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Your support makes all the difference.A Volkwagen Passat has set a new Guinness World Record for the distance traveled in a production passenger car on a single tank of fuel.
The Volkwagen Passat Bluemotion managed 2,463 km without refueling, the equivalent of driving from London to Malaga or Los Angeles to New York.
British journalist Gavin Conway managed the feat by driving the 1.6 litre TDI-engined car at an average speed of 72 km/h between the south of Britain and the south of France and back again, in around 34 hours.
The amount of fuel used was measured at 77.25 litres - an overall fuel consumption of 90.0 miles per gallon (2.6l/100km), which far exceeds the claimed combined figure of 64.2 mpg (3.6l/100km).
Conway's record was set in August but wasn't published until October 3 after waiting for verification from Guinness World Records.
The trip broke the previous record set in Australia by a diesel Peugeot 406 eight years ago, managing to go just over 67 miles (107 km) further.
Conway was coached on efficient driving by instructor Chris Watkinson from Britain's Automobile Association, who said that anybody could benefit from the techniques used.
"Although Gavin is a very experienced driver, I was able to remind him of a few simple techniques - such as block changing the gears, for example from first to third; keeping to less than 2,000 revs; and removing excess weight - that anyone could benefit from," explains Chris.
How to be a fuel-efficiency record breaker
- Leave promptly and don't be idle - Avoid uneccessary idling and turn the engine off if it looks like you could be waiting for more than three minutes.
- Drive smoothly.
- Decelerate smoothly.
- Keep rolling - Stopping then starting again uses more fuel.
- Change up earlier - Change gear as soon as possible without laboring the engine - try changing up at an engine speed of around 2,000 rpm in a diesel car or around 2,500 rpm in a gas-fueled car.
- Cut down on the air-con - Air conditioning increases fuel consumption at low speeds.
- Turn it off - Any electrical load increases fuel consumption.
- Stick to the limits - the faster you go the greater the fuel consumption and the greater the pollution too.
Tips courtesy of the AA - http://www.theaa.com
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