drive

Audi drives into the record books

June 13, 2015

The Audi A6 TDI ultra is now officially a Guinness World Record holder, having covered 14 countries on a single tank of diesel. – Audi/AFP pic, June 13, 2015.Motoring journalist Andrew Frankel and racing driver Rebecca Jackson were on Friday officially awarded a Guinness World Record for successfully driving a completely stock diesel Audi A6 to 14 different European countries on a single tank of fuel.

The journey, which began in Maastricht, the Netherlands on Tuesday morning took 28 hours of almost continuous driving to complete and had covered a total of 1,864 km when the car's fuel tank was finally devoid of fuel in Hungary.

However, over that period, the car managed to travel through Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia.
It's quite possible the list could have been longer but, despite the best possible route planning, the car and its drivers still ran into unexpected delays including tailbacks caused by an accident and the closure of a tunnel.

Of the drive, Frankel said: "From an endurance point of view the challenge actually proved to be far harder than both Rebecca and I imagined it would be. Despite sharing the driving we were on the road almost continuously for 28 hours, focused on maintaining an average speed of around 80km/h.

"In order to do this you have to be fully aware of what's going on around you and anticipate what could happen with the traffic ahead. While it was normal driving in one sense, it was also a very different type of driving, but nevertheless demanding."

Of the reasons for undertaking the challenge, a primary factor was real-world fuel efficiency.

The figures quoted by a manufacturer for a new car and what its owner manages to achieve can be two different things. However, in the case of the Audi, when driven carefully, it achieved a fuel economy of 3.7l/100km, much better than the Audi A6 TDI Ultra's quoted 4.2l/100km figure.

Under current European testing guidelines there are too many loopholes that carmakers can exploit in order to massage fuel efficiency figures, using special lubricants for example, or removing wing mirrors.

However, from 2017 a new set of universal rules, backed by the UN, the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure will be established which should give car buyers greater piece of mind.

"By covering so much of Europe on a single fill-up, we have proven that real-world economy of almost 76 mpg or more can be had from the latest engine technology," said Audi spokesman Jon Zammett. – AFP Relaxnews, June 13, 2015.