Mustang Gets 48.5 MPG Goin' the Distance

A Ford Mustang with a V-6 under the hood and a NASCAR driver at the wheel averaged 48.5 mpg as it completed more than 1,000 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway. Ford’s been making a big deal out of the V-6 Mustang, because it’s the first car to deliver more than 300 horsepower and more than […]

A Ford Mustang with a V-6 under the hood and a NASCAR driver at the wheel averaged 48.5 mpg as it completed more than 1,000 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Ford's been making a big deal out of the V-6 Mustang, because it's the first car to deliver more than 300 horsepower and more than 30 mpg. Eager to show off its fuel economy -- 19 city, 31 highway and 23 combined -- Ford sent a bone stock pony car, NASCAR driver David Ragan and four engineers to Bristol, Tennessee, on Wednesday. The goal was to run 1,000 laps (533 miles) on a single tank.

They did that and more.

By the time the tank ran dry, the team had finished 1,457 laps (776.5 miles) of the half-mile circuit in 17 hours and 40 minutes. That came to 48.5 mpg. Ragan passed the 1,000 lap mark at 7:26 p.m. Eastern, 12 hours and 26 minutes into the run.

"We still had a quarter of a tank of gas left," Ragan, who typically spends his time lapping tracks in the No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing, said. "The last driving stint before I passed 1,000 laps I was averaging 43.7 miles a gallon and that is unbelievable."

Mustang engineer Seong Park was at the wheel when the car finally rolled to a stop on the back straight at 12:41 a.m. Eastern.

The drivers, who did one hour stints, didn't reach very far into the hypermiling bag of tricks. They minimized the use of air conditioning (yes, they used the AC). Have you been to Tennessee in the summer? -- maintained a steady pace, kept the RPMs low and avoided sudden starts and stops. Sounds like they got the car up to speed and kept it there.

"This is beyond our wildest dreams," said Tom Barnes, lead engineer for the challenge. "It was great when we went past the 1,000-lap mark with David, but nobody could ever imagine that we still had five hours ahead of us. This is a fantastic feeling."

Their average speed was 43.9 mph, a pace few who buy Mustangs are likely to embrace. Makes you wonder what it woulda done in real-world conditions.

UPDATED 6:45 p.m.: We got the average speed.

Photo: Paul Webb / Ford. Mustang engineer Jonathan Mehl prepares for his first stint.

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