141 MPG diesel, new record!

[Draigflag]

Yet more news from the country that produces the most efficient diesel engines in the World, France. This time Peugeot managed an astonishing 141.2 MPG (about 114 US MPG) over an epic 1337.19 miles of constant driving. What's even more remarkable is that this was a standard production model, not mods, overinflated tyres or stripping of any parts. It was driven on a track however, so no traffic lights or traffic to slow or stop for. Would be interesting to see what the average speed was.

More information here:

The Motoring World: Peugeot 208 with BlueHDi Diesel engine sets a new long-distance fuel consumption record, 141.2mpg.

[itripper]

Very cool, the articles I can find on it do not specify how fast it was traveling. My car for example gets vastly different mpg depending on mph I travel at. If I go 40 mph I can get 110 MPG all day, at 55 it sits at 70 mpg, and at 80 it goes to 50 mpg (US values).


The only numbers I could find were 1337 miles over 38 hours, this would be roughly 35 mph avg speed.

[Draigflag]

That might sound low, but to be honest that's probably higher than my average speed per tank as I do a lot of short urban trips during the week. Obviously being a track, there were probably lots of bends much like the roads here, but probably not many hills.

[trollbait]

The thing is, people have gotten over 100mpg(US) in second gen Prii on public roads with traffic for entire tanks.

[Draigflag]

But that's a hybrid with two sources of power, this is a diesel engined only car and credit where it's due, 141 MPG is incredible for an ICE constantly burning fuel for 38 hours.

[Draigflag]

Interesting to see Peugeot are soon to be releasing a Hybrid air version, that has a compressed air cylinder that is refilled when coasting/braking and then once full, injects compressed air only into the engine compartment. This is a gas engine obviously, but also has an expected economy figure of over 140 MPG.

[trollbait]

Hybrids get all their energy from a single source; a liquid fuel and the ICE. All the losses generating electricity for the motor are covered by not using the ICE at its least efficient phases. For a net gain in efficiency.

On a closed track at steady speeds, a few hybrids might do an automated pulse and glide between the ICE and motor. Most would just end up using the ICE at a steady load. The fuel economy improvement between the gen2 and gen3 Prius was mainly due to improvements to the ICE's efficiency. A larger ICE was used because it had a better 'sweet spot' at highway speeds.

A Mustang with the 5L V8 got nearly 50mpg on a closed track in a publicity stunt like this one. We don't take closed tracks to work everyday. While I'm sure this diesel will be a fuel efficient commuter, it isn't going to be putting up such track based numbers. I admit most hybrid drivers won't be getting the impressive numbers either, but the Prius and Peugeot will be close, with the Prius being several car class sizes larger.

[Draigflag]

All good points, but one of the main things is cost, the basic version of this Peugeot, which is likely to be the most efficient, will probably be around the £10,000 mark, which makes it cheaper overall both to buy and run than any hybrid currently on sale.

[Draigflag]

Just downloaded the PDF tech specs for the new 208. All versions both petrol and diesel are Euro 6. It's yet another car that's broke the triple figure mark in the NEDC test, it got a remarkable 104.6 MPG on the "extra urban" test, achieving 94.2 MPG average. Pretty impressive, looking forward to seeing what it can do in the real world.

Figures below are UK MPG, urban, extra urban and average, and litres/100 km on the right. 79 is grams of C02 per km.

[Bug65]

Hi, Very interesting and impressive mpg figures but still in a controlled environment, real world conditions is what we need.
I consider lots offer factors in making car choice and Peugeot have been poor in the reliability stakes in lots of long term owner studies although I see they are making big improvements of late.

Another recent record but on real roads not a closed circuit.

Honda breaks world record with 100mpg road trip