Peugeot 308 gets 71.92 mpg in MPG Marathon
This past week's MPG Marathon proved once again that, with a few technical improvements and careful driving, average vehicles can get some pretty impressive mileage figures. We saw a Chevy Captiva 1.6-litre HDi 110hp SE 308 bested its own published figures by almost 20 percent to reach 71.92 mpg. Before the race, Peugeot was saying the 308 would get upwards of 60 mpg, but didn't hype it further than that.
For it's performance, the Peugeot 308 was named the most economical family-sized car in the 2007 MPG Marathon. With a wink, Peugeot says, "The car finished sixth overall, only just behind other smaller and less powerful cars." So take that, you little winners.
Full press release after the jump.
Gallery: Peugeot 308 HDi
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Peugeot 308: The Economical Marathon Runner
- 308 1.6-litre HDi 110hp SE returns 71.92mpg on 2007 MPG Marathon
- Improvement of 20% on Peugeot's published MPG figures
- 308 1.6-litre HDi range offers CO2 emissions from just 120g/km
Entered in 1.6-litre HDi 110hp SE guise, the French manufacturer's newest model returned an impressive 71.92mpg over the 330 mile challenging route to and from Basingstoke and Torquay, with a 19.67% improvement over Peugeot's published figures. The car finished sixth overall, only just behind other smaller and less powerful cars.
Peugeot's 308 ran exclusively on Michelin's new Energy Saving tyres, included as standard for all 1.6-litre HDi 90 and HDi 110 versions fitted with both 15" and 16" wheels. They reduce rolling resistance and provide a CO2 reduction of up to 4g/km or around one tonne of CO2 during the life of the vehicle.
Experienced MPG Marathon entrants, John Dalton and David Adams were at the wheel, as the 308 triumphed over its class rivals including: the Audi A3 2.0TDi, Kia cee'd 1.6D and Seat Leon FR TDI.
The annual MPG Marathon presents competitors with a variety of urban and extra-urban driving conditions, in an attempt to recreate circumstances faced each day by the average British motorist. The route provides a challenge for drivers to concentrate on reducing their fuel usage, thereby demonstrating the financial and environmental impact of what can be achieved by economical driving.
Commenting on the success John said, "Both David and I were extremely pleased with the performance of the 308. It proved to be a highly economical family car, and certainly on my part, surpassed expectations. This car demonstrates that you do not need to compromise on size or practicality when looking to reduce your environmental impact."
Peugeot's 308 HDi range has CO2 emissions from just 120g/km (1.6-litre HDi 90 Urban and S models from £11,995) with a published fuel economy of up to 62.77mpg on the official Combined Cycle – but the MPG Marathon result shows that it is possible to achieve even more than that.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nik 3:00PM (11/14/2009)
72mpg sounds unbelievable. I have a diesel 308 1.6 FAP (110bhp manual). I do a 100mile commute five times a week. Do motorway at the speed limit of 70mph and only get 50.3mpg with an average speed of 40mph. This article lacks a lot of information to justify their claims. In comparison, my sister in germany drives a 2 litre TDI Audi A6 to a similar commuting distance She does 90mph on the autobahn and gets 55mpg! Also the Peugeot diesel engines use a 'wet' method of diesel filtration in their FAP engines, which costs £30 a litre to top up - a very costly way to help the environment!
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Karkus 4:23PM (10/09/2007)
That's nice. I tried to find a complete list of participants/results couldn't. The MPG Marathon site look nice but is a big pain to use and doesn't seem to contain much info. Anyone have a better source of info on this ?
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Phil L. 4:50PM (10/09/2007)
Does anyone know what they consider a "family size" car?
I'm pleased that this competition considers drivers who need to move a family. But my family includes 3 children, all still in car seats. Does this competition include specifications of how many LATCH child safety seat positions (a.k.a ISOFIX in Europe) are in the vehicle?
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psarhjinian 2:22AM (10/10/2007)
Well, the 308 is about the size of a Corolla, so there's not a lot of hope you'll get three LATCH seats into it.
You may not be able to get one rear-facing one installed and still have use of your front passenger seat, if the rear-facing seat is properly installed (read: 1" of clearance between the front seat and the child seat's top edge). If you want to manage that feat, you'll want something like the three-row spacewagons, of which the Mazda5 and Kia Rondo are the only available in North America--and neither with a particularly efficient powerplant.
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Val 3:56AM (10/10/2007)
http://www.carpages.co.uk/peugeot/peugeot-308-29-08-07.asp
"The Peugeot 308 provides high levels of child safety with three Isofix child seat mountings to ensure child safety seats are attached directly to the vehicle structure. All mountings are of the latest three point design and are available on the front passenger seat and the two outer rear seats."
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Tim Russell 10:55AM (10/10/2007)
Thanks for finding that info Val but I don't think you can mount a child seat on the front seats in the US except for some pickup trucks which have a airbag defeat switch (be great to have that for the mother-in-law :-) But I digress). To get 2 adults and 3 childen in a vehicle in the US means a minivan. Even a larger sedan like a Ford Taurus gives you 2 usable LATCH positions. If you could use the the front seat where does the wife in the trunk? Can she safely wedge between the 2 rear child seats?
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mike 7:56PM (10/10/2007)
U.S. Availability?
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Phil L. 8:31PM (10/10/2007)
I'm kind of surprised they put an ISOFIX position in the front row. I know of now US vehicle (except for pickups with override switches, as noted above) with LATCH positions in the front row.
For a size comparison, note that the current US Accord has 3 sets of seat belts in the rear row - but only 2 LATCH positions.
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paulwesterberg 3:10PM (10/11/2007)
The population in most European countries has been leveling off in recent years. This is likely due to a premium on property and living space in most cities and a well educated population(including sex ed). In Ireland they used to heavily restrict access to birth control, they started changing the laws in 1985 and now the economy of Ireland is going gangbusters because they have an abundance of young skilled workers in relation to the number of elderly and school age children.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condom#Republic_of_Ireland
I would guess that in most of Europe it is rare for a family to have more than 2 children.
This would be a great car for the 90% of the US population, including many smaller families, for daily commuting with 1-4 people. Great gas mileage, sporty looks, usable interior space.
It looks like it ups the bar for hybrid vehicles.
The batteries are still NIMH so it is still a little heavy. With lithium batteries it could prob get another 5-10mpg.
I would buy one of these in a second if I could get one stateside.
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David 10:49PM (1/19/2008)
I'm very much looking forward to the Peugeot 308 being released in Australia... no news yet that I know of but I've found some more pictures at sites like http://www.mypeugeot308.com/ and it looks slick, especially in silver!
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