Fuel Economy Record - 1,626 on a single tank!

chemeng1661 · May 8th, 2012, 10:22

I just saw this posted on Edmunds Straightline:

http://blogs.insideline.com/straight...k-of-fuel.html

How is this possible? 1,626 on a single tank?

I am still trying to get a 600 mile tank on my JSW!

TDiSkater · May 8th, 2012, 10:37

3 day trip "averaging" 41 mph with some highway at 60 mph. Their record is safe! I got 42mpg on my way home last night and I got all excited - geez.

jbright · May 8th, 2012, 10:37

These are the same people who set a record in an '09 Jetta TDI, then broke it again later. I forget their average mpg for those trips -- 59 and 69 I think. As the article states, they are professional hypermilers. Mere mortals probably can't accomplish such feats.

roadhard1960 · May 8th, 2012, 10:42

Do the math for fun. 1626 miles divided by 3 days divided by 14 hours is less than 40 mph. My map program shows about 1,400 miles by interstate and 1629 miles if you avoid interstates. So when they claim they did 60 mph on the highway that could be true as they were barely on the interstate. Probably annoying as heck doing 40 on rural roads with 55 mph posted. If they did the short route and drove 60 mph average they would have taken 23.5 hours. Heck 1600 miles at 60 mph is 26.6 hours. You might conclude it took them 3 days at 14 hours or 52 hours. They certainly were not driving 60 mph very often.

detroitmike · May 8th, 2012, 10:59

Could you imagine getting stuck behind those jack asses. I would lose my mind. Probably had a line of cars behind them a mile long the whole way.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

dweisel · May 8th, 2012, 11:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by detroitmike

Could you imagine getting stuck behind those jack asses.

ROFLMAO! Thanks for the laugh.

wolfsburg_de · May 8th, 2012, 11:22

And they probably didn't turn on their hazards since that would cost them 0.01 mpg.

MyAvocation · May 8th, 2012, 12:02

Tons of Google hits on this. Here's some additional info I found:

they said they drove about 5 miles per hour below the speed limit

“We’d sit on 60,” John Taylor said. “Reducing speed saved 23 percent in fuel.”

They also said they kept the car’s tire pressure at the proper mark, drove smoothly and consistently and idled as little as possible.

They only used air conditioning on two occasions.

That's 1,626.1 miles from just 19.3 gallons.

To ensure the test was conducted accurately, the speedometer was correctly calibrated for accuracy, recording parity at 20, 50 and 70 mph. The odometer was reading slightly under, so all figures were corrected to maintain accuracy.

John and Helen Taylor achieve 1,626 miles on a tank of Diesel in a VW Passat TDI
The fuel used was verified by Senior Police Officer Daniel M. Rodriguez in Texas, then sealed and signed. Motel managers along the route also signed to confirm the seal was still intact, before it was finally signed for and removed by Deputy Sheriff Alonzo Perry at the end of the drive.

EDIT:
And this chronicles the process: Cool Pictorial Account

97B4TDi · May 8th, 2012, 12:16

Quote:

A VW Passat TDI Drove Over 1,600 Miles On One Tank Of Fuel

It's been nearly two weeks since we've taken delivery of our six-month road test 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI, and we are already impressed with its outstanding fueleconomy. Seems we aren't the only ones, as a new world record has been set for the farthest distance traveled on a single tank of fuel.

Full Article...

Abacus · May 8th, 2012, 12:16

Something doesn't smell right here...so with a lack of convincing, I'm not believing it.

Hypermilling or not, I'm not buying the hype just yet.

oilhammer · May 8th, 2012, 12:16

Not really sure what the purpose of driving like that is... you cannot argue it "saves" money, as given the time it took one could get a job at McDonald's and earn the difference easily if they just drove normally and got 'only' 45 MPG.

But I guess they are somewhat famous now. Wonder what they could do in my ALH/5sp Golf that seems to get no less than 50MPG no matter how fast I drive it.

VeeDubTDI · May 8th, 2012, 13:23

If that's accurate, I'm pretty impressed. I'm surprised that there weren't any sneaky elevation changes slid into the equation somewhere, but Houston to Sterling is about as level as it gets. Obviously there are some changes through the mountains, but start to finish ends up around the same elevation.

pknopp · May 8th, 2012, 13:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abacus

Something doesn't smell right here...so with a lack of convincing, I'm not believing it.

Hypermilling or not, I'm not buying the hype just yet.

Neither do I. Simply too much starting and stopping on back roads and they aren't getting 86 doing 60.

DPM · May 8th, 2012, 13:53

These people are VERY good. Don't forget the numbers they managed round Australia in the Pug 308, too.

firedwg1 · May 8th, 2012, 14:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by chemeng1661

I just saw this posted on Edmunds Straightline:

http://blogs.insideline.com/straight...k-of-fuel.html

How is this possible? 1,626 on a single tank?

I am still trying to get a 600 mile tank on my JSW!

That claim you see basically states "84 MPG" @ 41 MPH. Its not likely, people like to make stories up and have others buy into it. I have seen many people claim above 55 mpg but this would mean they would have to drive well below the speed limit lots of coasting and slow stops / starts with very little brakes. Perhaps thats what they did but Nomal people do not drive like this...