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Posted by: Anthony Lim

A BMW 320d recently completed a record-breaking journey from the UK to Munich and back – on one tank of fuel.

Filled up at the Channel Tunnel, the 320d EfficientDynamics sedan, piloted by British motoring journalist Tom Ford, made it to Munich, then as far as Lille on the return leg – a staggering total of 1,013 miles (1,630km) on a single tank of fuel – before needing to be refuelled.

There was no use of efficient driving techniques such as coasting or driving deliberately slowly for the trip, though he did switch the air con and radio off as a concession to fuel saving.

Ford managed a reasonable pace for the journey, which Brit newspaper The Sunday Times ran the story on last weekend, and returned an official combined figure of 24.42km per litre (68.9mpg), with an average speed of 95kmh.

“I was prepared for this car to fail in the real world. I was wrong. Although I did try and be careful and drive in a feather-footed manner, I did cruise at a reasonable 105kmh on the autoroutes and autobahns, so it was faster than the usual economy run pace," Ford said.

“Think about it in the context of everyday motoring - comfortably more than 1,000 miles (1,600km) on one tank of diesel means just 12 fills a year for the average motorist – and even driven normally I still think you're looking at 700-800 miles (1,125-1,285km) per fill."