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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.
We (myself and
navigator Jaykee Evangelista) neither beat the record—no one in
our batch did—nor won the competition—our City placed fourth
behind three significantly lighter Jazz units. But there were
valuable lessons learned along the way.
1 The
Philippines is still a beautiful place to drive around in. Say what
you want about the poor quality of our roads and horrendous Pinoy
drivers, our country is still teeming with picturesque backdrops
every self-respecting Filipino should see before he dies. I should
know: One day we were frolicking on the beach of Pagudpud, the
following day we were staring at the breathtaking Mayon Volcano.
2 We
are most qualified to drive when we’ve had ample sleep and zero
alcohol. Many in our group grumbled about the alcohol ban strictly
imposed by the event organizers, but it contributed positively to
everyone’s driving performance every single time we hit the road.
And because we didn’t drink, we went to bed much earlier than
usual, giving us a healthy supply of energy in the morning and
enabling us to stay alert and safe behind the wheel. There was one
day when I drove a total of 500 kilometers and not once did I feel
drowsy—something that would have been utterly impossible had I
stayed up late for drinks the previous night.
3 The
world wouldn’t stop spinning if we didn’t mind our phones every
time we drove. Seriously aiming to focus 100 percent on my driving,
I put my mobile phone on silent mode so I wouldn’t get distracted
each time somebody got the urge to ask me earth-shattering questions
like “What’s up” or “What are you doing” or “Do you want
to be my hunky date tonight.” OK, so maybe I just made up the last
text question, but the fact remains that nearly all of us have a
habit of replying immediately to text messages even when driving and
even when the said messages are about as important as the next
career move of Paris Hilton. After one really long stretch, my phone
had registered four missed calls and 23 text messages (I’m not
important; I just have many debts), and guess what—the universe
didn’t come to a halt! So the next time you drive and your phone
rings, remember that you are not so important as to inflict a
catastrophic crisis on the human race should you decide to ignore
your little gadget. And you’re a much safer driver when you
observe this. I should know again: I didn’t score a single
roadkill the entire trip.
4 Escorts
are truly a blessing. Now I know why corrupt politicians insist on
traveling with a convoy of bodyguards: Everything is just more
convenient on the road. We had a support team dedicated solely to
us, and they—Bernie Santos and Conrad Gacad—did a splendid job
in making sure we overtook on a clear lane, avoided pesky
bottlenecks and made the right turns. Then again, I’m pretty sure
we pissed off a lot of people tailgating each other. Escorts are
nice. . . so long as you don’t inconvenience other motorists.
5 Not
all people from show business are arrogant airheads. Comedian Epi
Quizon joined the weeklong journey and he proved to be a very
pleasant, self-effacing companion. There was none of that “Look at
me, I’m a movie star” bullshit. He joked with us, ate with us,
slept with us. . . er, in another room, that is. Petron made the
right choice in getting him as a commercial endorser.
6 If
you stay inside a car with the same person long enough, you’d bore
each other to death. I don’t care if you’re best friends or
newlyweds, if you drive more than a thousand kilometers together
almost nonstop, you’d run out of things to say to each other. So
if you’re looking to marry someone, the best way to see if the two
of you would last is to check if you could sustain an engaging
conversation inside the car for at least three days.
7 Music
makes everything bearable. The only thing that kept me and Jaykee
from wrestling each other during the trip was music, in the form of
a 13,500-song iPod. Any degree of tension just melts away when
Steely Dan’s “Peg” permeates the cabin. That is why driving
music is so important. Take it for granted and you could get stuck
in traffic with a quarrelsome girlfriend and a stereo that’s tuned
in to Love Radio.
8 Excess
weight is always a handicap. Of the 10 cars used in the competition,
seven were Jazz units and three were Citys. Unfortunately, a
City—which is decidedly heavier than a Jazz—was assigned to us.
True enough, the first car to run out of gas was a City (that of Ira
Panganiban and Andy Sevilla). There was simply no way a City would
beat a Jazz in a fuel-economy contest. But that could just be my
sour-graping self talking. In any case, we still managed to beat
four Jazzes and two Citys. We merely fell short by some 30
kilometers to make it to the top three.
9
The first shall be last and
the last shall be first. My team was among a handful of those tipped
off to win the contest, along with The Philippine Star team of Jeff
Reyes and Lester Dizon and the Auto Review team of Ronald de los
Reyes and Raymund Sanchez. In the end, it was the team of Roman
Floresca and Delfin Perez (assistant business editors of The
Philippine Star and Manila Bulletin) that managed to extract the
most number of kilometers from their full tank, coming to a stop at
the 1,344-kilometer mark. Nobody saw this coming, especially since
the senior pair never displayed the kind of competitiveness that
their rivals had brandished from the start. Indeed, the meek and
humble always conquer the proud and mighty.
10 Petron
Xtra Unleaded must be really efficient. Or it could just be the cars or even
our smooth driving. Who knows? But then, any fuel that can propel a
car past 1,300 kilometers on just one 42-liter tank—even with the
air-conditioning system off and the spare tire removed—must be
really good.
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