Audi Mileage Marathon: ABG wins Leg 1 with 29.4 mpg



Now that we are somewhere between Chicago and Salem, IL you might be wondering what the final tally was for the first wave of the our little cross country trek. My co-driver for the New York to Chicago run flew home last night and I'm now riding with Steve Ewing from Winding Road. Following the changeover dinner last night, the Audi staff released the points total for the trip so far and the top mileage number for any vehicle went to the A3 TDI that was in the car of the lovely and talented Denise McCluggage and Kate McLeod. They averaged 45.6 mpg and apparently weren't too concerned about hypermiling since they also had the highest average speed of 54.3 mph.

Among the A4 contingent, Yoshihiro Kimura and Michael Taylor averaged 41.4 mpg and 52.2 mph. Considering the A4 uses the same 3.0L V6 that is in the Q7 and Q5 with 240 hp and nearly 400 lb-ft of torque, that's a clear demonstration of what is possible in the real world without sacrificing performance. In the Q5s, Bertrand Bellois and Stephane Chevalier managed 36.2 mpg at 48.2 mph. Currently, though, only the Q7 TDI has been announced for U.S. sales starting early next year. Q7 #3, driven by Kelley Blue Book's Jason Allan and your humble correspondent, averaged 29.4 mpg over the four days to take the class victory. Stay tuned for wave 2.

Our travel and lodging for this media event was provided by the manufacturer.

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