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june 25, 2015 - Honda Auto

Honda’s GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title attempt for fuel efficiency heads towards the finish line

Honda’s quest to set a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for fuel efficiency is heading towards the finish line, as the team continues towards Aalst, Belgium, where it hopes to complete the title attempt this Thursday, 25th June.

Upon arrival in Aalst the team will have driven almost 14,000km across all 24 contiguous EU countries in 25 days, aiming to further demonstrate the impressive real-world fuel economy of the Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC.

Behind the wheel of the Civic Tourer for every kilometre of the journey have been two members of Honda’s European Research & Development (R&D) team, Fergal McGrath and Julian Warren, who set out on Monday 1st June, navigating the continent in a clockwise direction.

Fergal McGrath comments: “This has been an incredible adventure so far and while it’s been a challenge we’ve really enjoyed it. We’ve still got a bit of work to do, but it’s great to see the finish line in sight, and we’re enjoying our final few days on the road.”

The official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title is ‘Lowest Fuel Consumption – all 24 contiguous EU countries’, measured in litres per 100km and miles per gallon calculated over the entire journey. Under the rules the same two drivers must be in the car for every kilometre of the journey, giving Fergal and Julian, Honda R&D colleagues of some 18 years and based in the UK, the challenge of driving an average of approximately 600km, taking around 7.5 hours, each day.

The GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title attempt comes on the back of several independent tests which have proven Honda’s 1.6 i-DTEC engine to consistently out-perform its quoted fuel efficiency in real-world driving conditions. Keen to once again underline this performance and in the challenging spirit for which the brand is famed, Honda aims to set a benchmark with a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title never before attempted in Europe.

Based on strict and rigorous guidelines, the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title attempt requires the car to enter each of the 24 countries specified, collecting a range of evidence including a fuel/mileage logbook, GPS readings, video and photographs and independent witness signatures to prove that it has done so.

To ensure accurate monitoring of the route, journey time and distance driven, the record car has been fitted with a tracking device, provided by fleet telematics and stolen vehicle recovery expert, TRACKER (part of the Tantalum Corporation).

The car which attempts the record must be a standard model in every respect, with no modifications to give an advantage. This will be judged by an independent witness at the beginning and end of the record attempt. Additionally the car can only travel by road, therefore the route does not extend to the UK, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta, which make up the remainder of the 28 EU countries. In order to ensure no unfair advantage by reducing weight, the tank of the car must be filled to the maximum at each fuel stop.

Following their arrival back in the UK the team will collate all of the evidence collected on their epic drive, before submitting it to GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS for adjudication.

The 24 countries which have been covered in the route, in alphabetical order, are as follows: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Follow the final days of Honda’s record attempt and get involved at #RealFuelChallenge