{"id":2460,"date":"2011-10-15T06:00:39","date_gmt":"2011-10-15T06:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/?p=2460"},"modified":"2011-10-14T16:45:24","modified_gmt":"2011-10-14T16:45:24","slug":"renault-trafic-manages-59mpg-in-mpg-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/archives\/2460","title":{"rendered":"Renault Trafic & Ford Transit Manage 59mpg in MPG Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Renault

Honest boss, I can get 59mpg in one of these...<\/p><\/div>\n

I don’t know about you, but I am pretty happy if I can get more than 37mpg in my Transit. My all-time (loaded) record is 42mpg, obtained after driving all day at a cruising speed of 50mph on quiet roads (it was in Norway).<\/p>\n

However, when placed alongside the winners of the recent\u00a0ALD Automotive\/Shell FuelSave MPG Marathon<\/a>, I look like a lead-footed boy racer. Contestants had to complete a time-limited 372-mile course over two days. Each driver had two goals – getting the best possible mpg and scoring the biggest improvement over their vehicle’s official combined mpg figure.<\/p>\n

The team that achieved the best overall percentage improvement in the LCV category managed to squeeze 59.11mpg out of a standard Renault Trafic – a massive 54.73% better than the van’s official combined mpg figure of 38.2mpg, which is fairly realistic.<\/p>\n

Ford also did well in the van categories, with a 2.2l 100PS Transit Econetic achieving 59mpg and Transits emerging as the overall winners in both the 2,800kg and 3,500kg categories.<\/p>\n

The small vans entering the competition showed that 70mpg+ fuel consumption figures are not just for cars, scoring some impressive results – although not all managed to beat their manufacturers’ official figures:<\/p>\n