The world's most fuel efficient couple, John and Helen Taylor, have broken the
current world record for
lowest fuel consumption across the 48 contiguous United States averaging 58.82 miles to the gallon. They ended their 20 day trip in West Virginia on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008. To help them break the world record, they drove the all-new, 50-state-compliant clean diesel
Volkswagen Jetta TDI, fueled by Shell Ultra Low Sulfur diesel fuel under real world driving conditions, simply applying easy to use fuel saving tips and the latest efficient engine technology available for good clean diesel fun.
"We are very excited and grateful to have broken the current
Guinness World Record for lowest fuel consumption across the 48 contiguous United States," said Helen Taylor. "We would like to thank Volkswagen for providing us their new clean diesel Jetta that helped us get another
World Record and to Shell for supplying the diesel fuel."
The previous Guinness World Record for the lowest fuel consumption on a nationwide drive was 51.58 miles per gallon and the Taylors broke it by setting a new record of 58.82 miles per gallon, a whopping 14 percent improvement. In 20 days, driving across 48 states the Taylors drove 9,419 miles, exceeding 60 mpg on several legs of the record-setting run, spending only 6.9 cents per mile (total was $653).
"The terrain was very diverse, the weather less than ideal, and the traffic heavy at rush hour and the VW Jetta TDI handled it all beautifully, showing its fuel efficiency and its fun-to-drive dynamic capability, just two of this vehicle's many attributes," said John Taylor. "The car efficiently helped us to drive to a
fuel economy world record."
People were encouraged to e-mail the Taylors along the way at: fuelacademy @ gmail.com with any questions they may have about the tour, the vehicle or about fuel economy tips and join their "Fan" page on Facebook.com. As of the end of the trip, more than 2,000 people have e-mailed the Taylors.
Approximately 12 official check-in and refueling stops across the country were included throughout the duration of the drive. The couple drove on a counter-clockwise route passing through: Washington D.C.; New York City, Rutland, Vermont; Toledo, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa; Spearfish, S.D.; Missoula, Mont.; Winnemucca, Nev.; Santa Monica, Calif.; Durango, Colo.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Mount Vernon, Ill.; Ponchatoula, La.; and, Beckley, W.V. Some of the fuel saving tips the Taylors advocate include: avoiding idling and higher speeds, minimizing vehicle drag and performing regular vehicle maintenance.
The Taylors have made a 26-year career out of driving economically and conducting workshops globally on fuel-efficient driving techniques. They have collected 82 world fuel economy and vehicle-related records from drives around the globe in Australia, Asia, South Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America.
Source:
World Amazing Records
Joe Harmon, a designer from North Carolina, decided last year he was going to build the first supercar of the world with a body entirely made of wood. His idea was to first present the car at the 2008 IWF (International Woodworking Fair) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Named Splinter, the car would have a mid-mounted 4.6-litre V8 NorthStar engine able to produce 600 bhp for the rear wheels, with the help of two Roots superchargers and would weight something below 1,200 kg. For the ones that did not believe the idea, the car was at IWF:
