It’s all about fuel efficiency for motor enthusiast and ex-racer.
Greg Wane
Phil Baulch has had a love affair with high performance cars since he was 18. But these days it is economy not kilowatts that Phil strives for in his vehicles.
He said he had been a motoring enthusiast for nearly 40 years. In that time he has owned and run a performance motor-bike shop in Horsham and has raced cars at Winton.
“I have experienced the range of high-speed bikes and I have had everything from V8s to twin cam Celicas,” Phil revealed.
Today the once ‘rev head Phil’ has become the ‘greeny Phil’ where he strives for maximum performance for minimal fuel usage.
“I’ve now got the most joyful little car I have ever owned – a 1994 Daihatsu Charade.
“It has got a 993cc three-cylinder engine which makes 37 kilowatts and it’s the most amazingly capable little car and that, by itself, is pretty cool,” Phil said.
“When I started looking at what makes cars fuel efficient it is first and foremost weight. If you have to move 1500 kilograms you are going to use twice as much energy as you need to move 750 kilograms.
Phil started looking at the weight of cars.
“Registration labels display the weight of the car as determined by VicRoads. Now I am constantly looking at registration labels to see how much cars actually weigh.
“Why cars are struggling now to produce fuel efficiency is that their weights have almost doubled over the years.
“I looked at a new Hondo Civic that weighs 1200 kilos. Recently I saw a 1972 Hondo Civic and it weighed just 650 kilograms.
“Admittedly there is a difference in the size of the car,” Phil said.
He sold his 1998 Commodore to buy a little white Daihatsu Charade that is the most fuel-efficient vehicle he had ever owned.
After Phil bought the Daihatsu he improved the handling and reduced the car’s fuel consumption even more.
“I wasn’t satisfied with the standard suspension so I put on KYB sports gas shocks and I’ve got Kings springs which are full rated and give a lower ride height.
“The car sits just right. It doesn’t look outrageously low but it sits just right. It looks neat.
“The wheel arches fit neatly with the wheels and I put on 16 inch alloy wheels with 195 wide Goodyear tyres which are the lowest riding tyres ever made. They’re called the F1 and they have got super rolling resistance they are a really popular tyre.” Phil said.
He also added a small spoiler at the back.
Phil said with just these minimum modifications he can get between 5 and 5.5 litres per 100 kilometres with around town driving and down to 4.8 litres per 100 kilometres on the highway.
As well as fuel efficiency Phil said the little Daihatsu offered plenty of torque.
“I sometimes have roof racks and I have regularly towed a trailer with half a tonne of crushed rock along the Bellarine Highway at 80ks,” Phil said.
“My partner had a property at Deans Marsh and we would drive down there in the Daihatsu with four people in the car and the trailer loaded with gear and drive at 80 km/h with the air-con on. It was stunning ability,” Phil said.
He maintained that 70-80 kilowatts for a small car is not necessary, but 37 is quite adequate.
“I come from the Wimmera and I travel back there often. I can drive at 100ks easily and can carry all my tools and equipment”
Phil said the car is cheap to run and considering fuel cost is often higher in the country, his downsize to the economical Daihatsu was a wise one.
