P-Plate driver restrictions

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Mazda CX7

P-platers can't drive turbocharged cars like the Mazda CX7.

Last week Wallabies fullback and P-plate driver, Kurtley Beale, had a charge of driving a high-powered vehicle dismissed when it was revealed he had no idea he was prohibited from driving his turbocharged Maxda CX7.

Back in 2005 NSW introduced laws to prohibit P-plate drivers from driving ‘high-performance vehicles’.

The RTA website states: 
“The prohibited vehicle condition restricts provisional (P1 and P2) drivers from driving certain high performance vehicles. The condition applies to provisional licences issued on or after 11 July 2005. The scheme aims to prohibit young driver access to vehicles that are overrepresented in young driver crashes.

Prohibited vehicles are those with:

  • Eight or more cylinders (except diesel).
  • A turbocharged engine (except diesel).
  • A supercharged engine (except diesel).
  • Engine performance modifications that require an engineers’ certificate.
  • Certain high performance six-cylinder engine vehicles or other vehicles as described in the publication Novice Drivers – High Performance Vehicle Restrictions.

The following vehicles are not prohibited vehicles and may be driven by provisional licence holders:

Suzuki Cappuccino 2D Cabriolet Turbo 3 698cc (released between 1/01/1992 – 1/12/1997).
Daihatsu Copen L880 2D Convertible Turbo 4 659cc (released from 1/10/2003).
Smart vehicles (all models).

The RTA also provides a “guide to moderate performance vehicle exemptions” (which is mostly made up of small engine European vehicles) alongside its comprehensive list of banned vehicles.

Obviously the RTA has gone to a lot of effort in producing its “P1/P2 – Prohibited Eight Cylinder, Turbo and Supercharged High-Performance Vehicles” list, but the NRMA would like it to be updated to better reflect today’s motoring environment. There are many anomalies with this restriction that just don’t make practical sense.

For instance, a non P-plate legal Mazda CX7 (turbo) as driven by Beale will take around 10.3 seconds to reach 100km/h whereas a P-plate legal current-generation six-cylinder Ford Falcon will reach the legal limit in around 7.3 seconds. The turbocharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder VW Golf TSI Comfortline (0-100km/h in around 8.4 seconds) is banned yet the Mazda SP25 (0-100km/h in around 7.8 seconds) is legal.

Classic cars haven’t escaped the list either, with things like a 1962 Chevrolet Impala or 1961 Pontiac Parisenne also being off-limits to P-plate drivers.

But are these laws working and is there a better way to keep young drivers from being over represented in crash statistics?

Have you been affected by this law when it came to purchasing a new family car?

Diesel – fuel for thought

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In the third part of our Fuel series, we look at diesel.

diesel pump at petrol station

Are diesel cars more fuel-efficient?

As price-pressured motorists look to get more bang from their buck, sales of diesel light vehicles have increased rapidly over the last couple of years.  Due to lower fuel consumption rates than an equivalent petrol engine, diesel engines are the standard in heavy vehicles. So why not in light engines too?

Pros:

  • Modern diesel engines are as quiet, smooth and powerful as petrol engines and are more fuel-efficient.

Cons:

  • One disadvantage often mentioned by NRMA Members is that diesel handpieces at garages often have a film of diesel fuel over them, as any spillage does not evaporate as quickly as petrol.  And if the diesel gets on your hands or clothing, the smell is difficult to remove. Retailers are making efforts to avoid this but have not yet found a perfect system.

Consider:

  • Diesel fuel does not contain more energy than petrol. In fact, it contains marginally less.
  • Whereas the intake of a petrol engine has a throttle blade in it, which forms an obstruction and reduces efficiency, a diesel engine doesn’t. Therefore, it gets lower fuel consumption.
  • Diesel variants are often more expensive to purchase than the petrol ones, so if your interest is purely in lower running costs, make sure it is going to make sense for you by checking out the NRMA’s Car Operating Cost Calculator.
  • In many cases, the higher initial purchase cost outweighs the reduced fuel cost.  But you are also gambling on the price of diesel staying similar to petrol over several years.
  • If you have never driven a diesel-engined vehicle and are considering purchasing one, you should test drive a few to see how it feels.

If you drive a diesel car, do you feel you’ve you got your money back in reduced fuel/servicing costs?  And are you happy with the driving characteristics of diesel?

Ethanol in petrol – is it ok for my car?

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This is the second blog in our series on Fuels.  In the first blog we looked at premium fuels, now we take a look at ethanol in petrol (E10 and E85).

ethanol in petrol

Does an ethanol petrol blend affect the performance of your car?

E10

E10 is standard unleaded petrol (ULP) with 10% ethanol added. From 1 July next year (2012) standard unleaded petrol will no longer be available in NSW and will be replaced with E10. This strategy is endorsed by the NRMA Board and aims to encourage the take-up of ethanol – which is locally produced and reduces Australia’s dependence on fossil fuels.  Straight unleaded is now getting harder to find.

Vehicles built pre-1986, some post-1986 vehicles, most small engines such as chainsaws and whipper-snippers and most Japanese motorcycles are recommended NOT to use ethanol. These vehicles and power tools will have to use premium petrol when ULP becomes unavailable.

Motorists whose vehicles cannot use ethanol should be aware that all petrol distributed by United contains ethanol except its Premium 98. View a list of all petrol grades available in NSW.

The octane of E10 is commonly 93-94, so motorists whose vehicles are specified for 95 octane fuel should be cautious using E10. If you want to try E10 check that there are no unusual noises like rattling or pinging under acceleration, which is a sign that the octane is too low.  United claims its E10 is 95 octane.

Check whether your vehicle is suitable to use an ethanol petrol blend.

A refuel of 50 litres at a price difference of 10 cents a litre between E10 and premium would cost an extra $5.   But this has to be kept in perspective with the overall cost of running a vehicle.

E85

You should not use E85 in any vehicle that is not designed for it. The only cars designed for E85 are the current model Holden Commodores that are so marked and the Saab Biofuel range.  For other vehicles, check the recommendation in the owner’s manual or check with the dealer or manufacturer and adopt their recommendation.

In our next blog, we’ll take a look at Diesel.

Do you use an ethanol petrol blend in your car? What affect has it had on your car’s performance and reliability?

Petrol grades currently available in NSW*

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Company Fuel Name Research Octane Number – RON
Description
7 Eleven Unleaded 91 91 ULP – Unleaded Petrol
Premium unleaded 95 95 Premium
Premium unleaded 98 98 Ultra Premium
Unleaded E10 93-94 ULP +10% ethanol
Diesel N/A Diesel
BP Unleaded 91 91 ULP
Unleaded 95 95 Premium
BP Ultimate 98 Ultra Premium
e10 Unleaded 93-94 ULP +10% ethanol
Diesel N/A Diesel
Shell/Coles Unleaded 91 ULP
Premium 95 Premium
V-Power 98 Ultra Premium
Unleaded E10 93-94 ULP+10% ethanol
Diesel 10 N/A Diesel
Caltex/Woolworths Unleaded 91 ULP
Vortex 95 95 Premium
Vortex 98 98 Ultra Premium
E10 unleaded 93-94 ULP+10% ethanol
New Generation Diesel N/A Diesel + 2% biodiesel
Bio B5 N/A Diesel + 5% biodiesel
Bio B20 N/A Diesel + 20% biodiesel
E85 100+ ULP + up to 85% ethanol
United Petroleum Plus ULP 95 ULP+10% ethanol
Boost 98 98 Premium +10% ethanol
Premium 98 98 Ultra Premium
E85 (only available in Rozelle) 100+ ULP+ up to 85% ethanol
Diesel N/A Diesel
Liberty Unleaded 91 ULP
e10 Unleaded 93-94 ULP+10% ethanol
Premium unleaded 95 Premium

*not all available at all sites

Would you buy an Electric Vehicle?

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electric vehicle NRMA

Would you buy an electric vehicle now or wait?

 

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly popular – the Mitsubishi i-MiEV is available to selected customers on a lease-only arrangement (ie you can’t buy one outright), and the Nissan Leaf and the Holden Volt are reportedly being released over the next year (the Volt is not a pure EV, as it has a small petrol engine to charge the battery when it gets low, called an Extended Range Electric Vehicle – EREV).

The current and predicted prices for these vehicles are relatively high for their size, around $50,000 or more but we expect that prices should come down over time as demand increases.

The good news is running costs should be low (even with electricity prices increasing) and servicing costs for pure EVs should be less than a conventional vehicle (given the simplicity of an electric motor compared with an internal combustion engine).

Pure EVs also produce no local emissions and if charged by electricity from a renewable resource, would have low environmental impact overall.

NRMA has an i-MiEV in its fleet and found the on-road performance to be satisfactory – the range being 100-120kms between charges.

Would you consider purchasing an EV now or would you wait until price and range were equivalent to conventional vehicles?

* NRMA is hosting a number of Electric Vehicle Roadshows around NSW during July and August.