Fuel
economy stunts rarely make exciting viewing and this one was no exception. Honda
put its Insight hybrid up against a Jordan Honda EJ11 F1 car to see just how far
each would go on a measured amount of fuel. Top Gear presenter Jason Barlow was
there to provide witty BBC stylee repartee.
With Barlow at the wheel of the Insight, the two cars lined up on an
otherwise clear Silverstone start grid. Both the Insight petrol-electric hybrid
and the EJ11 F1 car were fuelled with 3.5 litres of petrol. That’s sufficient
for just one lap of Silverstone in the 4 mpg F1 car, but how far would the
Insight travel? There wasn't a spectator in sight to witness the historic yet
pointless challenge and we're not in the least bit surprised.
To cut a long and particularly dull story short, the Insight got 50mpg (a
long way off the 103mph that it's supposed to be capable of) and the F1 used
lots of fuel.