TopGear.com America high mpg project (regeared, aeromodded diesel Rabbit)

[tasdrouille]

That's good brainstorming right there. You sure have a lot of imagination.

75 kw peak won't get you 5s though, especially with the added weight from the batteries and the electric motor. HP is what makes a car accelerate. Torque makes it pull nicely, but HP does the work.

Edit: I didn't read carefully. ICE in the front + electric in the rear would indeed pull incredibly fast times.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by TomO

If EM does go this route and Basjoos agrees, I will donate my spare D15Z1 and some time over the summer to this project to get his car setup with a VX motor. It would be possible to push him over the 100MPG mark easily while still retaining an OEM drivetrain.

Seriously??? I agree: a lean burn Aerocivic would get phenomenal highway mileage.

I wonder if Mike would be game...

[basjoos]

Originally Posted by TomO

If EM does go this route and Basjoos agrees, I will donate my spare D15Z1 and some time over the summer to this project to get his car setup with a VX motor. It would be possible to push him over the 100MPG mark easily while still retaining an OEM drivetrain.

I'm game. My current engine, although it is still running fine, puts out a slight blue plume right after a cold start and has been gradually using more oil (a quart every 1500 miles). I was planning to try replacing it with a D15Z1 when it reached the end of its life. Wayne Gerdes said the Aerocivic would probably remain in lean burn even at 80mph. An engine swap sounds like a good summer project, possibly in conjunction with a drive up to Hybridfest. It would also give you a good chance to take a close look at, drive my car, and compare its performance to that of a normal VX.

[MetroMPG]

Wow. Fingers crossed for an Aerocivic VX!

Tas: I believe he meant the car would be using the peak 75 kW electric output in addition to the ICE to achieve the silly acceleration numbers.

[bennelson]

Originally Posted by basjoos

a good summer project, possibly in conjunction with a drive up to Hybridfest.

Yea! Another EcoModder meet-up at HybridFest! I'm planning on being there with the Electro-Metro this year!

[Daox]

That would be great.

[roflwaffle]

Originally Posted by tasdrouille

That's good brainstorming right there. You sure have a lot of imagination.

75 kw peak won't get you 5s though, especially with the added weight from the batteries and the electric motor. HP is what makes a car accelerate. Torque makes it pull nicely, but HP does the work.

Edit: I didn't read carefully. ICE in the front + electric in the rear would indeed pull incredibly fast times.

You may be right since we would be between 5-6s with ~180whp/~2200-2500lbs, depending on how much was done in the way of weight reduction. The motor/batteries/electronics would add ~400lbs, but that could be offset with weight reduction like a tall 4spd instead of a 5sp (~50lbs), decent sound insulation instead of the asphalt crap on the floor (~25lbs), a patch kit instead of a full size spare (~35lbs IIRC), yanking the starter motor (~30lbs, just roll start it), yanking the break booster (~15lbs), and so on... Going balls out can result in a ~1400lbs bunny IIRC, so there's definitely plenty of weight to drop.

[dremd]

If I had to guess I'd say that top gear will make their speed goal with POWER. The ALH mods easily. Nozzles + tune can get 150Whp with no noticeable loss in economy, 200 whp isn't all that hard,

[giff]

Hey everyone. Here's another feature installment for Project Sipster, hope you enjoy.

Road to Perdition, er, Regina - Top Gear US

[MetroMPG]

Haha. Gotta love tales of epic road trips. Good writing.

Thanks for the update, giff, "wide-eyed young edit-slave".