Saturday, October 9, 2010

  Longest distance travelled on a single tank of fuel - Volkswagen Passat sets world record

  LONDON, UK--A Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion was drove by Gavin Conway of the Sunday Times from Maidstone in Kent to the South of France and back, running out of fuel near to Calais after going a distance of 1,526.63 miles - setting the new world record for the Longest distance travelled by a standard production passenger car on a single tank of fuel .
Photo: Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion travels 1,526.63 miles on a single tank setting the new world record for the Longest distance travelled by a standard production passenger car on a single tank of fuel .  ( enlarge photo )

VW's project went along French motorways but also included some town driving, creating an average speed of around 45mph.

    The Passat was completely standard, with the stop start technology, low rolling resistance tyres and aerodynamic bodykit standard to the Bluemotion.

    Gavin Conway, of the Sunday Times drove the Passat during the three-day trip and was accompanied by a navigator and video crew.

   Two AA patrolmen were also following the attempt in a van to act as independent adjudicators for the Guinness World Records organisation.

    The three day trip over motorway and urban roads saw the VW Passat Bluemotion with a 1.6-litre 104bhp diesel engine record an overall fuel consumption of 89.9mpg, beating the official Guinness World Record of 64.2mpg, while still maintaining an average speed of over 45mph.

    The team worked out that the 77.25 litres of standard diesel were used at an average cost of 6.17p a mile.

    In setting the record the Passat BlueMotion travelled a distance equivalent to driving from London to Malaga, without needing to refuel or from New York to Los Angeles with a single stop for diesel.

   After 15 million sales in 37 years, Volkswagen unveiled the seventh generation of the Passat at the Paris Motor Show last month.

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Related world records:
Longest distance pushing a car - Ashrita Furman

Lowest fuel consumption across the US - John and Helen Taylor

Most efficient electric car - DeLaSalle students

Longest electric car journey  - Mira EV

Cleanest Sports Car - Lotus Elise

Youngest person to have built an electric truck - Deitrich Ludwig

Most Advanced Horse-Drawn Carriage - Jeremy Dean

Fastest Bio-fuel Powered Car - E85 Viper

Fastest electric vehicle - Altairnano

Fastest circumnavigation using Biodiesel - Earthrace

Saturday, October 9, 2010