Increasing MPG

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by GoldCrazy2

...

200 MPG Is Possible...

What are your thoughts...

Yep, definitely possible

Originally Posted by GoldCrazy2

Has anybody read:
Why 200 MPG Is Possible, from Eagle-Research.com

What are your thoughts on the information in this booklet?

No, I haven't read it. But 200 mpg is possible.

[aerohead]

decades ago, University teams were reporting 7,000-mpg with their SAE and Shell mileage / eco marathons racers.
We were looking at :
* Single seating.
* around 320-pounds total mass.
* Less than 4-square-feet frontal area.
* Average track velocity of 22-mph.
* Wind-protected course.
* Sub-critical Reynolds number.
* Bald tires @ 200 psi.
* 'Burn-and Coast' ( Momentum Driving ) [ Pulse and Glide ].
* Single-cylinder Briggs & Stratton ICE engine.
* Exposed valvetrain, five-valve pent-roof cylinder head.
* Bicycle derailleur transmission.
* No movement within the 'cabin.' Not even head movement.
* No heater.
* No air conditioner.
* No entertainment system.
* No noise insulation.
* No vibration isolation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If we're to discuss a '200-mpg automobile' we'd want some context.
- VW 1-liter car
- VW L1
- VW XL1
- Tesla Model 3 @ 45-mph with five aboard.

[freebeard]

IIRC someone in the 1950s got close with an old Studebaker with the tires filled with concrete.

[aerohead]

Wonder if it was the Mobil Economy Run?
I recall:
* closed course
* very slow acceleration
* low average speeds
* bald tires
* 200-psi inflation pressure
* thermally-insulated engines
* no water pumps
* no pressurized cooling system ( no radiator cap )
* entire plexiglass bubbles enclosing the windshield and hood
* zero toe-in in steering tires
* zero camber
* soft valve springs
* Single piston ring
* one-barrel carb
* remove accelerator pump from carburetor.
* no choke
* maximum timing advance
* no air cleaner
* free-wheeling clutches at drive axle
* 'momentum driving ' ( burn and coast )
* low-viscosity engine oil
* low-viscosity transmission oil
* low-viscosity rear axle lube
* zero brake-shoe drag
* high-gear acceleration
* chain-drive

[freebeard]

* 200-psi inflation pressure

The concrete story may be apocryphal.

[aerohead]

A fella I worked for in college filled his tractor tires with water, and pressurized them with propane!
We never know.

[Grant-53]

There was a car at the Green Grand Prix several years ago that managed 203 mpg at 45 mpg. It was a Riley Centurion with a Kubota 3 cyl. from Plattsburgh, NY if I recall correctly. My high mileage carb is a Walbro attached to a 35cc bike engine.

[oil pan 4]

Ain't nobody got time for that.

[aerohead]

After winning the 1987 World Solar Challenge, Dr. Paul MacCready of AeroVironment ( partly-owned by GM ) who'd been a principle power behind the creation of GM's Sunraycer, and then the GM Impact ( EV1 ), commented that, with a modest ICE powerplant, Sunraycer would be capable of 400-mpg, and if the EV1 received, say, the powerplant from the Geo Storm, we'd be looking at 100-mpg. Something accomplished by GM the next year, when they unveiled their Ultralite concept, with essentially identical aerodynamics to that of the Impact.
It's been reported that, Sunraycer, with it's original full wheel-fairing package measured Cd 0.089 at Cal Tech. As-raced, without the fairings, Cd 0.125. Later Cd 0.143 ( wind-averaged Cd ).
For me, Sunraycer has remained an inspiration, and my reason for exploring a 'gapless' tadpole trailer combination, to take advantage of the lower spectrum of drag.
If Cd 0.089 holds, this would be one corroboration of Wolf-Heinrich Hucho's 1987 comment about the technical feasibility of Cd 0.09 automobiles.
Which makes 200-mpg less of a 'reach' especially in light of electric drive.

[Tahoe_Hybrid]

Originally Posted by aerohead

After winning the 1987 World Solar Challenge, Dr. Paul MacCready of AeroVironment ( partly-owned by GM ) who'd been a principle power behind the creation of GM's Sunraycer, and then the GM Impact ( EV1 ), commented that, with a modest ICE powerplant, Sunraycer would be capable of 400-mpg, and if the EV1 received, say, the powerplant from the Geo Storm, we'd be looking at 100-mpg. Something accomplished by GM the next year, when they unveiled their Ultralite concept, with essentially identical aerodynamics to that of the Impact.
It's been reported that, Sunraycer, with it's original full wheel-fairing package measured Cd 0.089 at Cal Tech. As-raced, without the fairings, Cd 0.125. Later Cd 0.143 ( wind-averaged Cd ).
For me, Sunraycer has remained an inspiration, and my reason for exploring a 'gapless' tadpole trailer combination, to take advantage of the lower spectrum of drag.
If Cd 0.089 holds, this would be one corroboration of Wolf-Heinrich Hucho's 1987 comment about the technical feasibility of Cd 0.09 automobiles.
Which makes 200-mpg less of a 'reach' especially in light of electric drive.

does it run off of moon power?