A.M.E.C. Economy Run III - Fonda, NY 8-23-09
 

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The Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club would like to invite you to participate in Economy Run III

What: Fuel mileage contest through the southern Adirondacks of NY. The route will be on really scenic and challenging roads [mild grades] and will run approx. 102 miles in distance. Your “economic” driving ability will be tested. Cars will be filled with fuel by an AMEC official and be sent off at one minute intervals. There will be a time limit to complete the run. Any street legal vehicle is allowed to participate, [including motorcycles]. This event will run rain or shine.

Where: The starting spot will be at the [ethanol free] Fairway Oil gas station on Route 5 in Fonda, NY. Physical address is 40 E Main St, Fonda, NY 12068. Take NY Thruway Exit 28. After the toll booth, turn left onto Riverside Drive. Then turn right onto South Bridge Street and go over the bridge. On the other side of the bridge is a traffic light. You can see Fairway Oil and Gas on your left. Turn left onto Route 5 and enter the station.

When: Sunday, August 23rd, 2009. Arrival time will be 8:00-8:30am, first car off at 9:00am. They have gas and diesel and have a large enough parking lot that we won’t be in the way.

Cost: $10 per vehicle plus $8 per car for lunch at the awards picnic by the lake. [see "Awards" below]

Awards include:

1. Best overall mpg for gas cars [1st, 2nd, and 3rd places]

2. Best overall mpg for diesel and hybrid cars [1st, 2nd, and 3rd places]

3. Best Historic car ['79 and earlier - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places].

4. Best overall mpg for motorcycles [1st, 2nd, and 3rd places].

Finish: will be at Mayfield Mobil, 2460 State Highway 30 Mayfield, NY 12117. They are 8.4 miles south of Northville, and their lot is plenty big. It will be on your right as you're heading on Route 30 south.

Awards and Lunch: This event will conclude about noon, and we will be having our A.M.E.C. summer picnic immediately following the event. All Economy run participants are invited to join us for awards and a picnic lunch at Northampton Beach Campground located on Housmann Street, in Mayfield, [it's actually closer to Northville] NY. Their website is HERE. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the map links. The picnic pavilion and beach are right on the shore of beautiful Sacandaga lake. Hamburgers, hot dogs, and soda will be served. This park is only about a mile from the Citgo station where the event concluded.

To register for this event: Please contact Mike Kamm at (518) 674-0520 or via email: mkamm [at ] juno [ dot] com. Or just simply reply to this thread with your name, year/model car. The vehicle count will be limited so please sign up before this event is full.

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Registered driver's list as of 7-3-09

1. Mike Kamm - 1977 Datsun B210 - Averill Park, NY
2. Tom Moeller - 1994 Mazda Miata - Saratoga, NY
3. Dave Burnham - 1991 Eco Diesel Jetta - Delanson, NY
4. Ben Jones - 1991 Honda CRX - Hanover, NH
5. Dick Vedder - 2000 Ford ZX2 S/R - Johnstown, NY
6. Martin Deschenes - 2000 VW Jetta TDI - Quebec City, QC
7. Ron Kienhuis - 1972 Citroën SM - Long Island, NY
8. Vlad Saakyan - 2003 Suzuki Svs650 - 518 forums
9. Bill Clark - 1957 Metropolitan Hartop - Endicott, NY
10. Bruce Turk- 1958 Saab 93B - Walden, NY
11. Ernie Yue - 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250cc
12. Dan & Richard Dobbins - 1964 Studebaker GT Hawk - Long Island, NY
13. Matt Herring - 2009 Toyota Prius - Boston, MA
14. Robert Smalls - 2000 Honda Insight - Buffalo, NY
15. Peter Ramotowski - 2000 VW Golf TDI - Albany, NY
16. Eric Hoefer - 2008 Honda Fit - Guilderland, NY
17. Ryan Kramer - 1988 Toyota MR2 Supercharged - Albany NY
18. Lance David - 1996 Chevy Cavalier - Johnstown, NY
19.
20.

There is a link to last year's event thread located HERE.

Register me up! 1991 Honda CRX.

I will have some wicked aeromods by the time this rolls around :)

I'm in!

Martin Deschenes - 2000 VW Jetta TDI - Quebec City, QC

Excellent, thanks Ben and Martin. :)

Boy if Darin can make it as well, what a super bowl of gas mileage this could be!

Something tells me the 49.56 average event mpg record will be raised this August.

Mike

Darin might be on a boat or something silly like that. Is that true darin? I think he should come anyway, :P

Hmm, I'd love to go, and the whole endeavour should only take ~7gal of gas. I'll be there as long as I have plates on the Insight by then. Which I will unless the DMV really digs its heels in.

Uh oh, I am scared to compete against an insight!

Any idea what the time limit will be?

And I'm scared to compete against a CRX with an VX swap, HF transaxle, and wild aero package. :DWe're discussing that this week. Last year you had to maintain 45 or so to make it back in time. I'd like to see it be loosened up a bit to allow some bigger numbers this year. ;)

The classic compacts are starting to roll in!

Bill Clark had a car show he was planning to go to on August 23rd, but he has thought the better of it. He enjoyed Economy Run II so much last year in his 1960 Metropolitan convertible, that he plans to bring his '57 hardtop out and give it a go this year in the infamous "Gas Mileage Shootout in the Adirondacks".

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Here were his comments:

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to blow off the local show and come ride around with you guys in my 57 Met hardtop. I found a set of 3.90 gears to replace the stock 4.22s and I'm going to rebuild the carb, blow up the tires, take out the toe in and try to get my lower compression 1500 to run good. I'll be really happy if I do as well as the high compression 1500 rag top did last year."

Sign me up,

Bill

Welcome V.S.C.N.A. President, Mr. Bruce Turk.

So glad to have a classic Saab economy car on the roster! I still love the original "Little Saab Economy Car"
jingle on the New Salem Saab web site home page.

Bruce will bring his beautifully restored black 1958 Saab 93B.

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Bruce wrote:

Hi Mike,

I cleared my calendar and will participate in my 1958 Saab 93B. The completely stock 750cc three cylinder two stroke should do very well. I'll down jet the carb and replace my bias ply's with radials, that combined with the original three speed "free wheel" transmission will kick MPG butt.... I hope!

Please add me to the list and I'll see if I can get some other vintage Saabs to attend.

Regards,

Bruce Turk

Definitely going to be some neat rides there. Looking forward to it. :)

I'm interested in bringing my Prius to the Run this year. Does anyone know how they plan to measure fuel consumption for the fickle Prius fuel bladder?

The only Prius that's ever run with us has been Hobbit's. We allowed him to use the "fill slowly and shut off at the first click method". It's not very accurate, but that's the only option we have for cars that are damaged by overfilling. Hobbit achieved 64 mpg at Economy Run II last October.

Mike

Nice run by Hobbit...64 mpg in mixed driving is worthy...very worthy.

I use the one click method every time when I fill up so that seems reasonable.

FYI and something to consider - most veteran Prius drivers report their in-car mpg (MFD) runs about 2% higher than actual after tracking this over hundreds of tanks. Perhaps MFD minus 2% would also be an easy way to monitor mpg in the Prius. The miles driven would be clearly stated on the MFD so any shenanigans would be easy to spot as the course is measured. Or, use MFD minus 2% and also monitor miles/fill and see how they compare (while having some rule stating which method you are using).

Over a handful of tanks my actual vs. MFD is under 1% but I plan to use the 2% deduction from MFD in my fuel logs until I have at least 100 tanks to compare data. I might be shorting myself some reporting my mpg but until I have sufficient data it's all I can use due to the Prius fuel bladder.

I'm highly interested in making the drive over from Boston for the event. Even if I'm not in the running for any prizes I'd like to see the cool cars and exchange info!

I'm def in for now...don't think I have anything going on that weekend. Was talking to SVO about it and it sounds like fun. I've been trying to get to an FE event this summer but my schedule didn't allow it. Maybe I can recruit another Prius from my area on priuschat.com to come over with me to participate...I'll post it on their site.

Sounds great Matt,

I'll add your name to the list. If later you realize that you can't make just let me know so I can open up a spot for someone else.

If there are other Prius cars entered, I'll let you guys decide on which method [one click or -2%] you'd like to use. That way the playing field will be level.

Mike

P.S. Just realized your Pruis is a 2009. I think Hobbit told me that the new ones no longer have the bladder. Is this correct?

Mine is a 2009 and it has the bladder. The new 2010's don't have the bladder.

Mike,

What's the time limit for the 94 mile run? Just curious...(already working on my strategy)!!!

We haven't decided yet. Last year we alotted 3 hours for the 118.7 mile distance and it was quite comfortable for all. We had a mandatory stop at the halfway point [where we all had to pick up a card that proved you went the furthest distance from the start and didn't take any short cuts]. Many of us chatted there and looked over each other's cars. I really enjoyed that and spent about 10-15 minutes there. However it made me 3 minutes late getting back. :p

This year's event is a bit shorter at approx. 102 miles due to the location of the picnic afterwards. The roads are all 45- 55 mph and if I remember right, I think you can count the total number of traffic lights on one hand.

Mike

That's cool bro...looking forward to it!

Good luck, friends

Do you care to elaborate on that? I'll have some wild stuff sticked on just for the event too. I'm shooting for no less than 80 mpg, but I got my eye on Darin's green grand prix score. Too bad he won't be there to defend his title :P

Also, it seems like diesels and gassers are in different categories anyway.

I would elaborate, but I actually havent planned anything yet :p

Are motorcycles allowed?

I should be back from my trip with time to apply a coat of special AeroWax (TM) and make it to the event.

Can you put me down as a "definite maybe"? Is the field strictly limited to 20?

Yes absolutley. Your Honda would make for three in the motorcycle class. I've always wanted to have a scooter join us to see how it would do. Would you like me to sign you up? Although the meet is still almost two months away, we're almost filled up already.

Registered driver's list as of 7-8-09

1. Mike Kamm - 1977 Datsun B210 - Averill Park, NY
2. Tom Moeller - 1994 Mazda Miata - Saratoga, NY
3. Dave Burnham - 1991 Eco Diesel Jetta - Delanson, NY
4. Ben Jones - 1991 Honda CRX - Hanover, NH
5. Dick Vedder - 2000 Ford ZX2 S/R - Johnstown, NY
6. Martin Deschenes - 2000 VW Jetta TDI - Quebec City, QC
7. Ron Kienhuis - 1972 Citroën SM - Long Island, NY
8. Vlad Saakyan - 2003 Suzuki Svs650 - 518 forums
9. Bill Clark - 1957 Metropolitan Hartop - Endicott, NY
10. Bruce Turk- 1958 Saab 93B - Walden, NY
11. Ernie Yue - 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250cc
12. Dan & Richard Dobbins - 1964 Studebaker GT Hawk - Long Island, NY
13. Matt Herring - 2009 Toyota Prius - Boston, MA
14. Robert Smalls - 2000 Honda Insight - Buffalo, NY
15. Peter Ramotowski - 2000 VW Golf TDI - Albany, NY
16. Eric Hoefer - 2008 Honda Fit - Guilderland, NY
17. Ryan Kramer - 1988 Toyota MR2 Supercharged - Albany NY
18. Lance David - 1996 Chevy Cavalier - Johnstown, NY
19. Chang Ho Kim - 89 Honda CRX - Maynard, MA
20. Darin Cosgrove - 1998 Pontiac Firefly - Ontario, Canada
21. Jeff Morgan - 1992 Nissan 240sx - Rotterdam, NY
22. Hobbit - 2004 Toyota Prius - Boston, MA
23.
24.
25.

No problem Darin. I hope you can make it as planned. It'll be good to finally meet you guys. :)

Mike

P.S. We're cutting registration off at 25 drivers.

Darn, I was a little worried about the insight but now with darin in the running...Maybe we should make the speeds higher! :)

I hear you Ben,

Now our friend Hobbit is in. Four in the last hour signed up. This is nuts, we'll be full tomorrow at this rate. :p


Mike

That's awesome...will bring my pencil and paper to take some notes from Hobbit!

We have a regular mpg caravan rolling slowly on I-90 that weekend! Ben, Hobbit, Chang and myself!

I'd really love to join. I'm not sure if you can put me down for a "maybe," but that's probably the best I can do right now. I'm pumped at the prospect of a scooter road trip from IL to NY (yeah, I'm nuts), but my fall semester starts on Aug 25. So, if I can get moved in to my new apartment soon enough, I can probably make it out to NY.

I90 eh? It has been a long time since I have gone up to albany, I am usually going up 91 a bit to the east. Oh well, I am excited at the prospect of a challenge once more. Darin only had me about around 10 mpg, I am sure I can find some improvements, somewhere.

Excellent -thanks for putting me in, Mike.

I like the plan to fill to the brim for MPG measurement. Are there any vehicles registered that *can't* be filled to the brim? (CEL / evap issues?)

If so, after this year's Green Grand Prix, for those vehicles I'd recommend some sort of simple dipstick measurement to fill at least to the same point, part way up the filler neck, rather than "1st click". 1st click is faith-based filling :) ; a dipstick is primitive, but it's scientific. And I believe the EVAP intake is usually right at the top of the neck, so it would still be OK to do.

SVO,

I see how you go to Fonda, NY...didn't know what side of NH you lived on. Definitely a better route the way you described.

Is this event on Aug 23 or Aug 26th. The first post on this thread says 23rd which is a Thursday but 26th is a Sunday...just checking.

August Matt...August. You're looking at July on your calendar.

Yeah...August...sorry. Been a long week at the homestead...haha!

Actually, I will be driving up from NJ since I am not in school in NH until late september. :D

I'm looking forward to seeing some of the cars on the list. Some interesting ones there.

Anyone planning to stay over the night before?

Actually, if the speeds were a little lower, I'd bring an athlete friend who would complete the course on an upright bicycle in 4-5 hours with zero fuel.

Also, don't worry about the Insight ... it's averaging 64 gallons per mile. I've used about 0.4 gallons charging the batteries and testing the cooling system, and gone about 10m up and down the driveway.

I'm looking forward to meeting some EcoModders and seeing their machines, and it'll be fun to see old tech vs new tech, and two wheels vs four.