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

http://www.smccrally.com/events/Econ...Banner2010.jpg

The first general public fuel economy rally to happen in years in Quebec will be held on June 12th near Montreal.

This ecomony run is a bit different from what we are used to since since it's also a navigation rally. The goal is not only to get the best mileage we can, but also to stay on time. There will be multiple elapsed time controls along the way.

Full info here.

Sounds like an eco-run I read about here: the contestants get points for lower fuel consumption, but also for lower time. Points get subtracted for each time you exceed the speed limit (so no downhill EOC-ing).

Are you planning on signing up?

Oh I'm in for sure, it's in my backyard!

Normally in navigation rallys you are penalized if you are too fast or too slow. And the time frame you need to be at the checkpoint is pretty short. It adds an other level of challenge.

Sounds great Martin! Thanks for keeping us informed.

I ran in a "regular" road rally last weekend in southern New Jersey. I love to do both. Wow, it should be a great challenge! :)

I am trying to figure out a strategy for this event. I wonder what the greater emphasis will be on for scoring? It will be give and take situation for sure. Should we sacrifice mpg's for staying on time or be late for controls and have best mpg?

I've already decided that I will use the 60 mpg Nissan SE-R and not the B210. Why? For the same reason Darin didn't install a belly pan on his Firefly when coming to Economy Run III: because of the border crossing. With the B210's belly pan, I'd be delayed for who knows how long at the border crossing while they search the void between the floor and belly pan.

Here is a copy of a post from another forum where the organizer, Jeff Dungen gives us a few more details for this event.:

"Thanks for posting Mike!

Yes, our Economy Run is indeed designed to force competitors to make trade-offs between fuel economy and lateness. As it currently stands, all checkpoints will be elapsed time controls where competitors may arrive early without penalty - but not late. The elapsed times will be quite generous for a road rally, but will surely require the economy-minded to push the pedals with a bit of fervour.

Some quick points:
100% asphalt (but it's Quebec asphalt which isn't always perfectly smooth) urban, country road, divided and provincial highway driving mix. It starts in Charlemagne [where Celine Dion was born] finish restaurant is wonderful and has a great parking lot on the water for photoshoots. Instructions will be tulips with cumulative and interval distances (very easy). Possibility to have a scale if competitors want to take this ultra-seriously.

We're hoping to attract many of the veteran competitors from the annual FIA Rallye Energie Alternative events. The next such event is in the Fall and runs from Montreal, QC to Lake Placid, NY."

Did you catch that last detail? Another one in the Fall! :thumbup:

Mike

Martin,

I am hoping Jeff will offer separate classes for the diesels and the gas cars. When the hills get steep, the diesels will rule. :D

I was on vacation in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia last week and saw a very interesting car. It was a Citroen AX. They were never sold in the US, but this one was visiting with "diplomat" licence plates. It had a 1.5 diesel in it. I didn't get a picture, but I got this one from the Wiki page:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._AX_red_hl.jpg

The one I saw was the same red color. They have plastic panels in non load bearing areas, a drag coefficient of 0.31, and a very light weight of just 1,411 lbs!

It can achieve 80 mpg without hypermiling.

I wish I could get one for this event! Do they have them in Canada?

Hi Mike, no we don't have those in Canada, unfortunately!

You'll be alright, I doubt there will be many hills. From the starting point it's flat all around for 30 miles.

I'm damn glad SMCC Montreal is running this event. The FIA Rallye Energie Alternative is elitist as the entre fee is a couple hundreds and their emissions rules prohibit diesels (100 g C02/km on dino or 70 g C02/km on bio). Pretty much only hybrids have been participating in the past. That's why I mentionned SMSS's event is the only general public fuel economy rally in Quebec.

Mike, are you going?

You could always stop at my place and use the garage to re-install parts, if you like :)

Martin: you have a navigator?

I don't know if I'm available yet for this one, but I'm interested.

Thanks Darin. Yes I plan to go. I haven't firmed up a navigator yet, but I have contacted Steve McKelvie and hope he can fit it into his schedule. He's a really experienced rally navigator and my chances of doing well in the event will be much improved if I have him in the right seat.

Thanks for the offer to use the garage to work on the car, but I'm going the low effort route on this trip. :p

Mike

Hi Darin,

Yes, it'll be a family event for us. My wife will be my navigator and my son will cheer for the team!

A friend of mine has agreed to be my navigator for this event this morning. I will now get the black Sentra out of storage and put it back on the road. Then I can start working on installing a digital odometer for my navigator.

Mike

That sounds like a great time, good luck to all of you that will be competing. But I have to ask, do the promoters realize that's the same weekend as the F1 Canadian GP?

Well a few of us are now firming up plans to attend this [in my opinion] very interesting challenge. As stated earlier in this thread Martin will be competing in his VW with his family as the navigation team. I have firmed up plans with Steve McKelvie to participate in my Sentra, and it appears that Darin will navigate for Will, [hopefully] in Will's newly completed CRXFi project car.

So there are already three Ecomodders teams poised and ready! :D

Mike

I understand navigating is key in this kind of rally. No pressure! I'm sure it'll be a learning experience (if Will gets the CRXFi done).

If they are enforcing speed limits, then the timing can't be too hard to manage? It also means that instead of EOC, you gotta' use the engine to brake, instead.

I'd imagine you have some leeway to increase your cruising speed to allow more time for DWB, right? Sort of like I do in every day driving.

That's a good point Neil. If dealing with long down hill sections, engine braking is just as efficient as EOCing because a manual trans car will be in fuel cut.

Also, as Jeff's message stated, we will not be penalized for arriving to controls early. In a "normal" tsd rally you would be. So all we have to do is stay on course and keep a decent pace. No one yet knows how the scoring "curve" will be calculated [regarding being on time, or having a better mpg]. That is what will make it so interesting!

One thing I like about my SE-R is that if we are running a very late, the car has the ability to really make up time if we need it to. Steve and I are not worried about only having a 1 liter engine. :p

Anyone else from Ecomodder thinking about participating?

Just signed up to answer your questions...
 

Hi all, Jeff here from SMCC. I just signed up to the forum so that I can answer your questions and hopefully open up a good debate. The event is posted on tons of forums, but I'm sure this one will provide the most dialogue...

Actually, the date was initially chosen based on tons of other factors. Then we realised that it is indeed F1 weekend. All the better time to be in Montreal! If anyone is coming from far away and needs help with accommodations, or wants a guided tour of the events on the Friday/Sunday, etc. let me know and surely we can get you hooked up.

* * *

As for the event itself, I went out yesterday and ran the route to validate the instructions and timing. I had a GREAT time. The rally is quite a different drive from a normal TSD rally, because you're trying to be economical but at the same time fairly brisk. I couldn't be nearly as "optimal" as I was at the AMEC event in November, but I still found a nice smooth (and rather thrilling) pace through the twisty bits. Through the flat parts, there are lots of opportunities to use hypermiling techniques. I achieved 5.7L/100km without being late, without much optimisation and without any mods.

I'll post all of the precisions in a bit. For now, have a look at the updated event flyer (I can't post the link until I have 5 posts under my belt - you can find it on the SMCC website...)

Welcome to the forums Jeff. :)

Thanks for keeping us udated. By the way, how many mpg's is 5.7L/100km?

Mike

P.S. Hyperlink to the updated SMCC web site page is HERE.

More details...
 

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!

Economy Run videos
 

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. ;)

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

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

I posted the link to the videos in your post.

Darin

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.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...DSC05782-1.jpg
Today I built the parts I needed to install Steve's EZ-Pulse unit onto my Sentra.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...DSC06005-1.jpg
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. :D

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

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

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 --

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

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.

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!

Everyone is welcome!

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

Do I have to have a navigator (real person)? Would a GPS do? Thanks!

Just to clarify, this rally is open to anyone in any vehicle, as long as it is street legal. So pretty much anything goes!

You really should have a second human being in the vehicle reading out the instructions. They aren't difficult instructions (anyone can navigate with ease) but the driver will be overloaded trying to drive/navigate/economize simultaneously which is dangerous.

Just a quick note for the people from out of town - if the thought of an overpriced hotel room on F1 weekend is keeping you away from this event, let me know and we'll do our best to find you a vacant sofa or bed. ;)

Another note: the start/finish service station is located on Boul. Celine Dion in Celine Dion's hometown. Might be useful for convincing wives/girlfriends to come??? :rolleyes:

IMPORTANT: Scheduling Change
 

VERY IMPORTANT / TRES IMPORTANT :

Please take note that the schedule for the rally has been advanced by one hour. Registration will open at 11h and car zero will now leave at NOON.

* * *

In other news, there's now an elevation profile posted on the online flyer. I'll try to post the image here, not sure if I'm allowed yet...

http://www.smccrally.com/events/Econ...ionProfile.jpg

Oh! I like what I'm seeing.

Although I've been in contact with others here outside the forum, let it be known here that I indeed plan on attending, with Darin as my navigator (how could I have finagled a better navigator?!) Unfortunately, I won't be driving the "CRXFi" for this. It runs and drives, but I still haven't broken the engine in all the way, it still isn't inspected, and I don't trust it enough yet to bring it 5+hours away from home, and into another country to boot.

Really excited not only to do another economy run of sorts, but this will be my first rally of any kind, and my first time in Montreal. Can't wait to explore! Too bad pronouncing French is about the only working knowledge I've got.

Me too. :)

Jeff, I have to commend you on all of your efforts. You've really put a lot of thought and effort into this event. We're all very excited to have the opportunity to participate.

Mike

P.S. I finally installed an ignition kill switch for EOC on my Sentra. Now I can use my mpg instrumentation during the run.

Jeff has updated the SMCC economy run rally page and on it requests that we supply him with a few specs on our cars [if possible].

Jeff, just in case I forget to bring them with me, here are the specs for my car:

1993 Nissan Sentra SE-R

• Net mass of vehicle (kg): 2480 lbs = 1127.3 kg
  
• TC/EPA fuel economy estimate (L/100km or mpg): City 24mpg - Highway 32mpg
  
• Engine displacement: 1998cc
  
• Number of cylinders: 4

Mike

More car details
 

Thanks Mike, here are the specs for car zero:

1992 Toyota Levin GT-Apex

• 1090kg
• 8.7L/100km / 27mpg mixed driving (as found on a random website - there's no TC/EPA estimate for this car)
• 1.6L
• 4 cylinder

The "improvement over TC/EPA estimate" category will probably be the hardest to calculate since we'll have to dig up stats for all the cars and establish some kind of mixed driving formula. But I've got a spreadsheet rigged up so that we can score economy, time-penalized economy and time-penalized economy by weight quickly at the end of the rally. Should make for some interesting stats!

2000 VW Jetta TDI

• 1367kg
• TC 5.6/4.4 L/100km EPA 35/44 MPG
• 1975 cc
• 4 cylinder

1998 Honda Civic EX

• 2,445lbs/1,109kg
• EPA 28 Comb,25 City,32 Hwy
• 1.6L
• 4cyl