Volkswagen South Africa says a Passat 1,4 TSI DSG has set a local record for a petrol passenger car by being driven some 2 029 km on a single tank.
The 110 kW Passat was driven from the Beitbridge border gate to Moorreesburg over the course of two-and-a-half days at an average speed of 69 km/h. Six drivers were used, with each taking two-hour stints behind the wheel on a rotational basis.
VW says the Passat returned an average fuel consumption of 4,1 L/100 km (compared to the official claimed figure of 5,2 L/100 km) , with the total amount of fuel used being 83,19 litres.
If that last figure sounds a little high, that’s because it is. VW says the tank was “filled with 83,19 litres of fuel, which is 17,19 litres more than the standard capacity of 66 litres”. So certainly well past the first click, then…
“The extra litres of fuel were important in helping us to achieve our record drive,” added Rodney Kinsey, the man behind the record.
Kinsey said that the result bettered the previous record of 1 941 km that was set by the Volkswagen Golf TDI BlueMotion in 2011.