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A smart fortwo CDI driven by Mick Linford has achieved 99.24 mpg in the 2011 ALD Automotive Shell FuelSave MPG Marathon.
Mick Linford and co-driver Ella Flynn needed less than four gallons of diesel to cover the 370-mile course, managing 99.24 mpg – agonisingly short of the 100 mpg barrier, which has never been broken in the history of the event.
The highly competitive annual economy driving event, now in its eleventh year, aims to get motorists thinking about the way they drive, and the impact this has on their vehicle’s fuel consumption.
The event challenges the country’s leading eco drivers to get the best possible miles-per-gallon performance from their vehicle, and the winner for the third year in succession was the smart fortwo CDI driven by eco-driving champion and former racer, Mick Linford.
Second place in the competition for Best MPG went to motoring journalists Peter Cracknell and Dave Randle who clocked up 86.4 mpg in a Suzuki Swift 1.3 DDiS, while former BBC Top Gear presenter Sue Baker turned in a truly remarkable performance in the family-sized Skoda Octavia Greenline, achieving 85.98 mpg.
Drivers also sought to find who could register the greatest percentage improvement over the motor manufacturers’ published fuel consumption. Clear winners in a Vauxhall VXR8 were Andrew Duerden and Chris Mooney who with 32.14 mpg crafted their way to a 53% improvement over the car’s combined cycle figure of 21.0 mpg.
Second place in the percentage improvement class with a 48% uplift went to twice former winners David Madgwick and Ashleigh White in a VW Golf R 4 Motion, with Cracknell and Randle also claiming a rostrum position here with a 28% improvement on their car’s 67.3 mpg combined cycle figure.
There was equally stiff competition in the light commercial vehicle section. No less than 11 vans took part in the event which saw the LCVs competing in gross vehicle weight classes, as well as vying for the overall award for the best percentage improvement over published figures.
Overall winner in the percentage improvement class was the Renault Trafic dCi 115 piloted by driver training experts Martin Carter and Alison Miller. Their 59.11 mpg was a 54.73% improvement over Renault’s figure of 38.2 mpg and just pipped fleet safety managers Les Stiff and Ian Marginson into second place with a 53.65% uplift in an identical Renault van.
John Kerswill beat Van Fleet World editor John Kendall in the race for the best outright MPG by a van, with 82.96 mpg and 81.79 mpg respectively in their Fiat Fiorino and Citroen Nemo vans.
There were also some impressive class wins for Ford’s Transit Van, claiming first place in both 2800kg and 3500kg classes.
See the results from the previous years’ events:
