A Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust team completed what many thought would be impossible; to drive a Jaguar XJ from John O'Groats, Scotland to Lands End, Cornwall on one tank of fuel (843.2 miles). And, better than that, at journey's end there was enough diesel left in the team's XJ TDVi for them to turn around and reach the 1000 mile mark before the tank finally ran dry!

After setting off from John O'Groats at 2.40pm on Saturday 18 March having topped the XJ's 18.7 gallon (85-litre) tank to the brim, the team never returned an average fuel consumption figure of less than 50.6mpg. By 8.40 the following morning on arrival at Lands End (18 hours later), the overall consumption figure achieved was an incredible 53.5mpg.

With well over 17,000 miles on the clock at the start of the journey, the XJ TDVi used for the trip was certainly well run in, but it was completely standard in every respect and was even a fully-loaded example complete with sat-nav, CD auto-changer, Premium Sound and rear DVD screens.

Rolling road tests before the challenge revealed that a cruising speed of 60mph (approximately 100km/h), where possible, gave the best balance of fuel economy and safety with regard to other traffic, but well implemented 'economy' tactics enabled the team to achieve the incredible fuel economy figures. Average speed was 43mph.

When the XJ's 2.7-litre V6 twin-turbo engine sipped its last drop of diesel and finally stopped running, the trip meter showed an incredible 1000.2 miles.

Issued by:
Todd Hallenbeck
Public Affairs Manager
Jaguar Australia
(02) 9020-1613
0412-259-635