MPG rally in Washington is a conditional 'go'
 

I sent a one page document to the city of Lacey parks department that sponsors the annual energy fair. The board met Tuesday night and was interested in hearing more about the rally. :thumbup: The fair and rally is to take place in early May.

Basically it is a loop of about 100 miles where participants start/stop at the fair. Initial fill before the start and final fill within the last 2 miles of the finish, report gallons used and it is posted and ranked according to % over EPA combined ratings as well as raw MPG. It is done on the honor system so there are no prizes for top numbers, I hope to have some door prizes by sponsors though.

There is to be an educational element as well to explain what hypermiling is, explain the various terms used, and what the average Joe can do to get better mileage is his existing rig.

******If you all could spread the word that would be great.*********

I'm hoping to get at least 10 participants of gas, hybrids, diesels, maybe even motorcycles as well.

Beatr911, I was at the meeting and I'm excited about doing an economy run. Give me a call at 360-791-8376. Let's get together--I'll buy coffee. Time's flying.

Graeme
Lacey Mayor

Any update? I'm in Vancouver, WA, and would like to do it, if possible.

I'd be in for that. My car is stone-stock and not a likely choice for a hypermiler, but I'm consistently getting around 30% over EPA (2008 numbers). . . .which reminds me, I need to start updating that gaslog.

Apparently it's set to happen next Saturday, here's the web site.

It'd be interesting to hear any other details, like the route or exactly how we're supposed to register. But failing that, I guess you show up on the 3rd and wing it.

Hope you and others can make it!

Please be fueled up and present by 0900 to register (free) and hang around after to answer questions from the public (bring a chair) and talk with hypermile guru Wayne Gerdes. Goodie bags for all participants.

It's pretty informal. You will be given route directions, etc to run the course. Lacey, Ranier, Rochester, Oakville, McCleary, Shelton, Olympia, Lacey.

Hope to see you there!

The rally was a lot of fun! I've never been to the fair even though it's right next to where I work... the electric races and displays were very interesting. The goodie bag was impressive, and Wayne gave an interesting speech. I blew past the 106 mpg Insight, and arrived first at the start/stop line, although apparently it wasn't that sort of rally. :o

Unfortunately I didn't get a score because I only managed to put in .7 gallons on the way back. My car has always had problems accepting a consistent amount of gas each fill-up, and I've never really figured out why. But on the way home I stopped by the exact same pump I used to fill up at the start, and put in another 1.5 gallons, for a total of 2.25. I filled up the opposite way for the 3/4 gallon fill, so it must have been the angle of the pavement, however slight. I'll have to keep that in mind when I'm filling up in the future... maybe carry an angle gauge for a while until I figure it out.

Randy, I hope you can get this figured out for next year. I'd love to see what you can do!

Thanks for participating. Just having all 10 of you show and drive made this a real success. I've heard nothing negative about this event except for the bad reporting from KING 5 television, but that wasn't real news story anyway just sensationalization.

It'd be cool to meet Wayne, but less cool to try to compete against his Insight :-).

Sounds like a fun time.

Darn, I got my hopes up... :( I saw Washington and I assumed Washington, D.C. I would take a vehicle to a DC rally.

-Jay

Lacey Alternative Energy Fair
Saturday, May 2, 2009, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Huntamer Park in Woodland Square
For Information: Lacey Parks and Recreation, (360) 491-0857

2009 Lacey MPG Rally results!
We had just 5 participants this year, all but one are returning drivers from last year. The weather was about 55-60* and rain showers all day. We briefly could see the sun through the clouds for about 20 minutes after all the cars came in. Not the best conditions for great mileage, but in Washington State this is what we deal with about 9 months of the year.

Truly outstanding driving by all the drivers produced some very impressive numbers. Hey if they can do it in these poor conditions we all have something to learn.

The rally was run on the honor system, so fill-ups are done at a gas station of the drivers choosing within a mile or so of the start/finish, there are 5 stations. The course was 93 miles long consisting of mostly rural roads, about 10% freeway, and about 10% downtown city. There is a time limit, so drivers can't go too slow. Considering this, and the speeds are pretty optimal for good mileage figures the achieved mpg is compared to the '08 combined mileage figure for the vehicle to try to keep the field level. I should also mention that there is no prize for getting the best numbers. This is a "non-competitive event" to try to give everyone incentive to be honest, but we all know better. They all however, did a good job of keeping everything honest.

So, this is how it stacked up:
Mileage EPA %of EPA
Kim Yee 02 Saturn SL1 66.14 33.00 200.42%
Ty Karney 94 Integra GSR 50.69 27.00 187.74%
Roland Kouhsen 07 Civic EX 53.77 33.00 162.94%
Ed Miller 93 Metro 65.53 47.00 139.42%
Dan Wright 00 Golf TDI 60.45 45.00 134.33%

Kim smoked everyone last year as well, he has some mods but he is REALLY tuned into his car. He must have a port in the back of his head for the OBD-II to plug into, I just coudn't find it. He has adjustabel AF ratio, 11:1 compression, somender grooved head, gear mounted engine shut-off switch and a couple other minor mods, no aero mods though.

Ty did this on a lark. He works for the city of Lacey and thought it would be fun to give it a try. Boy did he ever! Very impressive. He has moved to the dark side now, and is officially addicted. His GSR is bone stock, and in mint condition.

Roland drove with his also hypermiling but this time navigating wife again this year. Big increase from last year I think he did 137% or so. Mods are cool removable foam grill blocks wrapped in paint color matching duct tape.

Ed drove his '93 stealth Metro. Ed is a car guy and a total Metro nut. His car looks deceptively stock and in unusually excellent condition. Then you notice the 14" wheels, lowering springs, anti-sway bars, better seats, Canadian turbo hood with scoop and Jacobs ignition. He also has an XFi cam, ecu and other hidden stuff. He routinely gets 55 mpg while commuting at 65 mph.

Dan Wright knows the TDI well. Last year he had the full complement of family and camping gear all wedged into the Golf, and did quite well despite it all. This year he arranged to have them stay at a relatives house in town. He was happy with the 60 mpg but more impressive is that he does almost as good in the real world daily drives. Easy 700 mile tanks are common for him.

THANK YOU to all who participated. Sorry no pix, I forgot the camera in my bleary-eyed dash out the door that morning. Next year I hope to see more even more drivers show the public that you don't just "get what you get" as far as MPG is concerned. Also we need SUV's and Pick-ups to drive!

If I could have been there in my pickup I would have. But instead I went up a mountain pass and burned 1/4 in 15 miles. I think I got somewhere around 5mpg on that trip. Not bad! :P