A 2012 VW Passat TDI SE with six-speed manual transmission sets a new world record for longest distance on one tank of fuel by traveling 1626 miles between Houston and Sterling, Virginia. Hyper-milers John and Helen Taylor averaged 84.1 miles per gallon, spending only 4.65 cents per mile, while carrying 120 pounds of luggage. Impressive records.
The Passat was completely stock, and the travel conditions were pretty normal, as you would travel in the real life with regular stops and driver change. All of that makes the achieved record seem more remarkable. The record was verified by Texas law enforcement who oversaw the whole journey.
The previous record for the farthest distance traveled on one tank was 1526.6 miles, achieved with a VW Passat 1.6 BlueMotion diesel in Europe.
The Passat’s 2.0-liter TDI Clean Diesel inline four-cylinder engine produces 140 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque and with a manual transmission delivers an EPA estimated fuel economy rating of 43 mpg on the highway. This experiment showed that if you drive really carefully, you can exceed EPA estimates, and exceed them well.
