A British couple set a record after driving around the world on 24 tanks of gas.

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John and Helen Taylor set out from London on Jan. 17 in a Volkswagen Golf FSI 1.6. They returned Tuesday after crossing 25 countries and driving 18,001 miles using Shell FuelStretch driving principles.

The couple's feat earned them a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for their impressive fuel efficiency -- 52.3 miles per gallon. They are also the first winners of the Shell Fuel Efficiency Challenge.

The Taylors shared the driving, averaging 14 hours per day behind the wheel. They had to deal with bitterly cold weather in Greece, sand storms and heat in Australia and terrible roads in Pakistan. In North America, where they had modern highways, they averaged 58 miles to a gallon.

When they set out, estimates were that they would have to refill the gas tank 50 times. But their driving proved to be far more efficient, and, in the end, the trip only consumed 344 gallons of gas.