Replying to my own post. Shame, shame.
BUT! Those who read it, got a breaking story before the U.S. rags about Audi doing Mileage tests and challenges here in the RED and BLUE territories.
And here is more:
AutoWeek's Michael Taylor and Greg Kable are checking in from the second part of the marathon.
Somewhere along the line, the Audi Mileage Marathon has turned out to be a lot more than just achieving good diesel mileage in new Audis. It started in Memphis, Tenn., where the mischievous AutoWeek crew of Greg Kable and I walked into dinner with the Elvis glasses, complete with sideburns. It continued in Dallas, and last night in Amarillo, Texas, it got out of hand.
We visited a massive country and western outfitter for boots, shirts and belts to accompany the hats. That impressed some others, who did the same, including one of them buying a hat so big he could put a pole in the middle of it and shade his family on the beach. Then the Germans got into the spirit with lederhosen, which drew some confused looks from the Amarillo locals.
It put a fun seal on an intriguing day and a difficult one in which to stretch the miles. It doesn’t look like it on the map, but the road from Dallas to Amarillo climbs the best part of 3,000 feet.
The satellite navigation struggled to find us for a while, coming out of Dallas littered with the remnants of the warm-up for a college football game. But driving at low speeds to give it a chance to calibrate meant we had good economy right from the start. And all the while, we managed to keep rolling while others stopped and started at the lights.
Almost immediately, there were long, slow climbs and gentle, soft descents and it set a theme that continued for more than 400 miles. At lunch, we’d edged the Q5 up to 38.9 mpg and 59 mph, but it took some doing. On our car, they might as well put a speed limiter in at 1,800 rpm, because we’re not pushing past that. Instead, we’re leaving the engine to work in its torque band, which peaks at 1,500 rpm and stays there forever.
That torque allows you to use the softest of throttle openings, even when you’re accelerating gently uphill.
It’s not dull out here, though. It’s beautiful, rich country, full of rolling hills, long horizons and tough people. The Texas speed limits are more rigidly adhered to than anywhere else we’ve been (except Ohio), and you have a nation blessed with some superbly skilled truck drivers. Watching these guys maintain their speed up hills and negotiate small town traffic lights without hitting the red lights is to watch people well-versed in their craft.
Hard work, but it gave us 35.3 mpg at an average speed of 57 mph, to win the Q5 class again, and for AutoWeek, six consecutive wins in the economy stakes here.
It was a close, though, with the Swiss crew of Michael Baumann an Susanne Roeder getting on top of their game to post 34.7 mpg.
In the bigger, heavier Q7 SUVs, Kevin Kelly and Jim McCraw continued their winning ways with 29.5 mpg and 62 mph. Royal Ford and Thomas Kamla squeezed 40.6 mpg from the diesel A4, and Gunter Schiele and Tanja Lehner eked an incredible 48.4 mpg at 60 mph out of the smaller A3 TDI.
With just one leg to go, from Amarillo to Denver, we’ll be trying everything we know to make it seven.
This article was last updated on: 10/12/08, 13:17 et
