Good News: Cars Exceed Official Fuel Consumption Figures

The MPG Marathon has crushed the myth that cars cannot hit their manufacturer's fuel consumption figures. As such, a Peugeot 208 GTi thrashed its target by 23.99% by averaging 59.39mpg rather than 47.9mpg. And this was not over a route designed to flatter. It excelled, in fact, over a two day event that covered more than three-hundred miles and competitors could not save fuel by driving slowly as they would have been penalised. Furthermore, the 208 GTI was not the only high achiever. The Peugeot 308 HDi 92 thrashed its target by 10.41% by returning 82.04mpg rather than 74.3mpg - and the Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC EX also exceeded expectations by 8.12% (84.87mpg/78.5mpg). In fact, the majority of cars broke their targets by a meaningful sum. But how? The key was to drive smoothly and maintain consistent velocities rather than speeding-up and slowing down. Within this, competitors kept engine revolutions low and lifted-off the gas rather than braked (where practical). The drivers also maximised aerodynamic efficiency by keeping the windows and sunroof shut. Finally, they ensured that the tyre pressures were correct, switched-off the air-con and minimised weight by abandoning unnecessary cargo.

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