MPG Marathon is one of the world’s dullest races in the world in which car makers enter their most frugal cars to see who can achieve the highest MPG over a set distance on a route with a wide range of roads and terrain across England and Wales. It gives them bragging rights and show off their superior technology over the rival cars.

Now Peugeot’s lovely new 208 managed to set an incredible record of 90 MPG in this year’s Marathon.

They had entered two 208s powered by the 1.4-litre e-HDi EGC diesel engines. These cars were of course driven with hypermiling techniques in mind, hence their amazing records. One of them reached 93.4 MPG. In the real world you are not going to get 90 MPG. Peugeot’s official figure is something between 74.3 and 83.1mpg, which is still pretty impressive. 80 MPG means you can go from Scotland to Switzerland on one tank.

The new Peugeot 208 has already booked 15,000 orders.

Chris commented: “While this year’s MPG Marathon was as demanding as ever, I was delighted with the performance and economy of the Peugeot 208, especially achieving the 93.4 mpg average when 83.1 is the figure for the official Combined Drive Cycle. The 208 has a very comfortable environment and over distance I became completely at one with the driving position, characterised by the new smaller steering wheel. Its quality feel and controls fell perfectly to my hands and made for a relaxed journey, despite the many driving challenges we faced.”