Diesel Endurance
Driving from Utrecht to Istanbul without refueling and still having enough fuel left to explore the area by car for a day. It sounds like madness, but in theory it is possible. This is proven by none other than a rally champion with a Skoda Superb.
If Miko Marczyk is good at one thing, it’s driving dangerously fast on winding forest roads in a rally car. The European rally champion is also very good at something else: fuel-efficient driving. With a Skoda Superb, the speedster covered a distance of no less than 2,831 kilometers. Without refueling!
About 2,800 kilometers on a single tank. This means that, in theory, you could drive from Utrecht to Istanbul in Turkey (2,634 kilometers) and still have about 170 kilometers left in the tank to explore the area. As you might guess, the Skoda Superb that the Polish driver touched extremely modestly with his right foot was a diesel. Specifically, a 150 hp and 360 Nm strong Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI with DSG, in the absolute base trim Essence. It sits on modest 16-inch alloy wheels, which is naturally better for fuel consumption than 18- or 19-inch shoes. It records an average combined consumption of 4.8 l/100 km, with a tank capacity of 66 liters. For clarity: the Superb is not available with diesel engines in the Netherlands.
Miko Marczyk managed to achieve an average consumption of just 2.61 l/100 km. A small caveat: the Superb in question is equipped with Sportline springs and thus sits 1.5 centimeters closer to the asphalt than a regular Superb 2.0 TDI in base trim. The car was also fitted with low rolling resistance tires, and they were already broken-in. Marczyk maintained a speed of around 80 km/h and, of course, drove the car in Eco mode. So it wasn’t a normal drive. “If the road leading to a toll booth even slightly inclined, I would let the car coast from a great distance until I reached the barrier,” said the Pole. Marczyk is not entirely satisfied yet: he is already considering an attempt to squeeze 3,000 kilometers out of one tank.