I'm definitely going to do this. Yep, 1000 miles on a single tank of diesel in a VW Golf BlueMotion.

That's because just one number in an army of numbers saying 'no' is saying 'maybe', after 11 hours and 19 minutes on the road today.

After 569.8 miles, the indicated range remaining shows 195 miles and the fuel gauge is showing just three eighths of a tank. These are bad. 

The good one comes from the fact we managed to fill up the tank with 27 litres of BP Ultimate diesel this morning when the tank was showing just above where it is now.

So if in a 50 litre tank we can get as far as we have on 27 litres and a bit, why not the remaining 430 miles on the remaining 23 litres and whatever is left in the fuel lines? See, I told you this wasn't necessarily scientific...

The theme of the day has been rain, rain and more rain. This has no doubt impacted our economy, which has still posted a more than respectable 83.3mpg at close of play in pursuit of the 88.3mpg official figure. We've averaged 51mph.

Deep down, I'm expecting to out with around 50 miles to go, beating the Leon I wanted to beat by 25 miles but still falling short of the magic 1000 miles.

If VW, in switching from the PQ35 platform to MQB, had only kept the old 55-litre tank instead of adopting a new 50-litre one (the car is lighter so you'll need less fuel) then I'd be inviting you to join me for a toast at Oxford Services tomorrow afternoon for the 1000-mile homecoming...