Honda has set a new Guinness World Records title for fuel economy with a standard diesel-powered Civic Tourer in a 13,498km (8,387 mile) drive across 24 European Union countries.
The car averaged 2.82 l/100km (100.31mpg UK or 83.4 mpg UK) during the 25 day drive, claiming the Guinness World Records title for “Lowest fuel consumption – all 24 contiguous EU countries (all cars)”. The remarkable fuel economy record exceeds the Tourer’s quoted efficiency of 3.8 l/100 km (74.3 mpg UK or 61.9 mpg US) by more than 25 percent.
For the entire journey, the Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC was driven by two members of Honda’s European Research & Development (R&D) team, Fergal McGrath and Julian Warren. The distance traveled is similar to the team driving to Australia from their home in the UK, stopping just nine times to refuel. The car managed to cover an average 1,500km (932 miles) on each tank of fuel, with a total fuel cost for the whole journey of just €645 (£459).
The long road trip started from Aalst, Belgium, on June 1, with the car navigating the continent in a clockwise direction. The crew returned to the start point on June 25. As the rules stated that the same two drivers had to be in the car for the whole journey, Fergal and Julian drove an average of approximately 600km (373 miles) each day (around 7.5 hours).
Obviously, the two drivers didn’t share all their secrets, but said they used “very logical methods including careful and sensible route planning, driving smoothly and consistently without harsh acceleration or braking, anticipating the road conditions ahead, carrying no unnecessary weight, and ensuring that the car was correctly maintained at all times.” Furthermore, driving speed was always within the law and keeping up with traffic conditions.
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