When the city consumption still corresponded to the test consumption
12/28/2015
Do you remember? 25 years ago, fuel consumption figures were given by manufacturers according to DIN, i.e. based on three measurement samples, namely at a constant 90 km/h, a constant 120 km/h and in city traffic.
An Opel Astra GSi 16V , for example, consumed 5.9 liters at 90 km/h, 7.4 liters at 120 km/h and 9.9 liters per 100 km in city traffic. And it was therefore a very economical car.
If a car like this fell into the clutches of the test journalists of the car magazines, they naturally stepped on the gas and the fuel consumption figures that emerged were not necessarily in the constant 90 km/h range, but typically at the level of city consumption. This was almost as certain as the Amen in the church, so the 9.7 liters per 100 km recorded by Auto Motor und Sport for the 1991 Astra GSI came as no surprise.
However, these results were also comprehensible and nobody would have accused Opel of cheating here. And anyone who bought the Astra GSI and didn't step on the gas pedal too hard could expect fuel consumption somewhere between the DIN average and city consumption, i.e. 8 to 9 liters per 100 km. But that's how it used to be ...
