Fiesta Diesel Wins MPG Marathon with 108.78mpg

A Ford Fiesta ECOnetic 1.6 TDCIFord Fiesta 1.6TDCI Techn...United States of America, 2012 > present1 photo
won the annual ALD Automotive/Shell FuelSave MPG Marathon by returning 108.78mpg UK over a 370-mile route made up entirely of public roads in South Wales and the Cotswolds. The event is only open to showroom stock vehicles and was won by drivers Andrew Marriott and Andy Dawson. They beat the second place Kia Rio 1.1 CRDi ecoKia Rio 1.1D EcoDynamicsRepublic of Korea, 2011 > present2 photos
that returned 102.21mpg UK. Third place was a Peugeot 208 e-HDiPeugeot 208 1.4 eHDi Acce...France, 2012 > present1 photo
that managed 93.4mpg UK.

It was the first time ever that any vehicle had finished the event with over 100mpg UK. All of the vehicles are fitted with satellite navigation so that the organizers can know the vehicles are following the prescribed route. 

The event challenges drivers to drive efficiently over real roads. For example, Marriot and Dawson were able to beat the Fiesta ECOnetic's official combined fuel consumption of 85.6mpg UK by 27%. The most efficient drivers in the test were Ian Murray and Mark Armstrong-Read in a Citroën C1 1.0 VTRCitroën C1 1.0i VTRFrance, 2012 > present2 photos
. They got 84.7mpg UK from the car, an improvement of 28.92% over the official figure of 65.7mpg UK.

In the light commercial vehicle category, a Citroën Nemo HDICitroën Nemo Van HDiFrance, 2007 > present6 photos
won with 77.51mpg UK. 

Only two vehicles of the 27 cars entered did not meet the official combined mpg figure. 

"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 per cent – impressive by anyone’s standards," said event organizer Ross Durkin.

This is the 12th year for the MPG Marathon, which is organized by Fleet World magazine in the UK and sponsored by Shell.