You're a Record breaker!

Volkswagen's frugal Lupo 3L TDi has achieved a Guinness round-Britain World Economy Record.

The 1.2-litre 3-cylinder turbo direct-injection diesel car, crewed by a multi-national team, left the south coast town of Brighton on a demanding 3,500-mile clockwise journey around the UK coastline on June 28 and crossed the finish line at the same Sussex resort on July 5, taking a photocall close to Brighton's Palace Pier.

Whilst travelling in Scotland, the car checked in at the most northerly town in mainland Britain, John O'Groat's, and spent the early hours negotiating single-track roads and twisty highways down through Inverness, at the northern end of Loch Ness, to Elgin. A condition of the challenge rules was that the car must follow coastal roads at all times rather than take the most economical route.

The car then refuelled at the Esso filling station in Montrose in preparation for the final 1,000-mile leg of its journey

The provisional overall fuel consumption figure for the journey was 2.46 litres per 100km, or 114.8mpg. The existing record for the most frugal circumnavigation of Britain by a standard production diesel-engined car stands at 103.01mpg.

After the record attempt, team leader Dr Shigeru Miyano was delighted with the result: �I had been hoping for around 113mpg, so it is very pleasing to have beaten my own target. The Lupo has performed very well and we have had no problems during the economy run.

Drivers taking part in the challenge came from around the globe, including Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, France and Britain. One of the two women involved was Amanda McLaren, daughter of McLaren Grand Prix team founder Bruce McLaren.

Sent in by Pete Frost

all Volkswagen communications and photos reproduced with permission of Volkswagen UK