by Raymond D. Young
AutoIndustriya.com

Races come and go, and all have the same objective: to determine who’s the fastest. Therefore, numbers churned out like lap times have downward trends. But this time around, in the local setting, there was a race where nothing mattered but the total distance traveled on one full tank. This is to be called the Petron Xtra Mile Challenge.

The premise of this challenge was very simple: Drive as economically as possible by employing different driving techniques to make the most of every drop of Petron XTRA Unleaded. So what are those techniques by the way? For starters, it’s having a light foot and the ability to make quick decisions depending on the current road condition so as to keep the trip as consistent, smooth, and virtually brake-free as it could be. But these techniques are not enough, as I found out when I and my editor Brent had the opportunity to join eighteen other journalists in this fuel unique economy run of Petron together with Honda, Neo, Motolite, PLDT MyDSL, and PLDT WeRoam.

READ MORE

AutoIndustriya.com 12/26/2006

Responding to the challenge to set a new record on Philippine road and driving conditions, ten teams have been chosen to compete in the Media Edition of the Petron Xtra Mile Challenge, which is set to take off in early January.

The Xtra Mile Challenge is a marathon fuel economy run which asks: “How far can you go on one full tank of Petron Xtra Unleaded?” The current record, set by team Zayco Hermanos, stands at 1,400.4-kilometers. This is the record that the media teams are set to break.

Now gearing up for their run are media teams from print, radio, tv and online, who represent not just the motoring beat, but also business, information technology, and news and public affairs.

READ MORE

by Ray Butch Gamboa, SPMJ
The Philippine Star 01/24/2007

If a fuel performance of 31.99 kilometers traveled per liter of gasoline consumed was not worth celebrating, I don’t know what is?

Using Peron Xtra Unleaded gasoline while driving a Honda Jazz 1.3-CVT, the tandem of assistant business editors Roman Floresca of the Philippine STAR and Delfin Perez of the Bulletin outlasted all the other nine teams similarly composed of representatives from different media outfits by registering an odometer reading of 1,343.7 kilometers on just a full tank of fuel, which finally run out in Polangui, Albay after having traversed the entire length of Luzon from Bangui, Ilocos Norte all the way to Matnog, Sorsogon and back-tracking to Albay.

Placing second in the Petron Xtra Mile Challenge Media Edition was the Philippine STAR team of Jeff Reyes and Lester Dizon (A prestigious virtual 1-2 finish for The STAR) after traveling 1,336 kilometers while the pair of Jess Garcia of DZRH and Joseph Javier of DZRB registered 1,326.7 kilometers for a third place finish.

READ MORE

by Ira Panganiban, Correspondent
The Manila Times 01/23/2007

We were first to leave. We were first to arrive at every stop point. First at the buffet line and first to take off after meals. We were first to take our rest and first to leave every morning. We were also first to run out of fuel.

But because we were competing in a fuel economy run, we had to finish last. More to the point, we had to drive the farthest on single full tank of gas.

We—meaning I and teammate Andy Sevilla of the BusinessMirror—were competing at the Petron Extra Mile Challenge Media Edition, an event that calls on participants to drive the longest distance on a single tank of Petron Xtra Unleaded fuel on board three Honda Jazz hatchbacks and City sedans. Six teams qualified in this edition of the fuel economy event.

READ MORE

by Vernon P. Sarne
The Manila Times 01/16/2007

IF you chanced upon the print ads or radio plugs or even the website, then you were aware that the Petron Xtra Mile Challenge (Media Edition) was held last week. I drove for Top Gear, one of 10 teams that had been picked to compete in the event, all tasked to beat the 1,400-kilometer-on-just-one-full-tank record set last year.

The concept was simple. All the teams drove either a Honda Jazz or a Honda City. Whoever went the farthest distance on just a full tank of Petron Xtra Unleaded fuel won the contest. From Bangui, Ilocos Norte, all the way to Sorsogon, Bicol, we drove an awful lot of kilometers hoping to be the next faces to grace the bragging banners at all Petron stations. In the end, I only saw my face in the rear-view mirror, the picture of an exhausted, dehydrated driver who wondered what the hell he had gotten himself into.

READ MORE