When I met Andrew Andersz, his head was buried deep in a heavyweight book of Sudoku puzzles — but we had come to talk about an altogether more down-to-earth set of figures.

These were figures which affect virtually all of us and more importantly what all of us can do to improve on them — that is how to get the maximum distance out of a litre of fuel.

For Andersz, a former senior motoring public relations figure who has worked across the world for brands as varied as Fiat and Ford, Vauxhall and Hummer, Cadillac and Corvette, is also a master of economy motoring.

As specialist economy drivers strive to top the magical 100mpg barrier, we met to find out how a few simple techniques can help us all to squeeze significantly more miles out of every gallon of increasingly expensive fuel.

“To drive economically, you don’t have to drive slowly — you have to drive intelligently.”

Andersz’s passion for economy driving started 40 years ago and he is frank about what drew him into his pursuit for higher miles per gallon.

He said: “I am competitive and would love to have competed in motorsport, but I simply could not afford it. “Back in the 1970s, I competed in an economy event and finished second to motoring journalist Stuart Bladon, at the time the acknowledged master of economy driving, and I got the bug.”

Since 2008, Andersz, who is now PR director for JJ Marketing at Little Baldon, has contested an annual mileage marathon organised by Fleet World magazine. He won the event in 2008 and has also finished fourth and second since.

This year he competed in a Toyota Yaris Hybrid with motoring journalist Alyson Marlow as co-driver with the aim of breaking the 90mpg barrier.

The competitive streak exhibited during the two-day, 380-mile event, run through Wales and the West Midlands, leads to some extreme tactics.

He said: “I always drive just with a sock on my right foot as it is much easier to feel the action of the accelerator. We do not use anything that would draw any power from the engine, so no radio and no fan. I also carry a stock of towels to wipe down the windows rather than use the demister.

“We never open the windows as that affects the aerodynamics, so on hot days when we come to traffic lights we swing open the front doors to allow the hot air to escape before carrying on.

“People must wonder what is going on and I agree that some of this is a bit extreme but there are lots of things that everyone could do every day of the week that would help them save serious amounts of fuel and money.

“It is the simple things. You have to look ahead, anticipate what is coming up and avoid sharp braking and acceleration.

“For instance if you see a set of traffic lights 100 yards ahead on red, don’t step on the brakes with ten yards to go; ease off gradually and they might have changed by the time you reach them.

“At roundabouts you very rarely have to stop. Nothing is going to come from the left so keep your eyes on the traffic from the right and if it is clear you can seamlessly move on to the roundabout. To be honest it is mostly common sense,” he said. “Rather than accelerating harshly, let the car build up momentum. You would be amazed how much fuel you can save from travelling at 65mph on a motorway rather than at 75mph. Try it on a long journey, you will be really surprised at the results.

“I drive a diesel Skoda Octavia day to day, which is a decent-sized saloon and just by applying a few of these techniques I can manage about 60mpg with little effort. But you can also achieve greatly increased economy with petrol cars too.

“And if you have a set of roof bars and a roof box and you are not using them, take them off. They may be aerodynamically designed but they still cause drag and that uses fuel.”

As a final test, I drove the borrowed Toyota Yaris petrol-electric hybrid out of a congested Witney on a Saturday morning along the A40 to Burford and out on the twisting, country roads towards Stow-on-the-Wold. I drove normally, neither faster nor slower than I normally would, and at the halfway point, where we changed drivers, I had managed, according to the onboard computer, just over 51mpg.

Andersz took over on the return journey and though the trip took no longer and we held up no traffic, he recorded an impressive 75.5mpg.

Whatever the result of this year’s mileage marathon, you can count on Andrew Andersz to be back again next year to try to improve on those figures once again.