We're not sure if you know this, but there's a world champion in economy driving out there and his name is Gerhard Plattner. He's the kind of guy you'd want as a driver on your gas-guzzling car now that oil prices have hit the roof.

However, the Austrian champ has better things to do, like driving a Skoda Fabia GreenLine from Austria to Denmark and back on a single 45-liter (11.9 gallons US or 9.9 gallons UK) tank of diesel fuel. He covered a distance of 2,006 kilometers in a Skoda Fabia GreenLine without ever having to refuel the eco-friendly diesel car.

Plattner started his journey on May 10 in Reutte, Austria, reached Bov in Denmark and drove all the way back, travelling most of the distance on motorways. The 1.2-liter diesel engined Skoda averaged just 2.2 liters/100 km, which is equal to 106.4 mpg US and 127.8 mpg UK, on the 2,006-kilometer long journey. For the record, the official average fuel consumption of the Fabia GreenLine is 3.4 liters/100 km (69.2 mpg US or 83.1 mpg UK).

The refueling of the car, as well as Plattner's entire trip, were supervised by International Police Motor Corporation (IPMC) that also sealed the tank before the start of the challenge.

So how did he do it? We don't know, otherwise we would have been world champions in economy driving. And Plattner for sure is not willing to disclose his secrets. Here's all he had to say about this:

“With a fuel consumption well below the specified norm, I want to show that besides the car manufacturers, every driver can contribute to further reduce this environmental pollution. It already starts with small details such as the proper tire pressure." If only that was enough...

By Dan Mihalascu