A Ford Fiesta ECOnetic 1.6 TDCi diesel car has won the UK’s 2012 ALD Automotive/Shell FuelSave MPG Marathon, achieving 108.78mpg over a 370-mile route through South Wales and the Cotswolds, made more challenging than intended by a bridge collapse and a traffic light failure. A Kia Rio 1.1 CRDi eco also passed the 100mpg mark with a rating of 102.21mpg.
Ford’s winning team, Andrew Marriott and Andy Dawson, are both former rally drivers and beat their nearest rival by over 6mpg. This year’s run demonstrated a 27% improvement on the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic’s official NEDC combined fuel consumption figure of 85.6mpg (with emissions of 87g/km CO2).
Ford’s ECOnetic technology combines Start/Stop, combustion and calibration improvements, smart regenerative charging and revised gear ratios among other enhancements.
Ford said a Focus Titanium 1.0 EcoBoost car also took part, with drivers Paul and Doug Clifton, from BBC South, producing 61.93mpg – a near-10% advance on its official combined cycle figure of 56.5mpg. A Ford Transit Custom T270 van, crewed by Owen Wood and Richard Powell of Ford’s Dunton Technical Centre, came third in the LCV category with 56.04mpg – 37% up on its combined figure of 40.9mpg.
Event organiser Ross Durkin of Fleet World magazine commented: “This year’s MPG Marathon will be remembered for the two teams who beat the elusive 100mpg barrier – both superb performances. The average improvement over combined cycle figures achieved by the 27 vehicles in this year’s event was a whisker under 16%.”
