52 - Friday, October 26, 1990 - North Shore News

Cross-Canada
trip compares

alternative fuels

LAST WEEKEND, I had an opportunity to drive four
alternative-fuel cars from Calgary to Vancouver, as part of
“Driving Clean Across Canada,”’ an event organized by
World of Wheels magazine and the Ford Motor Company.

The stated purpose of the trip,
according to organizer Lynn
Helpard, was to ‘evaluate and
create awareness of the alter-
natives that can, and must, be
pursued if we are to continue us-
ing and enjoying the automobile
in harmony with planet Earth."*

Four nearly-identical Ford
Tauruses powered by 3.0-litre V6
engines ran on four different types
of fuels: natural gas, propane,
methanol and regular gasoline.
The first three — aliernative fucls
— are known to produce substan-
tially fewer po}lutants (particularly
carbon monoxide, sulphur and
reactive hydrocarbons) than regu-
lar gasoline.

Greg
Wilson

AUTOMOTION

At the end of the trip, the cars
were sealed and transported back
to an Environment Canada labo-
ratory in Ottawa to undergo ex-
tensive exhaust emissions testing.

My job, and that of other
drivers, was to assess the user-
friendliness and driveability of
each fuel. This was a rare oppor-
tunity for me to compare four vir-
tually identical vehicles powered
by different fuels in real-life driv-
ing situations. .

To be honest, I also relished the
opportunity of driving through the

Rocky Mountains at a time of

year when the scenery is incredibly
picturesque, and I! was not disap-
pointed.

The surprise of the trip, from
my point of view, was that there
were few surprises. The difference
in performance and = user-
friendliness be.ween the different
fuels was only slight.

We drove through some pretty
demanding conditions, up and
down steep hills, around swit-

NORTH SHORE NISSAN
CORRECTION

WE WISH TO DRAW YOUR ATTENTION
TO AN ADVERTISEMENT WHICH WAS
PUBLISHED IN THE NORTH SHORE
NEWS, WED., OCT. 24/90, ON PAGE 43.

THE HEADLINE READ “HEY, NORTH
VANCOUVER — IT’S FOR YOU!" IT
SHOULD BE “HEY, NORTH AND WEST
VANCOUVER — IT’S FOR YOU!”
THE FOLLOWING COPY WAS
MISSING IN THE ADVERTISEMENT
UNDER “PLUS PDI. & FREIGHT”
SHOULD HAVE GEEN “AND
OPTIONS” THE EXPIRY DATE WAS
; NOT SHOWN, IT SHOULO SHCW
| “EXPIRES OCT 30/96"

WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY
INCONVENIENCE THAT THESE
| ERRORS MAY HAVE CAUSED CUR
t

CUSTOMERS

chbacks, through rain and snow, J
and we endured changes in a : —_ : = s =e Z
+ i
temperature and elevation (where AYTOMOTION COLUMNIST Greg Wilson stands alongside the three cars that he helped drive from
See Alternative page 54 Calgary to Vancouver to test alternative fuel efficiency.

| AerYhshore lore

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