The European equivalent of a U.S. West Coast-to-East Coast journey is the Transeurasia expedition: a 9630-mile trip that begins in Portugal and ends on the Pacific side of Russia. The Transeurasia trip is the world’s longest west-to-east route on one continent and now, Matthias Gottenauer and Andreas Renz can claim they are the quickest to complete the run. The pair has entered the Guinness Book of Records as the first duo to finish the route in a timed fashion, tracked by GPS, and by default, Gottenauer and Renz currently hold the fastest completion time of 8 days, 13 hours, and 30 minutes.Gottenauer and Renz made their way through Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia in a Volkswagen Caddy Maxi van. Equipped with a diesel power source and Volkswagen’s 4Motion, the people-mover handled itself capably over the 9630-mile trip, which included over 3000 miles of poorly-maintained Russian roads.
“The Caddy’s comfort, reliability, and robust construction made it the third member of our team,” said Renz. Co-driver Gottenauer added: “The fact that we completed this difficult route in record time speaks volumes for Volkswagen’s reliability.”On straight averages, the Maxi traveled nearly 1125 miles per day at a speed of 47 mph. Now all the van needs is a good car wash.
Source: Volkswagen U.K.