Ford Focus RS driven 360 miles while maintaining 32.05 mpg during UK MPG Marathon

Jeremy Walton today further proved the obvious, if you know how to actually drive efficiently you will achieve higher fuel efficiency. He did this during this year’s UK MPG Marathon where he drove a Ford Focus RS for 360-miles while maintaining a 32.05 mpg US rating.

To put this into perspective, the Ford Focus RS is rated in the US for just 25.1 mpg meaning Walton achieved 6.95 mpg higher than the factory rating.

Moral of the story: ease up on the pedal, you’ll save gas.

Press release after the break.

via autobloggreen

FORD FOCUS RS EXCEEDS 38MPG

BRENTWOOD, Essex, 05 October 2009 – Ford’s fastest-ever European production car, the 163mph Focus RS, added a surprising new figure to its remarkable performance statistics – an average fuel consumption of 38.5mpg.

This impressive result, one of the best in its class, was officially recorded during the UK’s seventh annual MPG Marathon, which finished this week.

This frugal driving challenge is judged by the improvement in economy over official, manufacturer-supplied figures. The 2.5-litre, 305PS Ford Focus RS used just nine gallons of fuel to cover the competition’s 360 miles, bettering the car’s quoted 30.1mpg combined fuel consumption figure by 28 per cent.

At the wheel for the duration of the two-day event was automotive writer Jeremy Walton, who covered the varied route at regular road speeds, guided by co-driver Alyson Marlow. Jeremy said: “This is the fastest RS road car yet, but also the most efficient. This shows that, with a bit of restraint, you can use an efficient, high-performance car in daily driving, without enormous fuel bills.”

Ford Team RS powertrain manager, Len Urwin, led the team that developed the Focus RS engine. He said: “Focus RS was designed throughout to appeal to the heart and the head. This result shows how successful we’ve been, both in making Focus RS a practical day-to-day car – as well as continuing the 40-year RS tradition of exciting, high performance.”

More than half of the UK’s Ford Focus RS allocation has already been sold, with each priced at £26,395 on-the-road.

Note: Fuel economy figures quoted are in UK mpg, based on the European Fuel Economy Directive EU 80/1268/EEC and will differ from fuel economy drive cycle results in other regions of the world.