A Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion has set a new Guinness World Record for the longest distance traveled by a standard production passenger car on a single tank of fuel.
The attempt, carried out by a team from The Sunday Times, involved driving from Maidstone in Kent to the South of France and back. The Passat BlueMotion finally ran out of fuel close to Calais after completing a distance of 1,526.63 miles.
The route mainly followed French autoroutes, but included some town driving, resulting in an average speed of just over 45 mph.
Gavin Conway 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 organization, which accredited the record.
Powered by a Volkswagen 1.6-litre common rail TDI engine developing 103Bhp, 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 tires.
The Passat's fuel tank was drained before the record breaking journey and filled with 20.4 US gallons of standard forecourt diesel, resulting in an overall fuel consumption of 74.8 miles per US gallon. This substantially exceeds the Passat BlueMotion's official combined figure of 53.4 mpg.
In setting the record the Passat traveled a distance equivalent to driving from New York to Los Angeles with a single stop for diesel.
Picture: Media Inventions Ltd.