Audi Surpasses Expectation in Fuel Consumption Efficiency Marathon

[PanterroR]

When we first reported Audi was going to attempt the efficiency marathon, we never doubted they would achieve their goal. With 20 randomly selected readers of a motoring magazine and a team of two from Audi all eleven A4 models completed the 1,650 km journey from Basel, Switzerland to Vienna, Austria and back on one tank of fuel.

As a result, the best performing vehicle achieved fuel consumption average of 3.32 liters per 100km (70.85 US mpg) while the “worst” achieved 3.50 l/100km (67.20 US mpg), far exceeding the vehicle's official specification of 4.1 liters (57.37 US mpg).

After a total driving time of 22 hours with an average speed of between 73 and 80 km/h (45.36 and 49.71 mph), the winning team surprisingly had a higher average speed of 81.4 km/h (50.58 mph) than the others.
With the amount of fuel that remained after the trip, it would even have been possible to cover a distance of over 2,000 kilometers (1242.74 miles) or the air conditioning system could have been switched on.



Source - WCF: Audi Surpasses Expectation in Fuel Consumption Efficiency Marathon

 

[Yperion]

Simply amazing.

 

[YoUhimhER]

70.85 US mpg!!!! what model is it?

 

[Mockenrue]

The 2.0TDI. A very popular choice here in Europe thanks to its economy.

 

[SDNR]

Very impressive.

 

[Giannis]

the air conditioning system could have been switched on.

OMG, they went the whole trip with the AC off?
Then to achieve ~3l/100km what else have they done? Shut the car completely so that no air at all gets in, removed everything that can be removed, for the sparewheel to the door panels and the extra seats? Just don't tell me that they removed the gear and replaced it with a plastic screwdriver?