What is South Africa’s Most Fuel-efficient Car?
The number 1 most fuel-efficient car in South Africa is…a Renault (see which one below). The Renault was voted the most fuel-efficient car in the WesBank and FNB’s first Fuel economy Tour. This event was held to give consumers an accurate fuel consumption figure for 40 of the most popular cars in South Africa.
The Tour was 5 full days and ended on the 16th of November. There were 32 vehicle classes which included Kia, Fiat, Hyundai, Toyota, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Honda, Ford, Renault, Nissan, and Mahindra and more.
The cars were driven along a 2500km route from Johannesburg to Cape Town to test the fuel consumption of the participating cars.
How the Competition Was Monitored and Measured
Trackers were installed in each car to monitor the progress of the vehicles along the route. There were tracking sensors, dash cams, and interior cameras.
The average speeds of the vehicles were tracked, and it was ensured that the drivers did not deviate from the route and speed. Drivers were required to drive as close to the speed limits as possible given on the roads.
“The objective of this event was to provide consumers with fuel consumption figures that are relevant to going on a road trip in South Africa using main roads,” said Fuel Economy Tour chief organizer Charl Wilken. Owning a car is expensive, that is why we want to give you as much information to save money as possible. You can check to see if you could be paying less for car insurance with our 5-minute car insurance comparison tool:
Which Brands Won?
The average consumption of the 3 best performing cars from each brand was used to determine the winner. The best-performing cars were the following The Renault Captur, Duster Techroad, and Kwid Climber. In second place came the Suzuki with their Baleno, Ignis, and Swift.
In third place was Mahindra.
- Renault – 5.07 l/100km
- Suzuki – 5.10 l/100km
- Mahindra – 5.62 l/100km
Who claimed the fourth spot? Nissan and Ford came in fourth and fifth place.
Most Fuel-efficient Models
The Renault Captur 1.5-litre diesel-turbo was the car with the lowest average consumption. This was followed by the Toyota Aygo and the Nissan Qashqai 1.5-litre diesel turbo.
- Renault Captur – 4.73 l/100km
- Toyota Aygo – 4.83 l/100km
- Nissan Qashqai – 4.85 l/100km
Looking at the fuel efficiency of bakkies
Bakkies results in the following order:
- Ford Ranger 2.0L – 6.19 l/100km
- Mitsubishi Triton – 6.85 l/100km
- Nissan Navara – 6.97 l/100km
Full results for all 40 vehicles can be looked at here.
See table below showing the top 10 most fuel-efficient cars from the 2019 Wesbank Fuel Economy Tour.
| Position | Vehicle | Average consumption (l/100km) |
| 1 | Renault Captur PHZ Dci DYN | 4.73 |
| 2 | Toyota Aygo | 4.83 |
| 3 | Nissan Qashqai 1.5 Turbo Diesel | 4.85 |
| 4 | Renault Duster DCJ EDC 4×2 Techroad | 5.07 |
| 5 | Suzuki Baleno 1.4 GLX MT | 5.08 |
| 6 | Suzuki Ignis 1.2 GLX MT | 5.09 |
| 7 | Suzuki Swift 1.2 GLX MT | 5.11 |
| 8 | Mahindra XUV 300 1.5D W6 | 5.20 |
| 9 | Ford Fiesta 1.0T | 5.21 |
| 10 | Mahindra KUV100 1.2D K6 | 5.22 |
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