VW Passat BlueMotion Sets New World Record After Going 1,527 Miles Without Refueling

Gavin Conway, writer for the Sunday Times, buckled into a Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion and embarked on a journey. This trip was not your typical Sunday jaunt, nor was it what we’d call a grocery run. Let’s just say that Conway had Guinness World Record visions dancing in his head. Followed by independent representatives who verified the run, Conway and the Passat hit the French roads and never looked back.

Powered by a 1.6-liter common rail TDI engine with stop-start technology and equipped with low-rolling resistance tires, longer gearing and aerodynamics modifications, the Passat BlueMotion is one heck of an example of efficient motoring and Conway’s drive put the vehicle’s fuel-sipping abilities to the test. Conway hit the French autoroutes to determine just how far the efficient Passat could travel on a single tank, which holds 20.4 gallons of diesel. During his three-day record-setting run, Conway averaged 45 miles per hour and discovered that the BlueMotion’s efficiency was simply amazing. After completing the journey, the Volkswagen Passat clocked 1,526.63 miles, setting a Guinness World Record for the longest distance traveled by a production passenger car on a single tank of fuel; the 74.8 miles per gallon (U.S.) it got ain’t too shabby either. Hit the jump for more on the Passat BlueMotion’s record-setting run.

[Source: Volkswagen | Image: Media Inventions Ltd.]

PRESS RELEASE

1,527 MILES ON ONE TANK: PASSAT BLUEMOTION SETS NEW WORLD RECORD

A Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion has set a new Guinness World Record for the longest distance travelled 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, 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.

by Eric Loveday (RSS feed) on Oct 4th 2010 at 4:02PM

Source: autobloggreen

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