Green or Mean? ETA Announces the Best and Worst Performers in Greener Motoring Guide

WEYBRIDGE, England, November 29 -- The greenest car on Britain's roads today is the Honda Civic 1.4IMA Executive says the Environmental Transport Association (ETA), the ethical alternative breakdown service which highlights the most environmentally effective cars in their Car Buyers Guide, published today on line at www.eta.co.uk/car-buyers-guide.asp

Honda's latest environmentally superior hybrid car offers a practical and stylish solution for those wanting to avoid the congestion charge and help the atmosphere with lower fuel emissions.

Next, the Toyota Prius 1.5 Hybrid is the most efficient mass produced car on the market, says the ETA, with 66 pg and CO2 emissions making it the lowest of all cars at only 104g/km. The Vauxhall Corsa 1.3CDTi 16v Life is also in the top 10 with a new generation diesel engine giving huge fuel consumption savings.

The Guide also points out the worst performers. Heading the list is the Lamborghini Diablo which produces five times the amount of climate change gases as the Toyota Prius. Driving the Lamborghini is the equivalent of cutting down three fully grown oak trees every day(1). (For full top 10 list visit www.eta.co.uk/greentips.asp )

Bentley has two models in the top 10 that perform worst against emissions, the Arnage R and the Continental GT. The Porsche Cayenne S, the Volkswagen Phaeton and Touraeg models and the Vauxhall Frontera are also all poor performers against emissions.

"Climate change is a far bigger threat to this country than terrorism," says Andrew Davis, director of the ETA. "The fastest growing cause of climate change is our use of transport. Reducing our impact on the environment should be our number one priority - the car we buy makes a big difference."

For those who don't want to compromise on style and still covet the worst performing but most prestigious marques in the car market, the ETA offers some simple tips to ease their conscience.

1) Simply removing unnecessary items from the car such as golf clubs, tools, buggies, footwear and so on will reduce the weight and fuel consumption.

2) Similarly removing roof racks reduces wind resistance and fuel used.

3) Under inflated tyres have the same effect. For every 6psi a tyre is under-inflated the fuel consumption increases by 1%.

4) Car sharing benefits the environment by lowering emissions through fewer journeys.

5) Footwear that is light and less bulky ensures sensitive control over the accelerator and reduces emissions. Driving shoes can help.

For a full list of tips visit www.eta.co.uk/greentips.asp For the Car Buyers Guide visit www.eta.co.uk/car-buyers-guide.asp

Reference:

(1) Lamborghini Diablo = 520g/km CO2 and 16,000m a year travelled.

A fully grown tree absorbs 13kg of CO2 a year

Notes to Editors:

The ETA offers a comprehensive breakdown service across Europe. Their services also include cycle insurance, cycle rescue, travel and house insurance plus vehicle inspection service.

The mission: The aim of the ETA is to be the ethical alternative to other motoring organisations. Through their services funds are generated for the ETA's campaigns.

The aims:

- To help ETA members and the general public take practical steps in reducing their impact on the environment and to demonstrate that making such changes gives people a better quality of life.

- To encourage government at all levels to understand the benefits of doing less but making more impact. ETA transport proposals would reduce the government's expenditure on transport to almost zero whilst improving the transport system.

For more information contact: Anita Hamilton, t: +44-(0)20-8742-0566, m: +44-(0)7768-778-772 or Lynne Parker, t: +44-(0)20-8744-1750, m: +44-(0)7973-470-577