On Tue, 26 Nov 2013 05:50:35 -0800, whisky-dave wrote:

Don;t they usually 'fake' the stats by using cars without brakes or
proper clutches so they get the best figures for mpg amonst other
things

No.

I've heard they even take out all the seats except the drivers to get
the best result.

You've heard wrong.

They certainly don't test using real driving conditions such as on road
that aren't 100% straight woithout hills or dumps or stops at lights
etc...

Well, no, because that wouldn't be in any way reproducible.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vca/fcb/the-fu...ing-scheme.asp