It turns out the John Cooper Works MINI is capable of 50 mpg—if you drive it like it's made of Austrian Crystal. Auto Express entered one in the UK's annual MPG Marathon run by fleet specialist ALD Automotive, in an attempt to get the best fuel economy possible over a set route. With judicious control of the gas pedal, they scored a stellar 50.2 mpg average over 411 miles—a result that's not exactly replicable in the real world.

To whit: "Eking those extra miles out of our MINI JCW's tank was a piece of cake," the report said. "We simply had to drive like saints. For the first leg of the journey, we limited our speed to 40mph. We also shifted through the gears as fast as possible, keeping revs down to 2,000rpm or less, and freewheeled down anything that looked like a slope... In addition, [professional gauges] were used to check tyre pressures - a 10psi drop is said to hike consumption by 2.5 per cent. Plus, we ensured the air-con was off, to boost returns." Still, it's interesting to see what the car is capable of.