Thread: Tri-State Fuel Economy Run 9-18-11

Fantastic work man! I would suggest you pick up a P10 for the CD of .30. It would have to be a very early P10 though for the lighter weight, or an NX2k

Agreed. In fact I used to have an NX1600 but sold it before I got interested in hypermiling. Should have kept that one!

I am going to go out and try to improve on my record one more time this year. In getting it ready I rewired the engine kill switch this past weekend. I was shutting off the ignition power transistor initially, but that did not work out very well. The hotter engine would after run or "diesel" when it was switched off after climbing a long hill. Cleary, the best way to do it is to shut off the power to the injectors so that's how I have it set up. Now it cuts off cleanly and no fuel is wasted waiting for it to shut off.

Here are few more pics as I was fabbing the bodywork.

I like the fact that you beat the Prius by 6mpg

Although the weather has cooled 30 or so degrees since the last event, [which works against best mileage] I am going out one more time this year and trying for another new record for the SR engine.

I am making no changes to my SE-R for Saturday, except for removing all of the E10 gasoline from it and switching to ethanol free gasoline. Although it used to be sold in three different stations here in the Capital district of NY, suddenly there are none. I had the presence of mind to bring gas cans with me last month when I went to Watkins Glen for the Vintage GP Festival. There is an ethanol free station in Montour Falls, just outside of Watkins Glen. I bought 15 gallons @ 4.09/gal. It is rated at 89 octane.

OK fine, but how do I know the gas I bought out there is really ethanol free? I didn't, so I bought a Fuel Testers ethanol test kit. Tonight I tested the fuel and was very pleased that it is 100% pure, the real deal. Then I tested the E10 that I drained out of my car and sure enough, it tested at just under 10% ethanol.



I am very pleased with the kit.

Dude I am so happy for you this is truly an achievement. Best of luck on the next run.

You may have to rock the ultimate combo eventually. NX preferably a hardtop or t-tops with plastic inserts. SR16VE and a 91-93 P10 gearbox.

Thanks Ben.

Oh man, imagine what I could do with that combo!

Mike

A few of us hard core hypermilers went back out yesterday for one more record setting attempt before winter. We drove our usual 120.9 mile loop through the southern Adirondacks in hopes of raising our prior personal bests. Let me start by saying the weather men were wrong as they were calling for no rain and temps in the upper 50's. But up in the mountains we had a wet mist requiring wipers at times. We were driving through wet roads with standing water, and trying to dodge the bigger puddles. It was quite cool up there as well, only in the upper 40's.



I was really hoping to break 80 mpg, but in the end I waited too long for this second attempt. It was almost 40 deg. cooler than it was at the Tri-State Fuel Economy Challenge event almost 6 weeks ago and it was wet. So the benefits of having ethanol free fuel this time out and using a more "fuel mileage friendly" course were in my estimation nullified by the wet roads and cool temps. I improved just a bit from 76.04 to 76.90 mpg.

Here are a few more pics I took yesterday:






Ken Snowman's wild looking boat tail equipped VW Jetta [gas engined] had a somewhat disappointing outing and got "only" 57 mpg.


It's hard to see in this picture, but the fuel level is right to the top of the flapper. This is the fill and refill point I use. The others were using the clicking off method which I believe is less accurate. I like to be able to "see" the fuel level during the before and after fills, and am glad I have an older car and can top off like this without causing any EVAP problems.

On my way home I decided to see what I could get driving the car "normally", or what some would call "real world" driving. So without any engine off coasting or pulsing and gliding, I simply cruised at a steady 50 mph on the NY Thruway for 30 miles.



I was able to get 50 mpg. Not bad for a two liter Sentra.

Too bad you didn't get that record over 80mpg.

Holy mother of... that Jetta is ugly. I don't really like them to begin with but it looks like an aardvark and quite frankly the ass end.

hey have you put a lowport cam in the car yet?

One of the Ecomodder guys was nice enough to photoshop a side view picture of my car to check it's profile against the "ideal" aerodynamic template.



They said it was very good for an "eyeball job". I didn't measure any angles when I designed and built it all. I just went with what looked right. The bottom side is spot on, but the top of the rear diffuser panel could be radiused somewhat and raised a bit to make it perfect.