Fuel efficiency is one of the motoring industry's favorite phrases. The more fuel efficient a car is the easier it is to market, especially when it's not limited to base versions. Of late we've been seeing manufacturers getting themselves in hot water after it was revealed that the way they calculated the miles per gallon figures are a bit strange making for real word results that are a far cry from what the claims are. There are certain models out there that are light on fuel on purpose, sacrificing power for mileage, and there are accidentally frugal cars too.

The new Ford Mustang is all about power and performance. If you want to save on fuel bills you'd need to skip the 5.0-liter V8 and get yourself an EcoBoost model, unless you're England's Andrew Marriott and Andy Dawson. This duo decided that logic and physics are there to be messed with and so they entered a V8 Ford Mustang into the annual MPG marathon. The event takes cars over a long 430 mile "real world" course that ensures the cars get used like anyone else who owns one would. The V8 Mustang is claimed by Ford to return consumption figures of 16 mpg in a city scenario and 25 mpg out on the open road, while the 2.3-liter twin-turbo 4-pot EcoBoost is claimed to do 21 mpg in the city and 32 mpg on the highway.

These Brits must have some magic running through their right feet because when they pressure the accelerator to make the car go forward, they have such a light touch that they managed to drive their V8 Mustang to the top of the field in the economy run. Their car returned figures of 36.6 mpg, some 75% more than the car's official combined consumption according to Cars UK. It's not mentioned how the team managed to get this right, but we imagine a lot of tailgating and plenty use of neutral on downhills. So there's proof that a V8 Mustang can in fact be fuel efficient, an admittedly strange bragging right for the car. If you're getting similar mileage we suggest trading the car for a Volvo and a Cocker Spaniel.