Tin Horse Highway

Posted a few days ago about the new Kia Picanto:

https://bkhome.org/news/202602/bought-a-2025-kia-picanto-sport.html

...Kia claims as low as 5.0 litres/100km; I wonder if that is realistic? So, went on a country trip to find out.

When left Perth, the car had done only 114km, reading 7.6 l/100km (31 mpg), mostly in fairly heavy stop-start traffic. It was a relief to get out of Perth, heading east through mild rolling hills, becoming flatter the further east.

Visited towns in the Eastern Wheatbelt, pretty much directly east from Perth. A highlight of the trip was the Tin Horse Highway:

https://www.westernaustralia.com/au/attraction/tin-horse-highway/56b2679cd5f1565045daacb5

https://trailswa.com.au/trails/trail/tin-horse-highway-kulin

The story behind this is fascinating... Kulin, and surrounding towns, were in decline, so the locals dreamed up this idea to bring in tourists. The background story, a video made 13 years ago:

"Kulin Tin Horse Highway Documentary"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG6RyLQnJCM

I stayed there one night, in the free RV parking. I was the only one with just a car; the others were motorhomes. Well patronised, as was the pub over the road. Reports are that the meals are excellent. So impression was, yes, the initiative has worked.

Now, about my car...

As I drove, the litres/100km kept on dropping. After 800km, just about back at Perth, it had dropped to only 5.3 litres/100km (44.4 mpg). Midday temperatures were about 36 degrees Celsius, so I had the air conditioning on for most of the time.

Searching online, saw figures that AC adds about 5 to 10% to fuel consumption. Taking the lower figure, 5%, that would have added about 0.25 litres/100km; so yeah, Kia's claim of 5.0 litres/100km is not fantasy.

Do need to clarify, that I drove gently, mostly over flat terrain, with some slightly rolling hills, at between 90 to 105 km/h (56 - 65 miles/h). The roads mostly had speed limit of 110 km/h, but traffic was very light and no problem driving at a leisurely pace.

Interesting to, to compare with my previous car, a Hyundai Getz, with 1.4 litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine; long distance highway driving, fairly flat roads, about 100 to 110 km/h, got 6.8 litres/100km.

So, very pleased with the Picanto.

As for the camping experience, this was a driving test, and there were two overnights, sleeping in the car; no actual camping with a tent. Before the trip, the passenger front seat was reclined as much as possible, and a length of chipboard inserted, 170cm long. Due to the passenger-side glove compartment, the effective length was less, about 160cm. On the chipboard was placed an inflatable Sea-to-Summit hiking mattress.

The inability to fully stretch out proved to be the undoing of the sleeping experience. Uncomfortable nights. The air mattress didn't help either. Stay tuned, now building a 180cm long bed, chipboard, with foam mattress. The extra length is achieved by taking out one side of the rear seat backrest. Field test soon!     

Tags: nomad