Comments on: DIY, 100 MPG Car is Back on the Road After 20 Year Hiatus

By: jamesskaar

jamesskaar — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:40:23 +0000

to gravity control… better, gasoline and diesel engines became popular for cars because of electric starters, the two competing technologies were steam and electric.
electric was dropped, few companies kept work on them, they slowly improved, when the oil crises hit it came back, and are now in a usable state, but far from super.
steam, was improved for cars many years after they lost the popularity war, they got to the point electrics are now, usable and safe, development continued with crackpots, but the technology could easily be revived and put gasoline cars to shame.

By: God

God — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:30:42 +0000

Hi Mobius,

There is a bit of a disconnect between USA and Europe with regard to what a sportscar is. USA thinks a sportscar is something that goes fast in a straight line, with power uber alles and a dismaying lack of interest in handling. While those crazy Europeans like to be able to turn as well as go fast.

A popular 15 year old Lotus Elise does 0-60mph in 5.8s, with just 118hp, while getting 50mpg with a clunky old 1.8 l engine and a drag coefficient CdA of 0.59m² and a rolling resistance of .01 it needs about 9kW (13hp) to keep the car moving at 60mph.

Nowadays that engine could be replaced by a 1.3l turbo diesel with more power (>90hp/l is common). And that diesel can have a BSFC of 200 g/kWh so 9kW needs 1.8kg =2.4l of fuel for 100km, which is exactly 99mpg at 60mph.

In reality the extra urban drive cycle speed is slower than that and so uses less fuel owing to less drag, but transmission friction sucks a bit of power too, so 100mpg would not be totally unrealistic for a turbodiesel Elise.

Using an 120hp 800cc turbo DI gasoline miller cycle would probably give 80-90mpg too.

A little bit of work on the car shape and this sportscar could well be over 100mpg.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:22:08 +0000

Anyone who thinks a diesel can not be a sports car is simply not thinking…
Hasn’t anyone seen a diesel F250 or F350 easilly outrun a fast sports car, for example, a corvette, lambourghini, ferrari.
It is easilly done.
My brother has a diesel F250 that outruns a corvette by about 2.3 seconds.

Next time you say that a diesel can not be a sporty vehicle. DO SOME RESEARCH.

By: Remembering 2008: Top 10 Blog Posts | Hypermiling, Fuel Economy, and EcoModding News - EcoModder.com

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:09:57 +0000

[...] DIY 100 mpg Car Hits the Road After 20 Years: It’s been over 20 years since it was first built but it’s still pulling down 100 mpg. [...]

By: Craig Henderson

Craig Henderson — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:47:13 +0000

The Avion did not average 100MPG It averaged 113.1 MPG! and I have over 30,000 miles on it and the car is over 25 years old.

By: Car Dude

Car Dude — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:48:33 +0000

Though I still find it hard to believe that this car can do 100MPG, I still think that the Avion looks cool.

By: Tony Rusi

Tony Rusi — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:38:15 +0000

The Avion gets 113 mpg in real world driving. If VW comes out with a 160 mpg that is only sold in Europe two years from now, well good luck with that. The big deal is that anyone anywhere can make 200 gallons of biodiesel with a home algae bioreactor for about a dollar a gallon. It is all about supply and demand. I think this is why OPEC is dying. An electric version would be even better. XP Vehicles is making an inflatable electric car. I predict that we will see one dollar gasoline for a very long time now! What a difference two weeks makes!

By: Meg

Meg — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:28:40 +0000

What a cool car! I would love to see one of those in my driveway!

Meg

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:06:20 +0000

Small correction: The 1-Liter-Auto is bound to achieve 238 MPG…

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:05:38 +0000

Seriously, I don’t get you Americans on that magic 100MPG number … The VW Lupo I used to drive (until some beginner crashed it) made 100 MPG in 1999, VW is about to release a car that actually does 160 MPG in 2010… (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_1-litre_car#Production_and_price)

By: Forex Exposed » Blog Archive » DIY, 100 MPG Car is Back on the Road After 20 Year Hiatus

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:00:15 +0000

[...] and proves it can be done. My guess is, these guys will be bought out and never heard from again.read more | digg [...]

By: will

will — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:34:48 +0000

@ daniel

From the same website:
In our testing the car we were able to achieve 80 mpg At 70 mph and an astonishing 114 mpg at 55 mph

By: John

John — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:26:03 +0000

No one designs sleek futuristic cars like this anymore. Why not? Why does everything nowadays have to be butt ugly?

By: Mobius

Mobius — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:20:59 +0000

“Built a 100MPG sprts car”. Sorry – WRONG.

Nothing that gets 100 MPG (especially a Diesel!) can be called a sports car.

What they created was something that looked like a 1960s sports car, with an amount of power that wouldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding.

Look, props to these guys for making a streamlined diesel vehicle go 100 mpg back in the day, but they would have had to work like the devil to get that mileage (it’s not worth it, working that hard) but we have to face facts:

1) You can buy diesel powered cars that are properly safe, properly warranteed and properly appointed that will already get 75mph – just not in the USA!

2) Their ride will dangerous as all get out: it’s probably made from toothpicks and firbeglass to keep the weight down. We know those cars kill people.

3) Slippery like that – no way you can bring a car to market like that. Marketing want to add holes and scoops and stuff like that.

4) You can’t have wheels like that sorry. The brakes will rapidly overheat with no air flowing through them – and you die when the brakes catastrophically stop working.

So, over all, a decent effort – just a completely impractical one. Leave the fuel efficient motors and lightweight cars to the brits and the Euros – they know what they’re doing.

By: sillygolem

sillygolem — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:46:48 +0000

@daniel: This version has a turbo 4-cylinder gas engine instead of the diesel.

Still impressive considering that was a formidable motor at the time. This motor got about 25mpg highway in the tiny Dodge Omni GLHS.

By: mgroves

mgroves — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:26:04 +0000

“No one thinks prices are going to drop again”

Is that so? What about the story I read today title, “Two-week gas price drop is biggest ever”?

By: John

John — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:11:31 +0000

No, the 40 MPG version had a Chrysler/Shelby 2.2L Turbo GASOLINE engine in it. The Mercedes diesel version broke 100 MPG. I bet they can do even better with today’s improved diesel technology.

…and please don’t tell Audi that “Disel is not a sports car.” They’ve been racing a diesel-powered Le Mans race car for a couple of years now with GREAT success.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/audis-diesel-race-car-too-fast-for-its-own-good.html

By: dan

dan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:21:16 +0000

Disel is not a sports car.

By: gravitycontrol.org

gravitycontrol.org — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:12:28 +0000

Why are we so reliant on the combustion engine? It’s one of the slowest evolving technologies, and we’re near the end of it as a means. Hybrids are a band aid solution. At least electric cars are a step in the right direction. Admirable feat mentioned, but isn’t it time to look at a new means of propulsion?

By: daniel

daniel — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:06:08 +0000

http://www.100mpgplus.com/technology/specifications.html

Turns out it ACTUALLY gets 40 mpg.