GBR attempt: Lowest Fuel Consumption - 48 states (2013 VW Passat TDI)

[NachtRitter]

Not sure which sub-forum this actually fits in...

Wayne Gerdes from CleanMPG, An authoritative source on fuel economy and hypermiling along with a friend will try to break the Guinness Book of Records entry for "Lowest fuel consumption - 48 states"; here is the link to their progress: 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI Ready to Hit the Road - CleanMPG Forums

[UFO]

Well I do wish them luck, and it will be a challenge to beat that record even though diesel has a higher energy content. What really rankles me is all the marketing phrases such as "kleen diesel" and product placement. Diesel is not clean, it's the same old hydrocracked filth piped out of the underworld. Yeah, it's got clean emissions, but all that technology and you cannot fuel it with sun-grown biodiesel.

[PaleMelanesian]

It's his own record he's aiming to beat. Previously he set it in the Kia Optima hybrid, with Chris Bernius. This time Bob Winger is the other driver. Both Chris and Bob were on the F150 ecoboost drive where they got 32 mpg crossing coast-to-coast.

64.55 mpg is the mark to beat.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

It's his own record he's aiming to beat. Previously he set it in the Kia Optima hybrid, with Chris Bernius. This time Bob Winger is the other driver. Both Chris and Bob were on the F150 ecoboost drive where they got 32 mpg crossing coast-to-coast.

64.55 mpg is the mark to beat.

So my ghetto insight would beat him.

[NachtRitter]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

So my ghetto insight would beat him.

Modded? If so, it wouldn't meet the criteria. Well, that and I think the vehicle has to be less than 6 months old.

Would be interesting to see someone even with a modified vehicle drive the same route (~8,000 miles worth) in a similar amount of time to see how much of an improvement he/she could get.

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

64.55 mpg is the mark to beat.

From the post I linked, it looks like it is more than that...

We will be attempting to beat the current Guinness World Record of 67.9 mpgUS on a drive that visits all 48 U.S. states over a planned distance of 8,000 miles.

[euromodder]

Of course it won't meet VW's ... err Wayne's criteria.
It's just another publicity stunt, this time for VW.
Out of production cars are tough to sell...

Any VW Lupo or Audi A2 3L TDI would beat it.
My up! on CNG would beat it.

Do they take into account the considerably higher energy content of diesel - and its higher CO2 output ?

Diesel is NOT "Kleen" nor green.
It's the filthiest, most long-term poisonous fossil fuel available when burned in today's clean DPF-ed diesels.
The soot isn't really burned by the DPF, it's reduced to small nano-particles that no longer show up on the test equipment. It does show up in our lungs and in our blood though.

Guess why we're now moving away from diesels in Europe, despite the MPG benefit and tax benefit in some EU countries .

Don't repeat our European mistake in the US.

[PaleMelanesian]

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

It's his own record he's aiming to beat. Previously he set it in the Kia Optima hybrid, with Chris Bernius. This time Bob Winger is the other driver. Both Chris and Bob were on the F150 ecoboost drive where they got 32 mpg crossing coast-to-coast.

64.55 mpg is the mark to beat.

Originally Posted by NachtRitter

From the post I linked, it looks like it is more than that...

My mistake. 64.55 is Wayne's gas/hybrid record, 67.9 is the Taylors VW TDI record. Guinness has 2 records, one for gas and one for diesel.

[PaleMelanesian]

They did it!

Chattanooga-made Passat breaks Guinness World Record | timesfreepress.com

A diesel-powered Volkswagen Passat has set a new Guinness World Record for the lowest fuel consumption in a drive in all 48 states in the continental United States for a non-hybrid car.

The Chattanooga-made Passat garnered 77.99 mpg, more than 10 mpg better than the previous mark of 67.9 mpg, according to Volkswagen of America.

The Passat TDI left Herndon, Va., June 7th and covered 8,122 miles in all 48 states. The car, along with drivers Wayne Gerdes and Bob Winger, returned to Herndon today.

“To cover 8,122 miles on just 104.94 gallons of fuel is nothing short of astonishing and shows just how economical our TDI Clean Diesel vehicles can be,” said Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America Inc., in a statement.

A VW Jetta held the previous record.

[UFO]

That's pretty cool. They must have really improved on their driving techniques because an older Jetta can easily best the new Passat on fuel efficiency.

[PaleMelanesian]

The old record was with an 09 or so Jetta, so the new model with all the exhaust cleaning stuff. It was someone else who set that record. Wayne and Bob are excellent hypermilers, and the previous record holders were merely good.