My wife and I have just returned to Canberra from a drive up to Townsville to visit our son.

Our 2001 model Sante Fe was loaded to the gunnels and managed to clock up just over 6100 kms for the round trip, which now puts us a few Ks over the magic 130,000 and therefore out of warranty.

The vehicle, which we purchased new, has a K&N filter fitted but is otherwise standard. Average fuel consumption for the trip was 9.31 kms per litre which I reckon is pretty dam good considering the weight of the vehicle and the fact that it is all wheel drive.

We took inland routes both up and back, avoiding the coast road which, the last time we drove it a few of years back, seemed to be a steady succession of town after town interspersed with roadwork after roadwork! The roads are pretty flat out west and given that the towns are few and far between and straights of 15 plus kms long are not uncommon, you can maintain a steady cruising speed, all of which helped the fuel consumption considerably no doubt. Notwithstanding, the Sante is vary able to accelerate quite quickly from 110 to 140 plus if the need to overtake a road train arises, as it frequently does.

Total cost of fuel for the 6100 km trip was $832.90 and the average price of fuel was 130.1 cents per litre with the highest being 142.0 cents per litre paid at a whistle stop called Dirranbandi, somewhere between Roma and Coonamble. Trust us to plan a trip to coincide with the hike in fuel costs!

I found that sitting on around 115 kph returned the best fuel economy. At one stage, very early in the trip out in the boonies of western NSW I had the Sante cruising at around 140 kph pushing revs of around 3600. It seemed very happy and very stable at this speed but you could hear the guzzling noise and almost watch the fuel gauge drop.

Only disappointing aspects of the vehicle are the fact that the fuel filler pipe is a bugger and while it takes an age to do so 'cos the pump cuts out every few seconds or so, I can generally squeeze another 9 or 10 ltrs into the tank after the fuel bowser cuts out the first time. The other embuggerance is that the fuel gauge has always been a tad misleading in that I can get anywhere between 280 300 kms out of the first half of the tank but after it reads half empty, the gauge drops real fast with the result that I appear to get only 150 200 out of the rest of the tank. This is illogical because, according to the gauge at least, 30 or so litres of fuel have gone when it reads half way, so youd think that the fuel economy of the now much lighter vehicle would improve with the second half a tank! I have noted this phenomenon in other vehicles too and while I reported it to the dealer at a very early service I was told that the gauge was within tolerances. Just one of lifes little mysteries I guess!

In any case, a safe and enjoyable trip and with luck the Sante Fe will keep on providing us with a few more years of trouble-free motoring.