Beating all expectations after 12,700 miles
John and Helen Taylor have just embarked on the US leg of their epic round the world driving challenge, and have made extraordinary progress. After arriving in Auckland, New Zealand, they’ve used just 206 gallons of fuel and travelled 12,700 miles. That’s an average of 61.6 miles per gallon. With 4350miles of motoring to come across America, the possibility is that they could make it in 35 fill ups or less of the standard vehicle’s 12.1 gallon tank. The manufacturer’s official consumption figure is 40.4 miles per gallon which they’re breaking by over 50%.
What is all the more remarkable is that they’ve achieved these figures while driving through some extreme weather conditions. In Australia, they’ve endured temperatures of 46 degrees while driving through the outback, as well as experiencing flash floods, being hit by freak winds, and even driven through wind storms. And after the flat plains of Australia came the mountainous fuel-consuming roads of New Zealand. Yet they have come through it unscathed, and still pushing all expectations of the fuel’s efficiency.
On January 17th, John and Helen, with a five-strong support crew, set out from London to circumnavigate the globe to set a new record in the Shell Fuel Economy World Record Challenge. For the trip to qualify as an official ‘Round the World’ record, they are required to cover 18,001 miles in total. The aim was to use less than 50 tanks of Shell fuel, but as they have achieved extraordinary fuel efficiency performance, the target went down to 40 tanks or less and, now, been lowered again to 35 tanks or less due to their phenomenal performance. “We’re over a third of the way now. I’m confident that our ‘around the world in 50 tanks’ tag could now be beaten. With things going the way they are, we could be talking about fewer than 35. But let’s not count chickens!” says John.
The Taylors approached Shell to back the mission. For the company, it offered a golden opportunity to undertake the ultimate road test of a new fuel formula, which has been specifically designed to deliver greater fuel efficiency. It is also an opportunity to demonstrate the company’s economy-driving tips which they are now promoting really do work for drivers in ordinary cars.
But for now, the Taylors are focused on the American leg of their great adventure.
They’ll follow a route, which will take them through Los Angeles, the desert landscape of Arizona, and the Windy City of Chicago, and then up into Canada, before finally flying out from New York City. On 27 Mar, they will start into the home straight which takes them from Portugal, into Spain, and back through France. Finally, Team Taylor will enter the UK again and once back, will conclude their journey in Central London.
To view day by day images from the journey and keep abreast of the Taylor’s adventure visit: fuelchallenge.com
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to win 2,500 litres of Shell fuel by playing “Guess the Gauge” on the website. See website for terms and conditions and country eligibility varies according to local promotion law.
* gallon stated in here is based on UK measurement
