During the Think Blue Eco ride from Nantes to Copenhagen, the new VW Golf TDI BlueMotion breaks its own fuel efficiency record by recording as astonishing 2.9 liters per 100 km or 96 mpg imp. The car covered a distance of 1,602 kilometres (995 miles) on just 46.92 litres of diesel.

Golf TDI BlueMotion is powered by a 110 PS diesel engine which is highly fuel efficient. But the car’s amazing performance is not just due to the engine. The BlueMotion treatment means the car has lower weight, better aerodynamics, modified six-speed manual gearbox and especially the tires compared to the normal models. What’s more, it has standard start-stop system and regenerative braking.

The 96 mpg record was achieved under almost perfect conditions and by professional drivers. In the real world you may not be able to achieve that, but even so, the TDi BlueMotion is one of the most economical cars you can buy today that looks like a normal family hatchback. And no matter what you do with it, it is almost impossible to do less than 70 mpg in this car.

The run was supervised by adjudicators from DEKRA. Simon Thomas, Head of Marketing of the Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, said: “Through ‘Think Blue.’, we show that low consumption driving can be combined with driving pleasure. This is why Volkswagen offers fuel saving training in a number of countries, for example ‘Think Blue. Ecotraining’ in cooperation with ‘Naturschutzbund Deutschland in Germany.’”