The final word now (I promise) on last Saturday’s RAC’s Future Car Challenge. Last week we told you that Toyota was holding a ‘Nations Challenge’ as part of its entry into the energy efficiency challenge from Brighton to London (see story).
Well now the results are in and its the home team that walk away with the honour of achieving the best fuel efficiency results from one of the eight identical Auris hybrids entered in the event. The England A team car driven by What Car? journalist Matt Sanger achieving an average 72.8mpg over the 60-mile route, making it not just the winner of Toyota’s challenge but was also the best among all the hybrid electric passenger cars taking part in the first RAC Future Car Challenge.
In fact all eight teams, which represented the four countries of the UK (two teams each for country; England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) beat the car’s official fuel efficiency figure of 70.6mpg on a combined cycle. Drawing on the traditional rivalry between the nation’s home countries, the first English team were followed in second place by the England B car (driven by Dawn Tennant and David Grant), the Northern Ireland A in the third place (driven by Pat Burns and Colette Burn). In last place, rather shamefully, came the two Scottish teams.
The car maker’s newest hybrid model was joined by the prototype FCHV-adv hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, which is based on its Highlander SUV model. It is the first time the vehicle has been seen in the UK, and following extensive testing, the car maker plans to bring it to the market in 2015.
