Sports Motor Car Club Montreal - Economy run rally: June 12, 2010

[nerdboy]

Okay, here's a bit more info in point form to (hopefully) get everyone excited and provide some insight:

• rally is divided into sections
• checkpoints can only be located at the ends of sections (EOS)
• there is a given maximum time to complete each section
• if there's a checkpoint at the end of the section, you can arrive early or on time without penalty
• if you arrive late at a checkpoint, your fuel economy score is penalised 2% for each whole minute
• if there's no checkpoint at the end of section, any "spare" time carries over to the next section
• the instructions are super-easy, even for novices (distance to turn with tulip diagrams)
• the maximum time to complete any section is based on between 70% to 90% of the posted limits
• about half of the rally is in hilly terrain on not-so-straight roads
• the other half of the rally is on level terrain
• mostly rural roads/highways (70-90km/h) with a bit of urban (30-50km/h) and two short autoroute transits (100km/h)

The start of the rally is in Celine Dion's hometown of Charlemagne. So if you ever needed a reason to convince your wife or girlfriend to come out... There's also a great rally-sympathetic restaurant at the end with a nice big parking lot on the water for a photoshoot of the cars (let's hope it doesn't rain).

I'm really not sure which cars will do best. The small urban component should make the hybrids happy, and the diesels should be pleased with the hilly sections. But given that a few sections are fairly brisk, a good-handling gas car may have some advantage (at least in the fun department). I suspect that competitors going for maximum economy will have to take small time penalties in the hilly sections.

I'm really hoping to get some Smarts out and also some Kei cars (the little 600cc Japanese Domestic Market cars). There are a bunch of those that have been imported to Quebec.

I think that the most fair scoring system takes into account vehicle weight (the net weight value written in the door is good enough). For instance litres per 100km per metric tonne. But at the end we'll calculate the stats (at least) three ways:

1. litres per 100km
2. litres per 100km (including time penalties)
3. litres per 100km per metric tonne (including time penalties)

And then subdivide into as many categories as we see fit. But at the least, gas, diesel and hybrid.

The 5.7L/100km I got with my 1090kg car converts to about 41mpg. Shouldn't be hard to beat that!

[nerdboy]

We've added a page of Economy Run videos to the website:

unfortunately, I can't post the link yet, but you can find it at the bottom of the event flyer

http://www.smccrally.com/videos/economyrun.htm

Some of the usual Top Gear shenanigans, as well as some historic stuff.

Less than two weeks to go until the event. Looking forward to a good mix of vehicles and hopefully some great weather.

[blownb310]

I'm getting excited about it Jeff. Plus it will be great to see all of our fellow ecomodders once again!

The Top Gear videos were great too. I haven't viewed the historic ones yet but will.

Mike

[MetroMPG]

Great, info Jeff. I'm looking forward to it too.

I posted the link to the videos in your post.

Darin

[blownb310]

I hope we have good weather for the event. It's always more fun that way.

My navigator for this event will be Steve McKelvie. He's got an Alpha rally computer system. It uses an "EZ-Pulse" pickup attached to a rear wheel as it's input to tell the computer how far we've travelled [for navigational and time keeping purposes]. Below is an example as seen on a Mazda 6.


Today I built the parts I needed to install Steve's EZ-Pulse unit onto my Sentra.


I had a set of tall lug nuts that I drilled and tapped for four 6mm x 100 screws, which I coated with LocTite and installed from the inside out. I then cut out a simple 5" round sheet metal plate with a 1/2" hole in the center. That's all you need to attach the sensor to. You can add additional bolt pattern holes in the plate to suit any car. The system won't help our areodynamics any, but it should help us immensely with being on time for checkpoints.

It will be interesting to see if the smaller, more fuel efficient cars in the event will be more successful than a more powerful, but well rounded car like the SE-R.

Mike

[moTthediesel]

Man, that sounds like a great event, and only 3hrs away from me, but I've got to work Saturday

Mike:

That hub mounted speed pickup is v. cool! I've got an Alpha box that I use in my car, but I've got the old school pickup with permanent magnets mounted in the front hub (mine's RWD, of course). Not so easy to move that from car to car --

I've used the English Terra-Trip computers too, but I like the Alpha much better for TSD events.

Have fun and stay safe guys! I'll be looking forward to hearing stories and results --

[blownb310]

Originally Posted by moTthediesel

I've used the English Terra-Trip computers too, but I like the Alpha much better for TSD events.

Thanks, glad to hear of another fellow tsd rally enthusiast on the forums.

[nerdboy]

Hi everyone! Just a reminder that the rally is this Saturday. Hope you're looking forward as much as I am.

One interesting fact concerning Saturday:

The F1 cars will be qualifying burning 1 gallon of fuel per lap while the best Economy Run cars will be completing the 198km course on 2 gallons of fuel!!!

Don't be spooked by the Alpha computer pickup that Mike is installing on his Sentra - for this event you don't need any previous experience or a precision odometer (the stock one will do just fine).

There's also a "best improvement over EPA estimate" category, so you could even show up in a V8 pickup and be competitive (in that category at least!). The more cars we get and the better variety we get, the more interesting the stats will be.

[2009Prius]

I just found out about this event and am considering joining. Some questions:

Is this only for modified cars or is factory car OK?

I heard Canada requires DSL but my car does not have it. Can I pass the requirement by just turning on the headlights?

Any other Canadian laws that a US driver/car needs attention?

Thanks!

[tasdrouille]

Originally Posted by 2009Prius

Is this only for modified cars or is factory car OK?

Everyone is welcome!

I heard Canada requires DSL but my car does not have it. Can I pass the requirement by just turning on the headlights?

Any other Canadian laws that a US driver/car needs attention?

Thanks!

You do not need daytime running lights to travel to Canada.