Article: Two decades later, Bellingham man puts 100 mpg car back on the road

[wumpus]

Originally Posted by bbjsw10

And they say technology has advanced. Looks super slippery.

At roughly the same time (maybe 85 or 86), I remember that the Epcot (GM?) exhibit included a 200mpg "car" called the "lean machine". Actually, it was more like a fully faired (and enclosed) motorcycle (thus the "leaning" nomenclature) and resembled the 100l more than anything else.

I don't think they said a word about safety (this is Disney, remember).

[MetroMPG]

Link to video from whence the screen shot came at the top of this thread:

Project Green | KVUE.com | Multimedia

...which contains a morsel of info (and a shot under the hood) to help identify that engine: it's a 3 cylinder.

[hypermiler01]

Originally Posted by 1.5Ldave

A car from 84 doesnt have to meet modern safety standards.

ANY one-off, non-production, home-built vehicle does not have to be crash tested.

[MetroMPG]

Update from the Avion website: they took the car out on Saturday to see if they could beat their previous best of 103 mpg... and surprise, are claiming 113 mpg / 2.1 L/100 km on a trip on I-5 from the Canadian border through WA to the Oregon border.

This time, he started at the Canadian border (Bellingham Wa.) at 7:25 morning of October 11 and ending at the Oregon border at Fort Vancouver at 1:00. Henderson traveled 263.1 miles and used 2.326 gallons of diesel averaging 113.1 miles per gallon, even getting stuck twice in Seattle traffic. (source)

That's an average speed of 48 mph / 77 km/h which is pretty impressive in my books.

[basjoos]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

He'd do well to stick in the 899 (?) cc diesel from the previous gen smart fortwo if he's going for ultimate mileage. Of course that does nothing for the emissions/safety regs.

In one of their videos, he mentions that the transmission currently in the Avion is the semi-automatic from the fourtwo and that the engine is a 3 cylinder Mercedes diesel (which sounds a lot like the diesel from the fourtwo).

[MetroMPG]

Ah, good catch. Mystery solved then.

It would undoubtedly have better performance than the fortwo (0-60 in 19 seconds) because (a) it's slightly lighter, and (b) obviously better aero.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

It seems like they might do a bit of further design development -- the panel to reveal the headlights seems outdated, for example. Some small projector-type head lights with flush covers would do the trick. And, it is a very long car, for the fairly cramped two seat interior. And the tires rub the fenders (check the video with the radio guy.)

http://www.100mpgplus.com/video/index.html

[MetroMPG]

Considering it's an aerodynamic 2 seater based on smart fortwo running gear, it's more or less the same as this car:



Oh, and coincidentally, the builders of this one also claim 113 mpg (US). MetroMPG miscellany - MetroMPG.com

[The Toecutter]

The gasoline version of the car that used a 4-cylinder engine from a 1980s era Audi only achieved 40 mpg combined. It could reach a top speed of 135 mph and accelerate from 0-60 mph in under 6 seconds. It had a 0.27 drag coefficient and a curb weight of only 1,500 lbs.

Sources:

Avion. (1985). Rocket on wheels: Experimental car set world record for fuel. Retrieved August 6, 2007, from Avion -Experimental car set world record for fuel


That being said, I could not find information on how the acceleration and top speed of the diesel versions. A 0.27 Cd is okay, but a lot of improvement could be made, allowing for substantial gains. If it had a 0.20 or lower with a reference area of under 16 ft^2, it would have absolutely no problem achieving 80+ mpg with the current, more stringent EPA cycle. And if it is the 3-cylinder diesel used in the Smart(it was specified that the engine was a 3-cyl Mercedes diesel, which I interpreted that to mean that this is an updated version of the car with a new engine 799 cc engine from a Smart; Mercedes didn't make 3-cylinder diesels in the 1980s for cars as far as I know), even the paltry 54 horsepower would still allow 0-60 mph in 15 seconds and a top speed in excess of 130 mph if the car had the gearing for it and the low drag proposed in this paragraph. That's acceptable performance, even if the acceleration might be a bit slow... a bit of turbo and injector pump work could double that and turn it into a rocket without harming efficiency.

In the event that it actually is a 240D engine, I would have doubts that it could achieve the fuel economy claimed on the recent record.

[MetroMPG]

The owners of the Avion are planning to try to best their previous 103.7 mpg (US) Guinness record-setting trip from the US/Canada border to the US/Mexico border.

24 years after drive that shattered fuel-efficiency record, WWU alum back on the road - Top Stories - bellinghamherald.com

The only obvious change mentioned is the addition of Goodyear Fuel Max tires.