Photo: Honda
There's a love affair going on between carmakers and records, but maybe this is a good thing for competition and because it surely is useful for future marketing goals. However, Honda plans to test their 1.6 i-DTEC engine in a quest that will take them through 24 European countries.
And by 'them' we mean two members of Honda’s European Research & Development (R&D) team. The pair volunteered to take up the challenge and will be driving on average 370 miles (595 km) per day, taking around 7.5 hours each behind the wheel.
Why would they want to embark on such a journey, you might ask? Well, Honda claims that the 1.6-liter i-DTEC unit consistently overperformed in the real-world fuel efficiency department in the Civic, Civic Tourer and CR-V models.
Which means someone had to test that and show it to the world, right? The team will start the trip from Aalst, Belgium on June 1, with a clear goal: returning to the starting point 25 days later, on the 25th of June after they had navigated the continent in clockwise direction and travelled 8,459 miles.
“We are very much looking forward to the record attempt, and while we’re excited we’re both a little nervous about the scale of the task that awaits us. A huge amount of planning has gone into taking on this challenge and we look forward to what we hope will be a successful result when we return to Brussels on June 25th. But we’ve got more than 170 hours behind the wheel to contend with first,” said Fergal McGrath, one of the drivers.
The two Honda employees will drive a Civic Tourer and will have to abide some strict rules: the record attempt requires the car to enter each of the 24 countries specified. Other than that, to ensure no unfair advantage by reducing weight, the tank of the car must be filled to the maximum at each fuel stop. All of the sudden, the fun aspect of a European roadtrip has faded away.
Why would they want to embark on such a journey, you might ask? Well, Honda claims that the 1.6-liter i-DTEC unit consistently overperformed in the real-world fuel efficiency department in the Civic, Civic Tourer and CR-V models.
Which means someone had to test that and show it to the world, right? The team will start the trip from Aalst, Belgium on June 1, with a clear goal: returning to the starting point 25 days later, on the 25th of June after they had navigated the continent in clockwise direction and travelled 8,459 miles.
“We are very much looking forward to the record attempt, and while we’re excited we’re both a little nervous about the scale of the task that awaits us. A huge amount of planning has gone into taking on this challenge and we look forward to what we hope will be a successful result when we return to Brussels on June 25th. But we’ve got more than 170 hours behind the wheel to contend with first,” said Fergal McGrath, one of the drivers.
The two Honda employees will drive a Civic Tourer and will have to abide some strict rules: the record attempt requires the car to enter each of the 24 countries specified. Other than that, to ensure no unfair advantage by reducing weight, the tank of the car must be filled to the maximum at each fuel stop. All of the sudden, the fun aspect of a European roadtrip has faded away.
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