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Mike Kamm
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Re: AMEC Economy Run thread
Excellent!
I'm excited to get the next event planned, as my B210's now lowered and will sport a set of aerodynamic 13" Moon discs next time out.
70 mpg or bust! 
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5/10/2009, 7:55 am
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itjstagame
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Re: AMEC Economy Run thread
Mark did they have any more of those? Another side projected I'd been thinking about was picking up some gauges like that (big sweep for only a few " of mg) and running vacuum tubes to various corners of my exteriour body.
Someone did this on gassavers.org and use it to tell which aerodynamic changes did good or bad at what speed. Really cool idea I thought.
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5/11/2009, 4:31 pm
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Mark Long
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Re: AMEC Economy Run thread
quote:
itjstagame wrote:
Mark did they have any more of those?
They had 3 more.
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5/12/2009, 5:16 am
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Lug Nut
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Re: AMEC Economy Run thread
quote:
Lugnut, what kind of car do you drive and any mods? Was just curious seems you're throwing down great numbers. I hate I can't seem to get much past 50 in my Festiva but I don't really drive super slow either.
I have a 2005 Passat TDI wagon. 'Modifications' to the car from original stock are factory upgrades to more durable components: steel glow plugs replacing ceramic tipped glow plugs, geared drive for the balance shafts replacing failure prone chain drive, and a set of Jetta alloy wheels replacing the Passat alloys, same size and offset, just a better appearance IMHO. I increase the tires' cold pressure to the maximum sidewall listed limit of 51 psi, from the more common 38~34 psi I use for daily use, but that is my only concession to competition preparations.
For competitions such as this MY modifications list runs from head to toe. Thinking in my head about how much and when I want to move my right toes.
I don't get 65~70 mpg regularly, because I don't choose to drive as if I'm competing at all times. My average for the 11 months I've had this car is just under 38 mpg. Still better than the revised EPA combined of 26.
My other Passat wagon is a 1997, formerly VR6, now TDI powered, so the modifications to that one are also factory components only. That one has been taken over by my wife for her own use, but because it's lighter, lower, slightly smaller frontal area, manual transmission, and has a smaller less powerful engine than the '05, does even better in fuel competitions. The engine and transmission returned 77 mpg over a 500+ mile route in 2005 when they were in the 1996 Passat wagon. The car was 'totaled' in an accident in 2006. I bought it back for the engine and transmission and swapped them into the '97 that I used to drive. Now I have to ask permission to drive my old car...
I have some thoughts about fueling and scoring for fuel economy competitions. I've written them up and am reviewing them to develop loopholes to them, and then re-writing the proposal to close these loopholes. I've been doing competitive runs for fuel economy since 2001, and have some ideas that I think can easily be incorporated to more accurately determine true fuel / energy consumption.
When I think I've shut these back doors I'll submit these ideas to the people that have run the recent competitions in which I've participated for their input and commentary.
Last edited by Lug Nut, 5/14/2009, 7:20 am
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Cogito Ergo Soy
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5/14/2009, 7:05 am
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Mike Kamm
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Re: AMEC Economy Run thread
Thanks very much for the update Jonathan. And here I thought I was the only one changing engines for better fuel economy. Swapping from a gas engine to a diesel is a lot work!
We very much look forward to your ideas regaring fuel usage measurement for future events!
Mike
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5/14/2009, 5:58 pm
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itjstagame
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Re: AMEC Economy Run thread
So how are we looking for a date? I have plenty of other mods I'd like to do to the Festiva, but we could just do multiple runs :-).
Basically just asking because sometimes I don't get to check the board for a week or 2 and don't want to miss a short notice from you or something. Also my next 2-3 or 4 weeks are crazy with end of semester and family stuff but I'll find time somewhere.
Although the hotter the weather we may turn in better numbers as a group, we'll just have to have a pool party after.
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5/19/2009, 4:26 pm
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Mike Kamm
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Re: AMEC Economy Run thread
I need to get in touch with Mark and make a decision. I am thinking July or August.
I'm almost afraid to pick a date because whatever date we pick, there will be a few that say "Oh no, I have a wedding/graduation/picnic/vacation/clam bake,golf tournament/yard sale/boat cruise/dirt race that day. 
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5/19/2009, 5:32 pm
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Mike Kamm
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Re: AMEC Economy Run thread
An update and correction on a statement I made earlier. At our first Economy Run event last August, I added the above grill blocks to my Protege and reported that my car did not run any hotter at all. I was mistaken. This was before I owned a Scan Gauge unit to monitor the actual engine temp [digitally] as opposed to believing my stock gauge. As some of you may know, stock temperature gauges are frequently designed to appear rock steady during driving, making the owner feel that his car is very reliable. When that needle reaches the center of it's range, the engine could be 150 degrees all the way to 215 or so! In other words, unless the car is really overheating, you'll never know exactly what's really going on.
This past weekend I made the same grill blocks out of choroplast and reinstalled them before a trip to southern NJ. This time though, I could see what my actual engine temps were with the Scan Gauge unit. My car normally runs at 195 degrees. With the grill blocks back in place, I got on the Thruway and the temp went right to 205 and kept slowly climbing until 213 deg, at which point I decided that was high enough and pulled over to widen the lower grill block a little. I didn't have to peel back the lower grill block much to get temps under control, maybe 2 inches on each side. I don't mind 200 to 205 or so, as a hotter engine burns the fuel more completely. So here's what I ended up with.
As an additional note, I now know that my electric cooling fan comes on at 206 degrees. Obviously if you're interested in best mileage you don't want your cooling fan to come on at any other time than when you're stuck in traffic. It represents an increased electrical draw on the charging system and raises fuel consumption. Generally it should never have to come on when you're moving. With my grill blocks in place, mine was probably on the entire time during last August's Economy Run!
So how did my grill blocks do on my round trip to NJ this weekend? Well in addition to my new moon disc wheel covers and folding in both side view mirrors, I finally broke 40 mpg [41.87 actual] with my automatic equipped Protege DX. That's almost 10 mpg more than the car is rated for. I like that. 
Last edited by Mike Kamm, 6/5/2009, 5:40 pm
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6/3/2009, 9:52 pm
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Mark Long
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Re: AMEC Economy Run thread
Thanks for the detailed update.
On your 40 MPG run to NJ, how much hypermiling did you do? Where you in the way of other drivers?
I have been watching the mileage of my fleet lately. My Wife gets 10-15 percent worse mileage than I do even though my average speed is a bit higher. She "dances" on the gas and brake pedals. She will get behind someone on the thruway and follow them even if their speed is erratic. Also she does not time redlights.
She stopped driving with me in the car a long time ago unless it is an emergency.
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6/4/2009, 10:08 am
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