Ecomodders participating in the NY to Paris Great Race 100th anniversary
 

I just saw on cleanmpg.com that you (MetroMpg) are going to participate in the Great Race MPG challenge. Is this so? Can you give us the details.

Darin's being a bum and doing real work instead of constantly refreshing EM, so I'll answer for him: yep, he's doing it with dan, as long as a sponsor pulls through.

I think they'll win, :)

Best place for info is: http://www.greatrace.com

This is the 100th anniversary of the original Great Race (which was immortalized in a movie, I am told - haven't seen it though :p).

It's a multi-class event:

• a "classic" division (vintage cars);
• an "Innovation" division (prototype, alt-fuel & hybrid vehicles).
• and the "MPG challenge", within the Innovation class

The MPG Challenge competition is being organized along with the HybridFest folks, and the plan is to have up to 10 teams driving identical vehicles competing for the best fuel economy over the course of the event. The goals is to demonstrate the efficiency potential of technology + driver in real world conditions, following a set route & prescribed speeds. Hypermiling our butts off, in other words.

I hadn't mentioned anything yet because sponsorship details (primarily the vehicle provider) are still being finalized.

Didn't want to jinx it. ;)

When I know for sure, I'll post all the details.

OMGWTFIHATEU! Congrats! :D

:eek::thumbup::turtle:

Any updates on the Great Race?

Darin????

Dan?

Ben?

Dan!

Ben!
Dan!

Rick!?!?!?

OK! OK!

Dan (krousdb) and I were at the Great Race team conference this weekend in Santa Monica, CA. (Which is an exceedingly nice place to go in the middle of January, I have to say.)

The big question first: do we have a vehicle sponsor?

Not yet.

But the Hybridfest organizers (who are coordinating the MPG challenge portion of the race) are continuing to pursue this and were upbeat that the vehicle situation would work out.

The worst case scenario (which isn't really that bad at all) is that Dan & I will do just the North American portion of the race (NY to Vancouver, BC) in his Prius.

This weekend's team conference...

The purpose of the team conference was to meet the other participants, learn what to expect and how to prepare for the event. It was a jam packed weekend.

(The venue bordered on inhumane, mainly because the view out the conference room was palms swaying in the 17 C breeze and the sun sparkling on the ocean. Note to organizers: if you want people from places that have real winter to pay maximum attention at these things in the middle of January, you need to set them in Nunavut, not southern California. Not that I'm complaining! But I did bolt for the door at every opportunity - breaks & meals.)

Route info...

The organizers have done a huge amount of preparation already. They've already driven the entire route - some portions several times. They assured participants that while the roads will be challenging and off the beaten track as much as possible, they're appropriate for "normal" cars. There are only something like 20 miles (Dan?) of unpaved roads on the entire journey.

Participants...

It's a diverse group that includes entries from 8 countries: predominantly the U.S., then Canada, Australia, Brasil, Ireland, Poland, Mexico and Colombia.

I talked with the Colombian couple who are entering their '28 Ford speedster in the classic "Schuster" division. Very interesting people. They restored their car and have driven it through South America, among other continents.

The classic division is named after George Schuster, the driver of the American car that won the 1908 competition. Schuster's great grandson was at this weekend's conference and performed a spellbinding first-person account of the race from his great grandfather's perspective.

The competition...

The MPG Challenge participants have twice as much to do.

Not only are we competing for points with the entire fleet following rally style rules (set routes covered at precisely defined speeds), but we're also competing within our class for the lowest fuel consumption overall.

Edit: note that only a portion of the total distance covered will include "rallying" for points (something like 15% of the driving). Most of the driving is just getting from A to B. So the non-MPG Challengers can let their guard down somewhat on those "transit" portions, but we'll be on our game at all times.

Ecomodders too...

Have a look at the list of entrants & vehicles. There are some tanalizing entries in both classes.

I love the classics and am looking forward to the up close access I'll have to admire these beauties and talk with their owners, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what folks are bringing to the Innovation category: A 2007 Ford Prototype? 2007 Modified Production?

A gaggle of biodiesel & ethanol conversions...

A 1957 Chevrolet Corvette (Modified gas/electric hybrid)

Woohoo!

--

Lots of details left to be worked out. It's going to be fun, challenging & fascinating.

Word up! Good thing I didn't spoil it by spilling the beans early.

If you get a prius will you be allowed to ecomod it?

If the original plan falls into place (MPG challengers driving identical vehicles provided by a sponsor), they have to be "stock".

I'm not sure if the same applies if we're going in Dan's vehicle as an individual entry though. Good question... :)

Honestly, I don't know what I would do to my car other than removing the back seat, glove box and other miscellaneous items to reduce weight. We will flip the mirrors back (if legal) and I would replace my tires with some of the 51 psi max tires that I have had my eye on. Maybe a wash and wax?

I'm hoping that none of that is necessary however.....

Me too - I'd rather do the entire trip in a stock vehicle than North America in a slightly modified Prius.

Hatch wiper delete? Rear skirts?

One other thing I'd like to investigate is underbody aero. I haven't had the chance to look very closely yet, but my quick impression from looking at the rear of many Prii in CA is that from the rear suspension aft, there may be an opportunity to smooth things out more than Toyota did.

Rear wiper delete.

Go here and scroll down until you find the underbody picture.

http://privatenrg.com/

It's not the best but it gives you an idea what there is to work with.

Neat-O
 

I just have to say, Wow! :eek: ...:thumbup:

Folks, that page has more than just aero.

Is this the kind of feedback equipment you're looking to use, or is that a "trade secret"? :cool:

So many questions...
So off-topic :o

I'll take the info and run with it in another thread -- VERY interesting stuff...

RH77

My computer has been down for a few days. Wow this ride looks amazing. Will the teams be giving mpg updates as the ride goes on? It would be pretty cool to see everyones progress.

I believe so - plus there will be map integration. All the vehicles will be equipped with telemetry equipment so you (and the rally organizers) will be able to see where we are at all times. (Not sure how often that will be updated on the web, but I'm assuming daily, at a minimum.)

If you are referring to the prius simulator, that is not really feedback, but predictive in nature. That is Wayne Brown's site and he is well known in the Prius community. Also, a friend of mine. He drove his 04 Prius for 150k miles before trading it in for a TCH. He also has a THH.

From what I saw at the conference last week, from the GR website you will be able to choose a car # and locate it on a map real time and track it's progress. It should be fun.

I have borrowed both of my Boss's GPS's, a Garmin for the car and a Magellin Explorist for hiking. I actually like the hiking one better because it shows instantaneous speed to one decimal place. It does not have an average speed however. The Garmin shows speed with no tenths but does show average speed in tenths. So really, we would need both I think. I will bring both.

The New York Times has picked up the story:

• It ran a feature about the original Great Race today,

• plus a brief article announcing the 2008 version.

Let's hope the potential MPG Challenge vehicle sponsor is nudged further towards saying "yes" by the prospect of more publicity to come.

Man, this sounds so awesome! I had no idea they had an MPG class for this rally. I'll have to talk to one of my buddies about doing this in the future. Maybe not the 100th anniversary seeing that I just found out about it, but this seems like it would be a LOT of fun. I would love to know how you're going about getting the sponsors to pony up the $$$,$$$ for the entrance into it.

The organizers of Hybridfest are working on the sponsorship deal.

Another bit of coverage, this time in the NYT Wheels blog.

Regarding the MPG challenge portion:


The piece also mentions the "Innovation Class" vehicles:

More: http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2008...eat+race&scp=1

Yesterday, Feb 12, marked 100 years since the start of the original race. To mark the event, a number of participants in the upcoming 2008 rally drove through Times Square at the exact moment the 1908 race began.

You know the Sesame Street song "One of these things is not like the other"? Start singing it .... now!


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Which one is different...I don't see it! :confused::rolleyes:

Non-thumbnails are busted at the host...

Double-checked - they seem to be working now.

Video by the Toronto based solar car team which attended the Feb 12 anniversary event in NY city and which is considering participating in the North American leg of the event:

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?doc...98694309238911

I think they're going to have a little more trouble than other teams deciding where to apply the required decals on their car.

Best part: watch for the solar car doing a donut in the parking lot in the NY snow.