Honda aces MPG challenge | Motoring Issues - Car News Oct 2018

13:57 Tuesday 23 Oct 2018

Honda are celebrating a hat-trick of titles at the 2018 MPG Marathon.

The two-day eco-driving event tests the real world fuel economy of participating vehicles, with Honda models victorious in three categories.

Overall winner was the Honda Civic hatchback, which also topped the best percentage improvement on MPG category, while the heritage category was won by a 17-year-old Honda Insight.
The Civic 1.6 i-DTEC hatchback recorded 87.53mpg over the 331 miles covered, a figure of 8.5% better than its officially-quoted combined NEDC figure of 80.7mpg. Meanwhile, the 2001 Insight covered 360 miles at 84.8mpg.

The route covered a number of waypoints across Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Shropshire, Northants and Warwickshire, starting and ending at the Marriott Forest of Arden Hotel near Coventry, which participants tasked to find the most economical route within a strict time limit.

Alex Grant, editor of event organisers Fleet World, said, “This year's event took place against a backdrop of rising fuel prices and the transition to a new, more realistic, economy test. So the cost of filling a tank, and the distance it can take you, is as high on the agenda as it was when the first MPG Marathon took place amid the fuel protests in 2000. Both cars performed exceptionally well despite tough conditions on both days, building on Honda’s consistently strong results in recent years – for its petrol and diesel engines. It proves that Hondas old and new can still set high benchmarks for the competition, no matter what the journey throws your way."