Urba Centurion Update - (Kubota diesel, 100+ MPG in mixed driving - Fall 2012 on)

[changzuki]

Originally Posted by Joggernot

What happened to the English Anglia? Being a dark car, its difficult to see.

Some info from the car behind was publicly posted and the following are a few passages from that account:
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"Our laps fell apart. Horribly. My first hint that something was up was while we were lined up to start, and the car in front of me, a quaint little , (car name and color redacted) (let’s just say it was an English car with American heritage) was showing signs of a sub-par tune-up in the form of some thick black smoke rolling out of the tail pipe. We got the green flag and started off. Up the first hill everyone was struggling equally to keep momentum, and we crept up past Seneca Lodge.

just past there, the cars in front of the un-named car began to pull away a bit. No big deal, I thought, we can catch them as the grade evens out by the field. By now I noticed the black smoke from the car’s tail pipe getting thicker and then becoming a bit “puffy” and uneven. “He’s starting to foul plugs” I told my navigator. As we reached the flatter ground the front of the pack kept pulling away as the car in front of me struggled to hit 25 MPH. by the time we turned down into the upper glen area the front cars had been out of sight for over a mile. We crept down to the stone bridge at between 15 and 20 MPH and slowly chugged up to Schoolhouse Road. By this time my navigator is pondering when to bail out because my ranting is coming to a boil. As we headed towards the railroad tracks we managed to hit a blistering 30 MPH, and finally the struggling little POS pulled into the entrance of the upper Glen park........."
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I can imagine it was frustrating because once the car pulled over and the rest of the group resumed - it appeared as though that new lead car was the slow one and upon arriving in town he was flagged. Yes, it got sorted out but it was likely a stressful encounter.
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That is what happened.
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~CrazyJerry

[RedDevil]

Sorry, for a moment I thought that report was about your car instead of the Anglia.
Sad it did not make it.

[GreenHornet]

Originally Posted by lortech

IS this a old 1970s design? I had a idea long time ago, of putting a very small engine that can create stored energy during cruise and then use the engine and stored energy for acceleration. What affect would having the small diesel be if it was hooked to a powerful generator and power electric motors for the wheels?

This has not been attempted as of yet with the Centurion so I nominate you to be the first to test it out

It would be interesting to create a series hybrid out of the Centurion as it is configured perfectly for this type of design. I bet it would work really great in urban driving but not as well on the highways. The only way I see a series hybrid being able to compete on the open road with how CJ has Centurion #3 currently configured is if you were able to have an extremely efficient 10kw generator on board and a 120V to 144V AC system set up via direct drive no transmission. You would want around a 4:1 ratio which the Triumph Spit cars have rear differentials that will fit the bill. The trick would be to keep the amps low enough so that the generator could produce all the power needed for steady state driving. This way as long as you have diesel fuel in the tank you can go.

This is easier said than done as you would need an awesome generator set up. This is possible to do it just takes some money and brain power thinking a bit out of the box.

This is essentially what I am going to do with my 3 wheel project whenever I get the time to get it done lol

[changzuki]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

Sorry, for a moment I thought that report was about your car instead of the Anglia.
Sad it did not make it.

No problem RedDevil. If Centurion was sub-par during any drive, I'd certainly pull over and investigate the situation el-pronto. In going through some of the event photos that are now surfacing, it appears that some time later, the Anglia was able to make it back down to where it had started so whatever the problem was - it wasn't terminal.
Additional dialogue has surfaced regarding the VW Scirocco that was in our group (actually behind the Anglia by a few cars). Apparently either the car or the driver wasn't up to the task and that also helped to fracture the group along the course. The Lotus that was behind was probably yawning....
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~CrazyJerry

[changzuki]

Centurion's next stop will be at the Local Living Festival in Canton, NY on September 26th, 2015
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A new 20"x30" poster will now join the display:
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- Stone Bridge and Millikins Corner photos courtesy of: Steve Rossini / Highland Design Studio
- Centurion on display photo by photographer: Juha Cantori
- Old course map and banner images through the Grand Prix Festival for 2015
- In-car cam shots and award photo courtesy of Centurion!
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If you're in the area there's lots to see and do at the festival!
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~CrazyJerry

[changzuki]

Side window re-vamp.
This summer's travels were great as long as there weren't any long stops under the high-noon sun!
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As an experiement into uncharted waters again, the side windows are being revamped to address those scorching hot days when traffic doesn't move...
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The bubbling foam needs to setup (preferably overnight)..
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Sweet Dreams!
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~CrazyJerry

[pgfpro]

This is what I like about this forum. Ecomodders will always push the envelope.

[changzuki]

The side window update wasn't too hard to do once there was a decision about "what" should be the end result.
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The expanding foam was trimmed up to match the window frame and Gorilla tape lines the edges.
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The overall window was shaved down about 1/4 along upward slope and then along entire top. This allowed room between the side-glass and the window frame once a proper-type rubber seal to be installed. Six plastic screws with plastic wingnuts now secure the side windows. Even with a fair amount of water pressure from a garden hose, the windows don't leak. Loosening the wingnuts makes removing the entire window in about 25 seconds. The window easily fits in the storage tray behind the seats - vent galore!
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As luck would have it - the smaller rear side windows looked out of place since they lacked this exposed rubber seal....
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To be continued...
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~CrazyJerry

[changzuki]

Moving to the rear side windows turned out to be an eye opener. Seems the urethane I used to glue those windows in may have been a poor recipe from the factory. It didn't stick very well to either the lexan windows or the window flange. Removing both rear windows was as easy as pushing them out - no special tools needed.
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Once the pieces were out, wet sanding about a 1-inch swath around the perimeter with 1500 grit paper should provide enough scratches for the black border paint to stick to. The idea is to have a similar window border as those door windows have. Once the paint is dry, then the new rubber moulding can be applied around the edge.
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Re-installed, the new urethane really grabs and makes a nice solid seal. No leaks and they won't fall out.
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Any work completed is always followed by a road test.
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During the road test, I couldn't help but notice the bead of urethane around the inside of the front windshield.
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And then I wondered what would happen if I pushed on the windshield - from the inside.... just a little bit
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Well.... I did buy all the previous urethane at the same time - probably from the same batch....
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~CrazyJerry

[Xist]

How big is that sun roof?