Honda sets new efficiency record with 100mpg Civic run

Fuel consumption is a big deal these days, with the most efficient cars keenly sought-after by buyers but without driving like an aerodynamically optimsed saint, it's pretty hard to recreate a vehicle's official fuel economy figures. Or is it? Honda set out to prove that mpg above and beyond the official numbers is possible in its Civic Tourer setting a 100mpg world record in the process.

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With an official consumption figure of 74.3mpg, Honda's Civic Tourer with the 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel engine isn't exactly thirsty. But on a huge journey of 8,387 miles across the EU, the Civic Tourer achieved a return of 100.31 miles per gallon. That's a figure more than 25% over the official consumption figure, and it now holds the Guinness World Record for lowest fuel consumption on a trip visiting all 24 continuous EU countries.

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While this would be easy to achieve in some specially lightened economy champ, rules stated that the car had to be an unmodified, road-going model, using regular fuel and brimming the tank at each fill-up ensuring no weight advantage. The car was driven by the same two colleagues from Honda's R&D department and between them they drove an average of 7.5 hours a day. They began in Aalst, Belgium, and after visiting  all 24 EU countries returned to their start point.

The team credited their remarkable economy to simple driving techniques - careful route planning, accelerating and braking smoothly and carrying as little weight as possible in the Honda Civic Tourer's generous boot.

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It's certainly a compelling advert for what's possible simply with careful driving - the Civic Tourer averaged 932 miles on each tank of fuel, and only cost £459 in diesel for the entire 8,837-mile journey. That's a similar distance to driving from the UK to Australia. After the 25-day journey, the drivers are said to be looking forward to being back behind a desk rather than a wheel.

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