VW BlueMotion bagged a new fuel economy record officially confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records, for the longest distance traveled by a standard production passenger car on a single tank of fuel. It was a Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion which traveled from Maidstone in Kent to the South of France and back. That is a distance of 1,526.63 miles on a single tank, unbelievable!
The challenge was taken by a team from The Sunday Times and they maintained an average speed of just over 45 mph throughout the journey. This Passat BlueMotion is not the coolest car in the world, but it’s a damn sight better than those pathetic hybrids currently on the market, and it does much better mileage than all of them.
Gavin Conway, for The Sunday Times, drove the Passat BlueMotion during the three-day record-breaking trip, accompanied by a navigator and video crew. Two AA patrolmen followed the entire attempt in their van to witness the journey independently for the Guinness World Records organisation, which accredited the record.
Powered by a Volkswagen 1.6-litre common rail TDI engine developing 105 PS, the Passat BlueMotion used for the record attempt was a standard production model. In common with the Polo and Golf BlueMotion models, the Passat is fitted with aerodynamic modifications to the bodywork, a lower ride height, Stop/Start, programmed battery charging, longer gearing and low rolling resistance tyres. The result is a vehicle that is completely conventional to drive, service and maintain yet among the most efficient vehicles on the road today.
The Passat BlueMotion’s fuel tank was drained before the record breaking journey and filled with 77.25 litres of standard forecourt diesel, resulting in an overall fuel consumption of 89.83 miles per gallon. This substantially exceeds the Passat BlueMotion’s official combined figure of 64.2 mpg. The resulting fuel cost for the journey works out at just 6.17p per mile travelled.
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.
