IN THE NEWS : Trip covers 18,000 miles in 24 fill-ups
LONDON - A British couple set a new world record Tuesday
after driving around the world on only 24 tanks of gas.
John and Helen Taylor set out from London on January 17
in a Volkswagen Golf FSI 1.6. They returned Tuesday morning
after crossing 25 countries and driving 18,001 miles using
Shell FuelStretch driving principles. The couple's feat
earned them a place in the Guinness Book of World Records
for their impressive fuel efficiency -- 52.3 miles per
gallon. They are also the first winners of the Shell Fuel
Efficiency Challenge. The Taylors shared the driving,
averaging 14 hours per day behind the wheel. They had to
deal with bitterly cold weather in Greece, sand storms and
heat in Australia and terrible roads in Pakistan. In North
America, where they had modern highways, they averaged 58
miles to a gallon. When they set out, estimates were that
they would have to refill the gas tank 50 times. But their
driving proved to be far more efficient, and in the end,
the trip only consumed 344 gallons of gas.
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