Hypermiler Gets 99.7 MPG At Green Grand Prix

[ecomodded]

I just happened on this and had to post it, Good going Darin.

Hypermiler Gets 99.7 MPG At Green Grand Prix

Our hypermiling friends at Ecomodder.com took home three trophies at the Green Grand Prix, including top honors for an astonishing 99.7 mpg.

Darin Cosgrove, who founded the hypermiling site in November, 2007, tells us he used the “pulse and glide” technique “almost exclusively” to achieve that impressive figure during Saturday’s fifth annual event, which celebrates all things fuel-effient and alt-fueled. Four Ecomodders entered the event, held in Watkins Glen, NY.

“It was a fun event,” Cosgrove told us. That’s him with his car in the pic. “The competition & expo were a chance for the public & efficiency enthusiasts to learn stuff from one another.”

Cosgrove pulsed and glided to victory averaging 45 mph behind the wheel of his modified 1998 Pontiac Firefly.

Pontiac what?

The Firefly is the Canadian version of the Geo Metro, a car that’s pretty damned efficient out of the box. Cosgrove has upped the efficiency considerably by modifying both the car and his driving style. Mods include wheel skirts, smooth wheel covers, yanking the antenna and other tricks to increase aerodynamic efficiency. He’s got an ignition kill switch mounted on the shifter for pulse-and-glide – a somewhat controversial technique that involves shutting off the engine and coasting – and a ScanGauge 2 to fanatically monitor vehicle stats.

In addition to pulse-and-glide, the techniques Cosgrove used to achieve that stratospheric fuel economy included timing his arrival at stop signs and traffic signals to minimize braking and sticking to the right lane or even moving into the breakdown lane to encourage faster traffic to pass. He also pushed the car part way to the starting line and through the mandatory rest stop to save gas.
Complete story Hypermiler Gets 99.7 MPG At Green Grand Prix | Autopia | Wired.com

[California98Civic]

Nice looking paint for such an old car, in such a climate. Here's the link:


See attached as well.

[2000neon]

Sweet! That's impressive!

[ecomodded]

This event may of happened 3 years ago but i believe the record stands, actually i do not have a clue.. i haven't heard any different

[Jakins]

damn i want to do this haha. my civic is built specifically for this stuff. i just got coilovers for it yesterday.

[euromodder]

It'd still be impressive today
It still is impressive to this day.
That's both the nice and the sad part.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by euromodder

It'd still be impressive today
That's both the nice and the sad part.

This ad is quite sad, especially when you are impressed.

[MetroMPG]

Old news!

There were 3 other EcoModder vehicles that day - 2 of which won in their class as well.

• 1991 Honda CRX: Benjamin Jones (SVOboy, author) pulled down 88.5 mpg, making it the third highest vehicle overall and winner of the 27-32 mpg (by EPA rating) class. The vehicle was sporting some hastily added ecomods as well as a lean burn engine swap and MPGuino.
• 1998 Honda Civic EX: Will Meredith (Wonderboy) has a lightly ecomodded Civic EX equipped with a Scangauge II to help tune the nut behind the wheel. The E
• X model was the least efficient Civic in Honda’s lineup that year, but Will still managed a very impressive 57 mpg with the car.
• 1993 Toyota Tercel: Tim Sullivan (McTimson) drove an unmodified 1993 Toyota Tercel. With only an MPGuino to guide him, Tim was able to ecodrive his way to victory in the 33-38 mpg class, rounding out the three victories for EcoModder.

EcoModder Takes Home 3 Wins at the Green Grand Prix