

Still, the point is that major figures in motorsport are starting to wake up to this problem. Just look at the Honda Earth Car as an example.

But this green obsession is about more than simply off-setting the environmental impact, which is yet to be proved as the ultimate answer to the problem. No, what motorsport can really do is make all the green technologies work on a day-to-day basis.

Part of the reason car manufacturers go racing is to improve the tech on their road cars, and the same applies to their environmental thinking.

To that end, Lexus entered a GS450h in the Tokachi 24-hour Race last year, you've got high performance diesels racing at Le Mans such as the Peugeot 908 and Audi R10, IndyCars running on ethanol and regenerative braking being touted in Formula One (granted, a few years after McLaren got it pretty much right but saw it banned on safety grounds).

The braking system is similar to what Toyota and Honda use in their hybrids. To give you an idea on how effective the system could be, the FIA has calculated that about 2,500 horsepower is lost in energy terms when an F1 car brakes from 200mph.

Just imagine that in a Prius.

Kuali Baba SG

Here's what No. 20 is all about:

http://www.topgear.com/content/timetoburn/sections/videos/45/chooseconnection.html

It's worse than a Chinese car. And you know what the funniest part is?

GoinGreen, the company that sells the Indian-made G-Wiz in Britain, responded that: 'The G-Wiz is designed and used as a low-speed urban commuter vehicle...'

The company's 'safe driving tips' section on its website also advises G-Wiz drivers to 'avoid fast roads'.

http://www.topgear.com/content/news/stories/1832/

Someone forgot to take into account that a faster, heavier vehicle can crush it.