Southern New England - New York MPG Meetup

[Formula413]

I could probably do either day as long it's not too early in the morning. Springfield and Worcester are good for me, Albany less so. And I think having an Eco run that everyone drives would be best.

[smokey442]

Here are my thoughts 1. Sunday afternoon. 2 Worcester (several reasons) 3 Every one drives the same route for a better apples-apples comparison. Also use EPA figures for baseline for each vehicle. If anyone is interested I could host a seminar at my shop after the event showing the engine mods made and methods to improve every ones fuel economy.

[brucepick]

UPDATES:

Which day:
Two people prefer Sunday vs. Sat, no other comments yet on that topic.
So likely will change it to Sunday 10/26, pending any additional comments.

Location:
We have approx equal interest in Springfield and Worcester
Less interest in Albany
Other cities are fading from our list

Competition Type:
Looks like my idea to turn the drive TO the meetup into an mpg competition is fading.
There's more interest in driving a loop of the meetup area.
Still awaiting more comments on this.
Should we plan that?
We'll ask help in planning a route from anyone familiar with the chosen locale.

Or if people are more interested in swapping ideas and examining mod projects, we could concentrate our time on that instead.

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by smokey442

Here are my thoughts 1. Sunday afternoon. 2 Worcester (several reasons) 3 Every one drives the same route for a better apples-apples comparison. Also use EPA figures for baseline for each vehicle. If anyone is interested I could host a seminar at my shop after the event showing the engine mods made and methods to improve every ones fuel economy.

Is anyone driving a car/truck/bike that has no EPA estimate??? I'm good with handicapping an mpg competition that way but I want to check that point.

[sheepdog 44]

Just throwing it out there that i live in the most scenic area of Mass. Berkshire county/ Pittsfield MA, halfway between Springfield and Albany. There's a perfect starting spot at a parking lot on Pontoosuc lake that over looks Mount Greylock where we can BBQ/ picnic. Really beautiful roads for hypermiling, and if you want we can ascend Mount Greylock with views of NY/VT/MA and windmills on the mountain tops. The leaves will have all turned red by then.

[FordFiestaS]

Originally Posted by sheepdog 44

Just throwing it out there that i live in the most scenic area of Mass. Berkshire county/ Pittsfield MA, halfway between Springfield and Albany. There's a perfect starting spot at a parking lot on Pontoosuc lake that over looks Mount Greylock where we can BBQ/ picnic. Really beautiful roads for hypermiling, and if you want we can ascend Mount Greylock with views of NY/VT/MA and windmills on the mountain tops. The leaves will have all turned red by then.

I agree living in Bennington, VT I know the beauty of it all. I'm in if this is the venue.

[brucepick]

Sheepdog44 and FordFiestaS,
Thanks for this.

Please, let's hear from the others whether you'd drive to meet at this location.

I'm already keeping a tally of how many could attend at each location. This is one more location for people to say yes-no on. Weigh in, please! The location with the most 'yes' votes wins. I'm personally voting 'yes' for every location mentioned so far.

[sheepdog 44]

I was asked to post some more details of my suggestion.

It does require brakes and or engine braking. But no stop and go. The view is great though. There are several pullover scenic views on the road, not to mention the top. This was part of NY/MA/VT mpg rally that was held for several years a while back. BTW it's all paved, under 55mph roads. The ascent road is like 25-35mph.

It is a bit of a climb, but it's worth it for the people coming from different places. And everyone takes the same route soeveryone takes that portion of the mpg hit.

We can take route 7 north from Pontoosuc lake (Pittsfield) which is a gentle grade up and a very gentle descent that you can engine off coast for miles. Turn on route 43 which is more gliding down hill at 35-40mph through some rural country into Williamstown. This is the portion were you rack up the mpg.

Then take the climb up Greylock. It's 1 part climb. Take the view at the top. And then the descent is 2X as long as the climb which is good for mpg but requires either brakes or engine braking. The Mountain climb takes you back to the start. The whole road is views of the Catskills in NY. At the top there a stone tower (War memorial) you can climb, i'll have to see if it's open. You can see into central Mass past Springfield. There's also a lodge at the top.

It's a really nice route that has a purpose. I doubt you'll find a better route in any city. No stop signs or traffic lights. It's like a mandatory scenic route that all the motorcyclists and out of state tourists take.

There's plenty of parking both at the start and the top. Especially on weekends, the roads are very lightly traveled so we can go as slow as we want without upsetting people. It's a simple route with few turns that is easy to follow.

[brucepick]

Votes tally - as of 9/25/14

Locations:
Springfield: 4 - in the lead
Worcester: 3.5 (for sheepdog44, it's only "acceptable")
Mt. Graylock: 3
Albany: 2

We haven't yet heard from Changzuki or Neil Blanchard on locations.
Anyone can put in a vote for the Mt Graylock location, and raise its total. I think the Mt Graylock loop looks like a great run, and the route is already worked out. Other locations will require more effort to determine a route.

Preferred day:
Sunday: 2 votes
Saturday: 0
Sunday takes the win.


Some support for handicapping cars based on EPA mpg estimate. We'll go with that, unless anyone is driving something that doesn't have an EPA estimate. We certainly will also see the plain-numbers raw mpg scores.

There were a few comments that any mpg competition should have all cars driving the same route, so that's a done deal. Not much support for the drive-to-the-event mpg competition idea. Oh well, I tried.

[Formula413]

I'm at a bit of a disadvantage because my HV battery is not fully functional so I have no electric assist. That also makes a hilly route like Mt Greylock more of a chore for me. But if that's the consensus I'll still try to make it. My attendance also depends on me being on or ahead of schedule with moving so it is still tentative.