The mileage rally for Chevy customers was flagged off from a BPCL outlet on the E.M. Bypass on Sunday. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

On a cool Sunday morning, long queues of Chevrolet Spark and U-VA made their way to the BPCL petrol pump near Ruby General Hospital on the E.M. Bypass. Topped off with a tank full, these cars were ready to slug it out for a mileage rally through 54 km that took the Rajarhat route to the airport and back.

With 134 vehicles participating, the rally was flagged off in three batches by the company zonal sales manager (east) Gagandeep Singh along with top BPCL officials. Most of the participating vehicles were brand new, having done about six to eight months on road.

“I am all set to give my best in this mileage rally. My car gives me 12 kmpl but today let’s see how much I can get out of it,” said Bhushan Butta from Parnasree Pally, Behala, behind the wheel of a six-month-old Spark.

Before the mileage rally got underway, Chevrolet officials tipped participants off about how to get the best mileage from their cars. “We asked them not to use the clutch and brake too much and to go gentle on the accelerator. That they should also maintain an rpm of 1,800 and be on overdrive,” said Singh.

In a U-VA was Vineet Arora, who changed brand loyalties after driving a Santro for quite a while. “I love the U-VA for its space and road grip,” said the city businessman. Gauranga Mallick, right behind him in his spanking new Spark said, “I had a Fiat, an Ambassador and a Maruti 800. The Spark feels different from all of them.”

With fierce brand loyalties and pride in their new cars, the owners made a beeline for the start-up line. With pleasant weather and relatively light Sunday traffic, the rally was an easy ride. “This is the fourth mileage rally that we have organised,” said Singh, “and I have found that the participants always like to be part of it.”

l participants kept their ACs switched off and drove on the highest gear to extract the most of the last drop of fuel. And the results were there to see. It was Rakesh Agarwal who topped the Spark mileage rally, managing to get 32.35 kmpl. He drove away with a Rs 10,000 cash prize, presented that same evening at Wet--Wild, Nicco Park. The second spot in the Spark rally was won by Uday Kumar Bhattacharya, who clocked mileage of 29.94 kmpl, which won him a Rs 5,000 cash prize.

Among the U-VA owners, it was Souvik Das who topped with a mileage of 31.67 kmpl and Nalini Kant Choudhury won the second prize with 31.23 kmpl.

A total of 83 Sparks participated in the rally and the average mileage achieved was 22.38 kmpl. And there were 41 U-VA vehicles with an average mileage of 22.89 kmpl.

“The figures obtained were fairly impressive. We are happy that our customers could push their vehicles to attain such frugal figures,” said Singh. In mileage rallies, the figures are always meaner than what is obtained in normal city or highway driving as participants take to the wheel with nothing in mind but efficiency.

After a hard day’s work, the participants were compensated with a lively evening. The company rounded off the day with a gala fashion show, dance and dinner for customers and their families at Nicco Park. There were about 1,000 guests, all Chevy customers, who dug into the sumptuous spreads of kebabs, prawn and chicken dishes.

Anasuya Basu