Hugger Z
Official Motown Events Director
BRAWN versus BRAIN
Which car is the most economical to drive? A Corvette Z06 with a seven-litre V8 engine, or a high-tech Lexus LS 600h with a super-thrifty hybrid drive? Two of our editors, Jaco Bijlsma and Ton Roks, did battle on the point. The outcome was not what you might think…
Photography: Arno Lingerak from the Dutch Car Magazine ‘Autovisie’
Below: The Lexus tachometer shows just 1300 min-1 at a speed of 120 kph. At the same speed, the Corvette’s crankshaft is turning at 1500 revs.
Here’s how the duel came about: Jaco was fairly euphoric about the LS 600h with its hybrid technology and the fact that he could do around 8 km per litre in the ultra-luxurious flagship from Toyota… err, Lexus that is – without any trouble. I had an appointment booked at the Assen circuit, and I have a soft spot for big, beefy cars. As far as I’m concerned, it’s great to embrace new technology, but it’s still far too early to dispense with the old. So I challenged Jaco. “I bet I can drive from Zandvoort to Assen in a Z06 more economically than you can in an LS 600h!” Jaco took up the gauntlet.
Uh-oh, I thought, me and my big mouth… but it was a calculated risk I was taking. We had once had a Corvette C5 as an endurance test car, which is how I knew that, with its ultralong sixth gear, it could do 12 km per litre.
THE RULES OF THE CHALLENGE were simple: we both take the same route, via the Afsluitdijk, we drive as fast as we reasonably can and we reach the Assen circuit with an average speed of over 80 kph.
I experience some self-doubt during the first 25 kilometres, the inevitable crawl through Zandvoort and Haarlem to the motorway. With all the traffic lights obligingly displaying red, I immediately switch off the V8 engine and allow the Z06 to coast along for several dozen metres. Blast, as I start the engine and drive off again I see the fuel consumption gauge display between 35 and 50 litres per 100 km (between 3 and 2 km per litre) for a few seconds. Fortunately I’m able to change straight up from first into fourth at times – something the Z06 actually forces you to do by automatically blocking second and third if you drive off with very little gas. I do my absolute best never to climb above 1500 revs, and the car whines and whirs a little, clearly suffering from the hefty drive power and ultra-low rotation speed. However, I soon stop worrying about the adverse urban driving conditions when I realise that, at 1423 kilos, the Corvette is a good 800 kilos lighter than the Lexus. Jaco’s lugging a great big caravan around with him the whole time.
THE FUEL CONSUMPTION GAUGE shows an average of 11.6 litres per 100 kilometres as the Z06 finally reaches the oasis of the motorway. Straightaway, I bring out my trump card, putting the car into sixth gear as soon as possible – and you can do this from speeds as low as 80 kph – and immediately setting the cruise control to 120. I instantly see my current consumption rate fall to eight litres per 100 kilometres (hurray, 12 km per litre) and very occasionally a scintillating seven or a heroic six makes an appearance, where there’s a bit of a downhill gradient or a tail-wind. My sense of pride surges: long live the Z06 with its seven-litre V8 at the front, its pistons the size of frying pans and its bulging muscles. From 1000 revs it can generate some serious traction in sixth gear. At 120 kph, it does exactly 1500 revs per minute. A quick calculation reveals that, since the engine’s maximum rotation speed is 7000, the Corvette has a theoretical top speed of 560 kph!
I make very selective use of the cruise control, as it’s a load of rubbish which doesn’t help you to drive economically. It accelerates far too hard if you’ve pressed Resume, it uses extra gas on slopes (because it wants to maintain a constant speed) and it takes no advantage of downhill stretches.
AHA, THE AFSLUITDIJK or ‘enclosing dyke’ – a very apt name for a dyke. My consumption has already dropped to 8.9 litres per 100 kilometres, 11.2 km per litre. The beneficial effects of that super-long sixth gear are clear. What a superb consumption figure, achieved with nothing more than plenty of cubic inches and an uncommonly long sixth gear. Relatively simple, straightforward technology, combined with a low weight, pretty good aerodynamics and a low front profile. That Lexus may have a CW value of 0.27, but it has a front profile like a supertanker.
I DRIVE into Friesland in disciplined style, but further decreases in average consumption only appear very slowly. Just past Leeuwarden the instrument panel on my speedmobile displays 8.8 litres per 100 km (11.4 km per litre). When Jaco and I finish simultaneously at the petrol station in the racing drivers’ area of the Assen circuit, the Z06 has done an amazing 11.5 km per litre, over a distance of 258 kilometres, and with an average speed of 88.6 kph. The Lexus has done 11.1 km per litre. The Z06 and I have accomplished our mission. We’ve won: the Tarzan from the USA has wiped the floor with the Einstein from Japan.
There’s a little surprise, though. The Lexus with its CVT has operated at even lower revs than the Z06. The Corvette’s victory is due – I think – to the fact that its sixth gear, which is almost exactly the same length, was more usable: you can change up into sixth from speeds as low as 80 kph. But the Corvette is also helped by its low weight and its small front profile. In this case, the hybrid technology of the Lexus merely compensated for its size and obesity and was of no further use. It lost out to the lightness, slenderness and relaxed traction of the Z06. So brawn can win out over brain, provided you choose the right arena in which to fight it out.
Ton Roks
FAIR ENOUGH, the winner has the longest say, so I’ll keep my comments brief. It’s true, I was (and still am) enthusiastic about the Lexus LS 600h. Which is only reasonable, as it’s an ultra-luxury four-wheel-drive 445 hp super-sedan. I took up the challenge because the triumphal slogan ‘Hybrid’ was right there on the car’s flank! A hybrid with an advertised average consumption of 10.8 km per litre can never be beaten by a Corvette (6.8 km per litre). I felt sure about this at one point when, as I was driving through Zandvoort, the V8 came to a stop and the rev counter needle fell back demonstratively to zero. Touching the gas pedal very cautiously, at 60 kph we slid along noiselessly on electric power. It was a great shame that Arno Lingerak, the photographer, tried to counter this advantage by switching on the seat heating. The active cruise control was no help, either: anticipating changes of speed yourself turned out to be better for your fuel consumption. Use a fraction too much gas, and the consumption gauge lurched towards 20 litres per 100 km. At 120 kph, the large Lexus was doing 1300 revs, in return for which it covered just over 12 kilometres on one litre of lead-free petrol. Once we saw that we were trailing behind on the Afsluitdijk, my mood sank faster than the average consumption. I plodded along agonisingly slowly, in supreme comfort, but there was no getting below 9.0 km/l. We drove silently on the electric motor under the TT circuit welcome banner to Ton and the Corvette. There, we hung our heads in shame with a score of 11.1 km per litre and faced the fact that the Corvette had won with 11.5 km per litre! And it was mainly my fault, I realised as I took a shortcut from Assen via Dalfsen to Zwolle before rejoining the motorway. We would definitely have won if we had ensured that the far heavier Lexus with its larger front profile capitalised on its hybrid system in stop-and-go situations on back roads. Frustratedly, I put my foot down and found that after another 200 km of fast driving my average consumption still hadn’t gone below 10 km per litre. As far as I’m concerned, that figure says far more than the result of our crazy contest. ● Jaco Bijlsma
Above: The improbable has occurred. The Corvette with its seven-litre V8 engine has beaten the high-tech Lexus flagship. Left: The Lexus energy monitor uses a bar graph to show the consumption per minute. A score better than 9.0 l/100 km was unattainable in this motorway-dominated race. Centre right: The Corvette tachometer shows that you can change straight from first to fourth. Bottom right: V8 muscle power versus hybrid power. The Lexus V8 generates 394 hp, and its electric motor develops a maximum of 224 hp.
SPECIFICATIONS Lexus LS 600h Corvette Z06
TOP SPEED 250 kph 319 kph
ACCELERATION–0-100 KPH 6.3 sec 3.9 sec
ACCELERATION–0-400 METRES Not available 11.7 sec (final speed 200 kph)
ENGINE V8, 4969 cc V8, 7011 cc
BORE X STROKE 94.0 x 89.5 mm 104.8 x 101.6 mm
COMPRESSION RATIO 11.8:1 11.0:1
ENGINE ORIENTATION Longitudinal, front central Longitudinal, front central
MAX POWER 445 hp/6400 min-1 512 hp/6300 min-1
MAX TORQUE 520 Nm/4000 min-1 637 Nm/4800 min-1
AVERAGE CONSUMPTION 10.8 km per litre 6.8 km per litre
SPECIFIC CAPACITY 89.5 hp/l 73.0 hp/l
SPECIFIC WEIGHT 5.0 kg/hp 2.8 kg/hp
DIMENSIONS length 515.0 cm length 446.0 cm
width 187.5 cm width 192.8 cm
height 148.0 cm height 124.4 cm
wheelbase 268.5 cm wheelbase 268.5 cm
kerb weight 2245 kg empty weight 1423 kg
boot space 325 litres boot space 646 litres
fuel tank 84 litres fuel tank 68.1 litres
CW value 0.27 CW value 0.34
All data supplied by the manufacturers.
Which car is the most economical to drive? A Corvette Z06 with a seven-litre V8 engine, or a high-tech Lexus LS 600h with a super-thrifty hybrid drive? Two of our editors, Jaco Bijlsma and Ton Roks, did battle on the point. The outcome was not what you might think…
Photography: Arno Lingerak from the Dutch Car Magazine ‘Autovisie’
Below: The Lexus tachometer shows just 1300 min-1 at a speed of 120 kph. At the same speed, the Corvette’s crankshaft is turning at 1500 revs.
Here’s how the duel came about: Jaco was fairly euphoric about the LS 600h with its hybrid technology and the fact that he could do around 8 km per litre in the ultra-luxurious flagship from Toyota… err, Lexus that is – without any trouble. I had an appointment booked at the Assen circuit, and I have a soft spot for big, beefy cars. As far as I’m concerned, it’s great to embrace new technology, but it’s still far too early to dispense with the old. So I challenged Jaco. “I bet I can drive from Zandvoort to Assen in a Z06 more economically than you can in an LS 600h!” Jaco took up the gauntlet.
Uh-oh, I thought, me and my big mouth… but it was a calculated risk I was taking. We had once had a Corvette C5 as an endurance test car, which is how I knew that, with its ultralong sixth gear, it could do 12 km per litre.
THE RULES OF THE CHALLENGE were simple: we both take the same route, via the Afsluitdijk, we drive as fast as we reasonably can and we reach the Assen circuit with an average speed of over 80 kph.
I experience some self-doubt during the first 25 kilometres, the inevitable crawl through Zandvoort and Haarlem to the motorway. With all the traffic lights obligingly displaying red, I immediately switch off the V8 engine and allow the Z06 to coast along for several dozen metres. Blast, as I start the engine and drive off again I see the fuel consumption gauge display between 35 and 50 litres per 100 km (between 3 and 2 km per litre) for a few seconds. Fortunately I’m able to change straight up from first into fourth at times – something the Z06 actually forces you to do by automatically blocking second and third if you drive off with very little gas. I do my absolute best never to climb above 1500 revs, and the car whines and whirs a little, clearly suffering from the hefty drive power and ultra-low rotation speed. However, I soon stop worrying about the adverse urban driving conditions when I realise that, at 1423 kilos, the Corvette is a good 800 kilos lighter than the Lexus. Jaco’s lugging a great big caravan around with him the whole time.
THE FUEL CONSUMPTION GAUGE shows an average of 11.6 litres per 100 kilometres as the Z06 finally reaches the oasis of the motorway. Straightaway, I bring out my trump card, putting the car into sixth gear as soon as possible – and you can do this from speeds as low as 80 kph – and immediately setting the cruise control to 120. I instantly see my current consumption rate fall to eight litres per 100 kilometres (hurray, 12 km per litre) and very occasionally a scintillating seven or a heroic six makes an appearance, where there’s a bit of a downhill gradient or a tail-wind. My sense of pride surges: long live the Z06 with its seven-litre V8 at the front, its pistons the size of frying pans and its bulging muscles. From 1000 revs it can generate some serious traction in sixth gear. At 120 kph, it does exactly 1500 revs per minute. A quick calculation reveals that, since the engine’s maximum rotation speed is 7000, the Corvette has a theoretical top speed of 560 kph!
I make very selective use of the cruise control, as it’s a load of rubbish which doesn’t help you to drive economically. It accelerates far too hard if you’ve pressed Resume, it uses extra gas on slopes (because it wants to maintain a constant speed) and it takes no advantage of downhill stretches.
AHA, THE AFSLUITDIJK or ‘enclosing dyke’ – a very apt name for a dyke. My consumption has already dropped to 8.9 litres per 100 kilometres, 11.2 km per litre. The beneficial effects of that super-long sixth gear are clear. What a superb consumption figure, achieved with nothing more than plenty of cubic inches and an uncommonly long sixth gear. Relatively simple, straightforward technology, combined with a low weight, pretty good aerodynamics and a low front profile. That Lexus may have a CW value of 0.27, but it has a front profile like a supertanker.
I DRIVE into Friesland in disciplined style, but further decreases in average consumption only appear very slowly. Just past Leeuwarden the instrument panel on my speedmobile displays 8.8 litres per 100 km (11.4 km per litre). When Jaco and I finish simultaneously at the petrol station in the racing drivers’ area of the Assen circuit, the Z06 has done an amazing 11.5 km per litre, over a distance of 258 kilometres, and with an average speed of 88.6 kph. The Lexus has done 11.1 km per litre. The Z06 and I have accomplished our mission. We’ve won: the Tarzan from the USA has wiped the floor with the Einstein from Japan.
There’s a little surprise, though. The Lexus with its CVT has operated at even lower revs than the Z06. The Corvette’s victory is due – I think – to the fact that its sixth gear, which is almost exactly the same length, was more usable: you can change up into sixth from speeds as low as 80 kph. But the Corvette is also helped by its low weight and its small front profile. In this case, the hybrid technology of the Lexus merely compensated for its size and obesity and was of no further use. It lost out to the lightness, slenderness and relaxed traction of the Z06. So brawn can win out over brain, provided you choose the right arena in which to fight it out.
Ton Roks
FAIR ENOUGH, the winner has the longest say, so I’ll keep my comments brief. It’s true, I was (and still am) enthusiastic about the Lexus LS 600h. Which is only reasonable, as it’s an ultra-luxury four-wheel-drive 445 hp super-sedan. I took up the challenge because the triumphal slogan ‘Hybrid’ was right there on the car’s flank! A hybrid with an advertised average consumption of 10.8 km per litre can never be beaten by a Corvette (6.8 km per litre). I felt sure about this at one point when, as I was driving through Zandvoort, the V8 came to a stop and the rev counter needle fell back demonstratively to zero. Touching the gas pedal very cautiously, at 60 kph we slid along noiselessly on electric power. It was a great shame that Arno Lingerak, the photographer, tried to counter this advantage by switching on the seat heating. The active cruise control was no help, either: anticipating changes of speed yourself turned out to be better for your fuel consumption. Use a fraction too much gas, and the consumption gauge lurched towards 20 litres per 100 km. At 120 kph, the large Lexus was doing 1300 revs, in return for which it covered just over 12 kilometres on one litre of lead-free petrol. Once we saw that we were trailing behind on the Afsluitdijk, my mood sank faster than the average consumption. I plodded along agonisingly slowly, in supreme comfort, but there was no getting below 9.0 km/l. We drove silently on the electric motor under the TT circuit welcome banner to Ton and the Corvette. There, we hung our heads in shame with a score of 11.1 km per litre and faced the fact that the Corvette had won with 11.5 km per litre! And it was mainly my fault, I realised as I took a shortcut from Assen via Dalfsen to Zwolle before rejoining the motorway. We would definitely have won if we had ensured that the far heavier Lexus with its larger front profile capitalised on its hybrid system in stop-and-go situations on back roads. Frustratedly, I put my foot down and found that after another 200 km of fast driving my average consumption still hadn’t gone below 10 km per litre. As far as I’m concerned, that figure says far more than the result of our crazy contest. ● Jaco Bijlsma
Above: The improbable has occurred. The Corvette with its seven-litre V8 engine has beaten the high-tech Lexus flagship. Left: The Lexus energy monitor uses a bar graph to show the consumption per minute. A score better than 9.0 l/100 km was unattainable in this motorway-dominated race. Centre right: The Corvette tachometer shows that you can change straight from first to fourth. Bottom right: V8 muscle power versus hybrid power. The Lexus V8 generates 394 hp, and its electric motor develops a maximum of 224 hp.
SPECIFICATIONS Lexus LS 600h Corvette Z06
TOP SPEED 250 kph 319 kph
ACCELERATION–0-100 KPH 6.3 sec 3.9 sec
ACCELERATION–0-400 METRES Not available 11.7 sec (final speed 200 kph)
ENGINE V8, 4969 cc V8, 7011 cc
BORE X STROKE 94.0 x 89.5 mm 104.8 x 101.6 mm
COMPRESSION RATIO 11.8:1 11.0:1
ENGINE ORIENTATION Longitudinal, front central Longitudinal, front central
MAX POWER 445 hp/6400 min-1 512 hp/6300 min-1
MAX TORQUE 520 Nm/4000 min-1 637 Nm/4800 min-1
AVERAGE CONSUMPTION 10.8 km per litre 6.8 km per litre
SPECIFIC CAPACITY 89.5 hp/l 73.0 hp/l
SPECIFIC WEIGHT 5.0 kg/hp 2.8 kg/hp
DIMENSIONS length 515.0 cm length 446.0 cm
width 187.5 cm width 192.8 cm
height 148.0 cm height 124.4 cm
wheelbase 268.5 cm wheelbase 268.5 cm
kerb weight 2245 kg empty weight 1423 kg
boot space 325 litres boot space 646 litres
fuel tank 84 litres fuel tank 68.1 litres
CW value 0.27 CW value 0.34
All data supplied by the manufacturers.
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