anyone see the USA top gear fuel economy challenge yesterday?

[JBG3]

I watched some of it, until I became annoyed with those three guys and changed the channel. 

Premise was 700 miles from portland WA to san francisco CA on one tank.  Featured a BMW, a passat TDI, and a ford truck. 

Im curious if anyone caught the end, who won?
Im convinced I could do it in my 1.6 NA. 

Some people on the forum out in that area should try it

[bbob203]

I 100 peecent have gone over 700 miles on a tank.

[8v-of-fury]

55L I presume bbob?

4.92L/100km Fully achievable. If you stayed constant highway cruise for an entire tank full I see no issue getting over 700 miles.

fwiw, the TDI Passat has like a 70L tank.. if it couldn't do over 700 miles.. something was wrong with it.

[CRSMP5]

tdi passat... sedan ~18gal... wagon +20gal... ive put over 20 gal in my wagon a few times... done 800miles per tank too.. not a tdi.. just 1.6td...

[8v-of-fury]

tdi passat... sedan ~18gal... wagon +20gal... ive put over 20 gal in my wagon a few times... done 800miles per tank too.. not a tdi.. just 1.6td...

Right, so the TDI should be able to do 920miles (~15% better) easily.

[theman53]

I have done 700 miles in mixed driving with a/c on 90% of the time in the 85F or higher heat in my 01 TDI with over 200,000 miles on it. I can't get 13 gallons in it either.

[bbob203]

15 gallon tank in my ride. So a Tdi with a 20 gallon tank would get over 900 a fill up? holy smokes just one more reason to get busy making mine.

[8v-of-fury]

900 miles on 20 gallon is 45mpg. Pretty easily obtainable. I only have a 10gal in my 84.. so I am limited to only getting 510-530 miles from a tank.

[burn_your_money]

Sounds like a pretty lame contest.

I don't know much about tank sizes on 18 wheelers, but empty I'd be surprised if one of them couldn't complete the challenge. 

[8v-of-fury]

Sounds like a pretty lame contest.

tank sizes on 18 wheelers

They come in three sizes: 100 gallons, 150 gallons and 200 gallons.

[burn_your_money]

At 8mpg that sounds pretty easy

[8v-of-fury]

I dunno if they get 8mpg though.. Maybe empty.. maybe.

[burn_your_money]

This thread
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-300275.html
states that 5-7 is common and 8 is very achievable.

[8v-of-fury]

"A new, full-aero 18-wheeler tractor-trailer at 40 tons will get close to 12 miles per gallon on level ground at highway speeds."

Wow.. I never knew they were able to do this.. but that industry has come SO far in the last 10 years alone.

[EcoTX]

"A new, full-aero 18-wheeler tractor-trailer at 40 tons will get close to 12 miles per gallon on level ground at highway speeds."

Wow.. I never knew they were able to do this.. but that industry has come SO far in the last 10 years alone.

The only time I saw a lot of these trucks being used I was out driving in west Texas a lot.  Makes sense.