Old model Prius set a Guinness world record

Toyota’s “Prius”, the top selling car in Japan at the moment, is well-known for its energy-efficiency. There was a challenge drive recently to see how far it can go without refuelling.

The car used was not a new ZVW30 but an old NHW20. The fuel tank on the ZVW30 is the same 45L as the old NHW20. However, the tank on the ZVW30 can only put exactly 45L but if you keep filling up the tank on the NHW20 by giving it a tilt and fill it to the “limit”, it can contain 58L. So they decided to use a NHW20 because of the greater capacity of the tank.

They also chose Daikanbo (Aso City, Kumamoto Prefecture / 969m above sea level), the highest peak of Mt Aso’s outer rim of the crater as the starting point. This was to use the approximately 10km downslope to earn more mileage. Of course, even after getting down to the flat area, they set the course so that they could keep the speed at 40km/h without annoying other drivers on the road and with the appropriate use of breaks they could hoard up the regenerative energy . For the Guinness Book of Records, there are some strict rules such as using a loop or a round-trip course would not be counted; so they had to set a course without breaking the rules but was effective for fuel efficiency.

Seven different drivers drove the 2000km course which went through 7 Prefectures in Kyushu and they were aiming to renew the old record of 2348.3km. When they started, the weather was cloudy but was not looking too bad. However, on the second day, the worst downpour of rain on record hit the north of Kyushu. With quite a few road closures and lane closures, they had to change the route a few times. After more bad weather followed and more course changes, on the 6th day, the last day of the challenge, they recorded 2349km. They kept going on the National Route and stopped near the border of Izumi City, Kagoshima Prefecture and Minamata City, Kumamoto Prefecture with the record of 2369.4km. The time they finished the challenge was 1:35am, in the middle of the night, the time it took was 63 hours and 35 minutes and the fuel efficiency was 39.9km/L. This record will be sent to the Guinness Book of Records and is expected to be approved by this autumn.

Well, it was a challenge we can really see the incredible fuel efficiency of the Prius. At the moment it is a 9 month wait even if you order one today and it will not be in time for the Eco-car Supplement which ends in March 2010; the government asked Toyota to increase production. Does Prius have a Guinness World Record not only in fuel efficiency but also for sales as well?


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