Taylors drive a Passat diesel 1626 miles on one tank - 84 mpg (US), 39 mph avg*

[tjts1]

Originally Posted by WD40

This is what you honestly expect us to believe they experienced?
On my worst day of holding back traffic ( doing the speed limit ) the worst I have ever experienced is the "professional" truck drivers pushing me (literally feet away) and then passing while giving the one finger salute, and then the finale .. cutting me off while they get back into the "slower traffic keep right lane"
Mostly its the professionals that give me cause for concern, the average driver happily follows someone doing the limit or slower as they are usually multi tasking anyway.

If we all lived in Canada that might be true. Canadians are a very polite people.

Originally Posted by Sven7

I wonder how much gas is wasted from people driving full size pickups 85mph everywhere they go.

Who cares, they're paying for it. They're not out there wasting other people's time and fuel.

[NachtRitter]

Surprised no one else has mentioned... the 39mph avg is just that... an average. The article didn't really mention the routes or what exactly was meant by "driving no more than 14 hours a day", but I would not assume they got in the car in the morning, accelerated instantly to 39mph and then kept the speed constant for the next 14 hours til they stopped (instantly). I would guess they did not take freeways (straightest, fastest route is only ~1400 miles, not ~1630 miles according to Google maps) and that the 'driving time' included some rest stops / food stops along the way. I'm sure they didn't do 70mph, and they probably did drive relatively slow (45? 50?) most of the way, but it was probably within a reasonable range of the roads they were on.

Heck, I did ~2000 miles traveling 65 - 70mph and got 60mpg average... not all that hard in a Diesel. I just would have a tough time doing ~1600 miles on a tank since my tank is 3 gals less...

[taco]

My trip to work(one way 65miles) with highs usually 66-70mph. My trip average was always 40-45 mph no matter how I drove it seemed. That was with my scan gauge. But even on the bike with just a clock it always takes me 1 hr 20 to 1 hr 35 minutes to get to work or home.

So if they took the two lanes roads and through some state where the speed limit is 55 mph on the highway. I can see this average. All about route planning.

[Piwoslaw]

From the link in Diesel_Dave's post:

they kept the six-speed manual transmission in top gear as often as possible, typically cruised at 60 mph and only used the air conditioning twice during the trip

I suspect that the speed was set to stay in the engine's BSFC sweetspot. Yet with an average speed of 39mph, they must have spent a lot of time going slower than 60mph.

Originally Posted by NachtRitter

I just would have a tough time doing ~1600 miles on a tank since my tank is 3 gals less...

Reminds me of when I told someone I'd done 1700km on a single tank, and he said he's done 1500km. He drives the same model, only larger engine. This got me interested until I found out that his model has the 70 liter tank. Mine has the 59 liter tank and I could sqeeze in 63 liters, so he could probably get another 4-5 liters too.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

I suspect that the speed was set to stay in the engine's BSFC sweetspot. Yet with an average speed of 39mph, they must have spent a lot of time going slower than 60mph.

Absolutely.
A 65mph CC setting over long distance (>300miles) gave me 57 (with traffic jam) and 60 mph averages.

If I could do 52mph for this kind of distance, I'd go below 4L/100km (over 59mpg).


I have a very hard time believing 84mpg / 2.800 L/100km out of an unmodified vehicle this size and weight, with the 2.0L TDI.
Definitely won't happen @ 60mph.


Remember, Vekke is already pushing things to get below 3L in a car half the size.

[Frank Lee]

They're not out there wasting other people's time and fuel.

They're wasting everybody's fuel.

[user removed]

Most of my Fiesta tanks average right at 38 MPH speed. When they talk about 14 hours a day behind the wheel, it's an assumption to include any stops in that time, since the stops are not "behind the wheel.
Take the older US routes (at least here) and traffic volume is much less than the Interstates. It would be relevant to see their route map. I'll bet they used the Interstates to get around congested areas and mainly used the older US routes (non interstate) for the vast majority of their trip.
Highway speeds? 40-50 MPH depending on the best BSFC speed in top gear, versus lowest aero drag.

regards
Mech

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

They're wasting everybody's fuel.

And driving prices up through increased demand.

[NachtRitter]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

When they talk about 14 hours a day behind the wheel, it's an assumption to include any stops in that time, since the stops are not "behind the wheel.

Agreed... and the data is conflicting... the "distance vs time" data provided yields 39mph while the statement Piwoslaw noted (from Diesel_Dave's link) says

they kept the six-speed manual transmission in top gear as often as possible, typically cruised at 60 mph

The truth is probably somewhere in between.

[Piwoslaw]

Let's not forget about another fact from that article:

The couple’s feat was sponsored by VW

I doubt that Volkswagen's help was limited to supplying the car, fuel and VW t-shirts. Let us also remember that this record run was made public only after it happened. So, no by-standers to see how close the Passat was drafting the truck that VW had previously rented*.

To their credit, the drivers were champion hypermilers. While it is possible, I'm sceptical as to anyone being able to pull off such a feat with the following parameters:

• Stock car, not the lightest nor most aerodynamic,
• 39 mph average,
• CC set to 60 mph,
• Driving for 3 days with breaks (= engine cooling off),
• Obeying all laws.

Ecomodder Groar had some mighty nice numbers on his Megane. Even though he:

• Had a car which was much lighter and probably had smaller FA than the Passat,
• Had smooth wheel covers, grille blocks, Kammback, trunk lid extension, rear skirts and front semi-skirts,
• Drove mostly highway,
• EOC'ed quite often,

still didn't have a tank average higher than 78 mpg.


*) I'm not claiming that this is the case, but it is a possibility that can't be ruled out at my present state of knowledge.