Mission possible

And so we began our drive from the crowded centre of Bangkok on a typical Tuesday morning. Getting out of bustling Bangkok was a big chore as the various traffic junctions and occasional start-stop traffic hurt our fuel consumption a tad. There’ll be four 730Lds in our convoy driven by different journalists. With three in each car, I was (luckily) drawn to pair up with Yang, our occasional photographer and another motoring hack in car number 3. To make things more interesting for everyone, the organisers had included a competition element into the drive – the car that used the least amount of diesel will win a prize.

We hit our first obstacle just north of Bangkok when we found ourselves in the midst of a bad jam that took us 45 minutes to clear and this hurt everyone’s fuel consumption numbers really badly. Once on the open highways further north of Bangkok, the 730Ld was just painless and effortless to cruise in. the engine revs at just above idling speed at speeds of up to 110km/h. the engine felt like it had plenty in reserve, even at these high speeds. Helped by the strong wave of low end and mid-range puling power, the straight-six will almost instantly haul the big limo to even higher speeds when the need arises. The motor might have a slight typical diesel clatter at idle or low engine speeds but this will slowly turn into a slightly gruff version of BMW’s characteristic in-line 6 snarl as the revs climb towards the mid-range.

At cruising speeds, the cabin was an exceptionally serene place to be in as wind and road noise were well insulated while the ride was just pliant as the suspension absorbs bumps and the occasional pothole with aplomb when Dynamic Damper Control is set to Comfort.

Along the way, we went past provinces that were affected by Thailand’s savage floods. The highways we were on weren’t affected as it was higher ground but we could see on both sides of the highway on some stretches where the rice fields were totally submerged in flood water and buildings with only their roof tops visible. There were even people who had moved to live in tents on the shoulders of the highway.

The 730Ld’s cause for good fuel consumption is helped by BMW’s EfficientDynamics features and measures that includes stuff like optimization of engines, intelligent energy management, Lightweight construction and aerodynamics. In addition, the 730Ld has a drag coefficient (Cd) of merely 0.29, which makes this super saloon stand among the top of the class in term of aerodynamics. In addition, the advanced material technology is applied throughout the vehicle, including the engine, body structure, body shell and suspension. Furthermore, the intelligent energy management system is also integrated into the design from the start. The BMW 730Ld features on-demand water pump and oil pump, and the innovative Brake Energy Regeneration system.

Take Brake Energy Regeneration for example, a feature that is found in the 730Ld as well as other 5 and 7 Series models, only about two thirds of battery charging is carried out conventionally by the alternator. Further recharging is carried out during coasting, as soon as the driver takes his foot off the accelerator pedal. Benefits of the system include reduced fuel consumption and enhancement of driving dynamics through energy recovery into the vehicle electrical system.

EfficientDynamics is a key contributing component to BMW‟s Sustainability strategy which stresses on efficient use of the world’s energy resource and conservation of the environment. In fact, EfficientDynamics has already contributed significantly to the BMW Group being named “The World’s Most Sustainable Car Company‟ by the DJSI Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the seventh consecutive year.

We arrived at a gas station just outside of Chiangmai seven hours after we set out from Bangkok. At this point, the fuel gauge pointed to just slightly below the half tank mark – the 730Ld large luxury saloon had just used just over half a tank to travel 685km. Filling up the car with diesel to the brim revealed that the 730Ld had used just under 50 litres of diesel for the whole journey which meant that an average fuel consumption of about 14.2 km per litre for the big limo during the drive – pretty amazing when considering that we weren’t exactly pottering along during the drive and we had the luxury of keeping the four-zone climate control and in-car entertainment system on all the way from Bangkok. Refilling at the gas station also revealed that our car used the least fuel of the four teams during the drive, which means we came away as winners of the BMW EfficientDynamics one-tank challenge! For our efforts, the three of us received a 7 Series each to take home, albeit ones that were 18 times smaller in size than the one we just spent seven odd hours in.

Mr. Sethipong Anutarasoti, Director of Corporate Affairs, BMW Group Asia said: “This magnificent result is yet another clear demonstration of the sheer prowess of EfficientDynamics and what BMW technology is truly capable of. To date, our technology in reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emission is well ahead of fellow peers in the premium automotive segment. Thanks to EfficientDynamics, we are confident of extending this lead in the days to come.”

The next day, the event was rounded off with a dynamic drive on the mountain roads above the city of Chiangmai. With Dynamic Damper Control set to Sport, the 730Ld showed its dynamic prowess and the cruiser from yesterday somehow turned into a small performance saloon – driven enthusiastically over the winding mountain roads, the big 7 now seems to have shrunken in size into a saloon that is more the size of the 3 Series. the big 7 showed remarkable dynamism and poise despite its sizable dimensions.

Our two days in Thailand have further convinced us that BMW’s EfficientDynamics is not all marketing hype and talk – it should dispel any doubts that anyone has that efficiency and sustainability can’t be mixed with dynamics and driving fun.

Credits: Story by Raymond Lai Photos by BMW Asia and Yang