krousdb & xcel win MPG rally at Tour de Sol
 

congrats to krousdb - he and xcel apparently won the tour de sol MPG rally in their borrowed honda insight!

a thread tracking their progress - from xcel's "practice" runs several days beforehand, right up to the end of the race - is up at cleanmpg:

https://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=725

is anybody surprised? ;)

I am not, though I was
 

I am not, though I was sposed to post this I basically forgot. Thanks though metro, I hope dan doesn't think I hate him now, :(

Good for him though. Go go gas mileage.

i was following it from the
 

i was following it from the beggining and i got to say, those two guys are truly the FE gods.

Inspiration indeed.

So they got 87.1 mpg in some
 

So they got 87.1 mpg in some rough weather! impressive.

So what did they win????
 

So what did they win????

'
 

There will be cash prizes awarded today, total pot is ten grand.

Congratulations out to Dan and Wayne for an impressive 1000 mile hypermiling run through really bad storms and high headwinds!

Sorry to take so long to
 

Sorry to take so long to reply to this thread. It has been a long week. For the Monte Carlo Rally (the drive in portion) we had 96.5 MPG. For the 200 mile High Efficiency run we had 87.8 MPG. They were weighted 30% and 70% respectivley so our combined average was 90.4. To qualify for a cash prize you had to beat 40% over the EPA combined for the car you were driving, in our case it was 88 MPG. We were the only team to qualify. The total 10k purse is split 5k for hybrids and 5k for alternative vehicles, biodiesel, EV, methane, etc.. Although we don't yet know how much we won, one judge thinks about 2k.

For more details, see the CleanMPG thread listed earlier in this post.

Oh. I forgot to mention
 

Oh. I forgot to mention that we also got a trophy that says "2006 Tour De Sol Grand Champions". We gave it to Bradlee Fons of the Milwaukee Hybrid Group. It was his car Insight that we borrowed.

Oh, and one more thing.... There were some really cool cars there. Wayne took pics and they will eventually be posted on CleanMPG. There was even an EV made of Coroplast! Cool!

There were also two
 

There were also two turbocharged Insights in the competition. Willie Williford from California and Jack Lee from Florida. Willie told me his turbo came from a Geo Metro Sprite? It bolted right on i think he said. He runs 5 lbs boost and the extra power helps him keep in lean burn mode at higher speeds. He normally drives at 70 MPH and is able to get 75MPG doing so.

One Insight had 85AH of additional PbA batteries and a pneumatically operated motorized 5th wheel that tucks under the car. It gives him true EV mode for creeping thru traffic etc.. He also has the MIMA mod (manual integrated motor assist).

All three of these modded Insights were in the low to mid 70's MPG for the competition. I think modding an Insight is counterproductive from an FE perspective, but I see how it could be fun.

That's very interesting
 

That's very interesting about the turbo. Very impressive numbers for that rate of speed, if only he'd drive slower, :p

Re: There were also two
 

probably a chev sprint 1.0 turbo. yet another suzukiclone variant.

wow! that's the first confirmed sighting of such a beast in the wild. i've heard dozens of people talking about building such a thing (5th wheel electric assist), but never actually seen it done. did you or wayne get any more info/photos?

Re: There were also two
 

Wayne took lots of pictures. I don't know if he got the 5th wheel. It is hard to see since it is under the car.

Sounds like this rally was a
 

Sounds like this rally was a lot of fun. I keep thinking I should advertise a "just for fun" mpg rally in my town and see how many takers I get.

i just had a read at
 

i just had a read at cleanmpg - the e-5th wheel was in mike dabrowski's car (a photo of which is posted with a "CURTIS" logo sticker on the side - likely the motor controller in use).

this is VERY interesting indeed, since he's also the MIMA inventor. i'll be watching for updates on that.

Re: i just had a read at
 

Yes, the pics are in the gallery section. Here is my favorite... made of coroplast!

https://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/534/cat/516

Lots of biodiesels also.

Re: There were also two
 

I found a photo of the 5th wheel here.

https://www.priusownersgroup.com/?page_id=1133

Very neat! What exactly is
 

Very neat! What exactly is MIMA by the way? I started to read a thread about it on insightcentral, but I still couldn't find a general definition for what it is.

thanks, dan. i'm really
 

thanks, dan.

i'm really looking forward to finding out more about this as info becomes available.

wait a sec - it's already available:

https://99mpg.com/TheBestHybridmix/

Re: Very neat! What exactly is
 

99mpg.com is the owner's site. you'll find all you want to know about it there.

Very cool - ultimate
 

Very cool - ultimate control. It actually makes me want an Insight...

Aren't hybrids exempt from
 

Aren't hybrids exempt from smog checks???
If they are you can buy an insight, take out the 1.0 liter with the IMA system, swap in a 2.0 liter, turbocharge it and you won't have to worry about smog. Unless of course you get pulled over by a cop and get a fix it ticket for the 2.0, turbo, and etc.

Re: Aren't hybrids exempt from
 

Hybrids are NOT exempt in Allegheny County, PA. Just one county to the north, Butler County requires only a safety check for all vehicles. There is no smog check for any vehicle in Butler County.

Quote:Aren't hybrids exempt
 

I don't see why they would be exempt from smog checks...

And your idea is very old and taken. Several years ago the FWD 1/4 speed record was set by an insight with a k20, and the time was something like 9.97.

Did that Insight still have
 

Did that Insight still have any of its hybrid drive intact? If so, I'm interested in its fuel economy.

The hybrid system was
 

The hybrid system was intact. The additional 85AH was connected in parallel to the hybrid battery. The MIMA allowed him to use the power on demand but the 400+ pounds of weight seemed to hurt more than it helped. The combined mileage was in the 70's and that doesn't count the recharge.

I think he was talking about
 

I think he was talking about the one I mentioned, and no, it had nothing close to it. It's hard enough to stuff a k20 in there let along a turbo and all the other **** prolly on the thing.

A 9.97 sec car and 70mpg, is that what I'm reading?

No, if you looked at my thread directly above yours, you would see that I said we were speaking about two different cars. And even if it were still a hybrid, hybrid doesn't automatically equal 70mpg, it could be a hybrid getting 10mpg...

true. I was just asking if it was true. GM can screw anything up, their hybrid truck gets 22mpg ROFLMFAO

wow. shooting from the hip again! Of course it still gets low mpg- its a WORK truck. But 10, 15, 20% is still just that. GM never ever said anything about aiming for great mpg. Just 'better' and- far more importantly to those who buy trucks becasue they need them- with far more capability. Like functioning as its own generator so you don't need to fill your bed with one.

Hmm. Makes a lot of sense. Build a more efficient work truck for those who use work trucks. Go figger.

It's kind of like what I was telling someone recently. My Durango went from the EPA rating of 18-19 to 22 under my watch. 22 is not great but it is 20%+ increase.
Matt- Thanks for changing my avatar!

remember gonavy over here people are younger, let him have his fun ;)

i must admit, it was a useless attempt on GM on thier part. Go big or go home since the extra cost for the system was totally not worth it why couldn't they do something that was done for the green VUE in the first place? Then we wouldn't have waited so long for an affordable hybrid.

I find it rare to see people using their trucks as inverters though, I'm sure an extension cord from elsewhere is just as handy.

What is this shooting from the hip thing???? Do you even own a gun?

3mpg+ can be gained by just inflating the tires right and some aero stuff. I wouldn't even spend $2000+ to gain 3mpg, it's ludachris.

GM is more focused on fuel cells than hybrids. Maybe they should just stick to something they know.

I don't care it's a work truck. If it can't do it's job then it will not be bought. GM is not doing anything new. GM is too old fashined. They need to kick the geezers out and get some fresh blood in there.