"Drive Every Drop": Honda Challenge Cup - Part 2

This is a follow up post to the "Drive Every Drop" event or the 2009 Honda Challenge Cup where I shared the purpose of the eco-drive and my experience n the first leg of the event which is the city driving. I will be sharing about the highway driving, which is the second leg of the eco-drive which was organized by Honda Cars Philippines, Inc., where vehicles in six-categories (Honda City 1.3 A/T, Honda City 1.5 A/T, Honda Jazz 1.3 A/T, Honda Civic 1.8 A/T, Honda CR-V 2.0 MT and Honda Accord 3.5 A/T and where twelve teams composed of a representative from media (print, radio, TV and online media) and a member from Honda Club Philippines (www.hondaclub.com.ph).

Upon our team's arrival at Petron NLEX (Marilao) for the Honda Challenge Cup 2009: "Drive Every Drop", the fuel tank of our Honda City 1.3 A/T was refilled to full, the fuel tank cover was sealed, aircon settings, the hood and compartment were checked and resealed. Participants parked their respective cars in the basement parking of the Petron facility and proceeded to Teriyaki Boy for lunch. We were asked to select between Teriyaki Chicken and Tempura for lunch.

Arriving at Petron NLEX after the first leg of the Honda Challenge Cup 2009

Officially at 1:56 PM our team in car number 2 left for the second leg. This leg is the highway driving part where the suggested speed is from 60-100 kilometers per hour and a time limit of 2 hours to reach the destination. From Petron NLEX (Marilao) we drove the length of the North Luzon Expressway and exited at the Angeles exit, took a U-turn at the rotonda a few meters away from the toll gate and re-entered NLEX. The destination for the second leg of the Honda Challenge Cup was at Petron NLEX (Balagtas). We encountered heavy rains and some traffic in NLEX as repairs on both sides of the Candaba Viaduct were being made.

The secon leg of Drive Every Drop - 2009 Honda Challenge Cup - Highway Driving

Me and my teammate, Julius Valdoz from Honda Club Philippines, who drove the car in the second leg, arrived at Petron NLEX (Balagtas) after 1 hour and 59 minutes. According to our 1.3 A/T Honda City's odometer, we traveled a total of 111.9 kilometers. Our car was again refueled to full and we according to the ful-tank-full-tanks system, we used up 5.12 liters of Petron XCS in the highway driving leg. That was a fuel economy statistic of 21.86 kilometers per liter using the Honda City 1.3 A/T. In this leg of the eco-drive, our team placed second in our category and 4th among the twelve teams.

After getting the results, we then proceeded to the venue of the awarding of the eco-drive contest - Friday's at Bonifacio High Street. I drove from Petron NLEX (Balagtas) to Balintawak EDSA and my partner, Julius, drove from there to Global City. At Friday's we were treated with dinner and bottomless drinks and a few giveaways where I got a black Honda shirt.

Awarding ceremonies at Friday's for the Honda Challenge Cup "Drive Every Drop" 2009

In the awarding ceremony, Hiroshi Shimizu, President and General Manager of Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. and Assistant Secretary Mario Marasigan from the Depatment of Energy's Renewable Energy Bureau spoke about the importance of fuel efficiency and how each organization is a partner in helping Filipinos adapt to the rising fuel prices. Each participant of the 2009 Honda Challenge Cup known as "Drive Every Drop" were awarded a certificate of participation and winners in each car category were awarded - P5,000 worth of SODEXHO gift certificates and Petron fuel cards and a Fortune plant (trophy) were given to the Champion in each category while P1,000 worth of Petron fuel cards were given to the runners up.

Our team won in our category (Honda City 1.3 A/T) and placed second in the over all. The winners among the 12 teams over all were Paul Santos of www.unlawyer.net and Carlo Reyes from Honda Club Philippines who turned out to be a neighbor. Their team's fuel efficiency statistic was 20.62 kilometers per liter using a Honda City 1.5 A/T and our team which was the second had 21.86 kilometers per liter on a Honda City 1.3 A/T. The third placer was the team of Paulo Subido and Only Malabanan who had a statistic of 18.46 kilometers per liter on a Honda City 1.5 A/T.

This experience with Honda and eco-driving has been truly great and is something that I would look forward to doing again. Thanks to Ms. Janette Toral of www.bloggingfromhome.com and Sheryl of Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. for letting me be a part of "Drive Every Drop": the Honda Challenge Cup 2009.