SsangYong Rodius, Kia Picanto top 2017 DOE Fuel Economy Run

If fuel-efficiency is your major concern when buying a brand new car, the results of the Department of Energy (DOE) Fuel Economy Run can be one of the data to consider. The said motoring event measures the fuel-efficiency of locally available cars, albeit, in a controlled and ideal environment.

Now on its 13th year, the 2017 DOE Fuel Economy Run features 52 vehicles (26 diesel-fed and 26 gasoline-powered) from 20 manufacturers with 1 goal in mind: to record the best fuel-efficiency figures of the vehicles.

This year, 2 South Korean cars top the fuel economy run for both diesel and gas categories. These are the SsangYong Rodius large MPV for the diesel category and the Kia Picanto small hatchback for the gasoline type.

Here are the top 5 for each class, along with their fuel-efficiency figures.

Although, you need to take note that the manufacturers got to choose their contenders for the run. Makes perfect sense as you wouldn’t really expect Nissan to send their 3.8L V6 GT-R in a fuel-efficiency contest, right?

Moreover, the event was within an ideal environment — 216.6 km of highway that started from Petron Angeles City Clark service station, with a route that went through Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and a part of Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) before making a U-turn headed back to the starting point.

All the vehicles had 3 people on-board: 1 driver, 1 co-driver, and a media observer. Since Petron Corporation is the primary sponsor for the 2017 DOE Fuel Eco Run, the cars were also filled with 95-octane XCS and Turbo Diesel at the start of the event.