We’ve grown used to treating manufacturers’ official fuel consumption figures with a pinch of salt, thinking of them more as an ideal than a reality. That attitude could need some revision, however, even for van drivers.

The winning team & their Vivaro - © GM Corp.

In the recent Fleetworld/ALD MPG Marathon, drivers had to complete a 360-mile course over varied roads using the least fuel possible. Granted, the vans weren’t loaded and didn’t have to contend with the demands of multi-drop, the M25 at rush hour and other such fuel-guzzling activities.

All the same, the results were remarkable – the Vauxhall Vivaro’s class-winning result was an overall 55.25mpg over the entire course – a massive 60% above the Vivaro’s official combined fuel consumption figure of 34.4mpg. Participating vehicles also had to maintain an average speed of 30mph – so their progress was fairly realistic in terms of road speed.

Also competing was the Citroen Nemo, which took the title of “Britain’s Most Economical Van”, beating all other light commercial vehicles with an overall consumption figure of 75.8mpg – more than 20% above the Nemo’s official combined figure.

What this highlights is how big an effect the driver of a van has on its fuel consumption. Sure, real world factors like load, multi-drop, traffic and routing restrictions mean that results like this won’t be achieved by working vans – but worthwhile improvements should still be possible, especially for vehicles on longer-distance work.

I’m going to have to try and squeeze more than 35mpg out of my Transit…