Think you've gotta drive a boring econobox or a hybrid to get decent fuel economy? Nope. A British moto-journalist took top honors in a fuel-economy challenge behind the wheel of a -- get this -- Corvette Z06 with a monstrous 7-liter engine. Journalist Richard Hammond (no, not that Richard Hammond ) took hypermiling to a new level during the two-day, 411-mile MPG Marathon , achieving an impressive 30.96 miles per Imperial gallon (that's 25.77 U.S. mpg). Although that was well short of the 84.66 mpIg (70.48 U.S. mpg) reached by the guy in a Toyota Yaris, it was enough for a win. Huh? All told, 80 drivers and navigators flogged a fleet provided by 22 automakers from around the world, taking the cars on a grueling loop around Britain on a quest to see how many miles they could wring from every gallon of petrol and how much they could improve the manufacturers' claimed fuel economy. PR man and occasional rally driver Andrew Andersz took first place in the overall fuel economy category when he got 84.66 mpIg in a 1.5-liter Yaris, boosting Toyota's estimated mpg by 31.81 percent. But Hammond took the prize for overall improvement when he boosted the Vette's claim of 19.2 mpIg (15.99 U.S. mpg) by 61.26 percent. "Driving economically is possible in whatever car you own," says Ross Durkin, who organized the MPG Marathon. "All it takes is consideration of prevailing road conditions and an educated approach to how you drive your car. The C ...
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Think you've gotta drive a boring econobox or a hybrid to get decent fuel economy? Nope. A British moto-journalist took top honors in a fuel-economy challenge behind the wheel of a -- get this -- Corvette Z06 with a monstrous 7-liter engine. Journalist Richard Hammond (no, not that Richard Hammond ) took hypermiling to a new level during the two-day, 411-mile MPG Marathon , achieving an impressive 30.96 miles per Imperial gallon (that's 25.77 U.S. mpg). Although that was well short of the 84.66 mpIg (70.48 U.S. mpg) reached by the guy in a Toyota Yaris, it was enough for a win. Huh? All told, 80 drivers and navigators flogged a fleet provided by 22 automakers from around the world, taking the cars on a grueling loop around Britain on a quest to see how many miles they could wring from every gallon of petrol and how much they could improve the manufacturers' claimed fuel economy. PR man and occasional rally driver Andrew Andersz took first place in the overall fuel economy category when he got 84.66 mpIg in a 1.5-liter Yaris, boosting Toyota's estimated mpg by 31.81 percent. But Hammond took the prize for overall improvement when he boosted the Vette's claim of 19.2 mpIg (15.99 U.S. mpg) by 61.26 percent. "Driving economically is possible in whatever car you own," says Ross Durkin, who organized the MPG Marathon. "All it takes is consideration of prevailing road conditions and an educated approach to how you drive your car. The C ...