Filed under: Diesel, MPG, Audi, AutoblogGreen Exclusive
"Nice ons." "Fuel cut." "Surf drafting." There are certain phrases that, when you hear them, you know you've not at your average automotive event. In fact, the drive we're setting out on today is something that has never been done before: taking three 2014 Audi TDI vehicles - a Q5, an A7 and an A6 - from Los Angeles to New York in 48 hours while attempting to beat the vehicles' official EPA fuel economy numbers. It's going to be an interesting combination of careful green driving and non-stop movement.
Two years ago, we had our first serious lesson on hypermiling with world record holder Wayne Gerdes and the CleanMPG crew. That endeavor saw a heavily packed Ford F-150 get 30+ mpg coast to coast. This time around, there will be more people, more vehicles and more speed. Even our bathroom and refueling breaks will be timed because this is a big country and 48 hours is not a lot of time. This is why Gerdes, during his pre-drive pep talk last night, ran us through the items listed above, as well as how to use the paddle shifters to improve our fuel economy and a bunch of other tips.
For the record, the EPA says the three vehicles are capable of the following:
- 2014 A6 Quattro: 29 combined, 24 city and 38 highway
- 2014 A7 Quattro: 29 combined, 24 city and 38 highway (yes, the same as the A6)
- 2014 Q5: 27 combined, 24 city and 31 highway
Continue reading Audi TDI Truth in 48 drives us from LA to NYC in mpg efficiency run
Audi TDI Truth in 48 drives us from LA to NYC in mpg efficiency run originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 07 Sep 2013 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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