Urba Centurion Update - (Kubota diesel, 100+ MPG in mixed driving - Fall 2012 on)

[sheepdog 44]

I was watching this video and i found it very inspirational.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQUJxV8QxEQ

[Xist]

"Spitfire body and engine have been sold."

So, who bought it?

[changzuki]

Leaving the hotel we had about 30 minutes or so to make it to the track check-in. Anyone who's been in downtown Watkins Glen knows that the commute up that 4.5 mile wall to get to the track is in itself worth a trophy!
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And yes, those who must go downtown to fill at the pumps, have the mileage back up the endless hill included in their final mpg numbers for the fuel economy portion - ugh!
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With 10 minutes to spare and pointing at 220 degrees on the gauge, the radiator's electric fan and the heater blower on full-bore, Centurion arrived at the track.
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And "They" were waiting!
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~CrazyJerry

[changzuki]

For the second year, Centurion had no issues passing the tech inspection. Everything works and there's really not much to see anyway.
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After waiting for an open bay, it was time to wake her up to get the transponder attached and race number affixed. Look at the kisser on this thing!:
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(Photo courtesy of Robert Gillespie - 2015 GGP)
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~CrazyJerry

[changzuki]

In the Tech garage Centurion was waiting for the transponder to be attached and the official Green Grand Prix race number to be affixed.
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Within seconds the crowd swelled and Centurion was surrounded...
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~CrazyJerry

[changzuki]

While waiting for our Stage II track fuel economy competition to begin, Centurion attracted the West Philly High School Team (EVX Team):
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Enjoyed visiting with those students and their instructor Simon Hauger. Their project built Factory Five 818 1.9L TDI is parked right next to Centurion (Blue car #44):
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They were running biodiesel for the event. The EXV Team was entered in Stage II competition / Exhibition class same as we were.
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Simon Hauger is the EVX Team's Instructor. I asked him how the students were doing and he gave me thumbs-up!! Thumbs-up to you Simon for working with the students to churn out a great looking 818!!
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The Green Grand Prix is an educational event as well as a competition.
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It was a great day and we hadn't event hit the track yet!
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~CrazyJerry
(Photos Courtesy of Peter Cutler - Team Centurion 2015)

[changzuki]

One of Centurion's goals for 2015 was to be "freeway capable". After cruising at a very laid back 52 mph from the 2014 Green Grand Prix, it was decided that something needed to be changed and that something was the transmission.
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In spite of all the criticisms of the Spitfire transmission with optional overdrive, it is exactly what the car needed! Centurion's 257 mile journey to the 2015 Green Grand Prix was with traffic on all roads including the Interstate. Yes, long hills do slow it down but it's only a minor inconvenience. The return trip home was non-eventful and it performed flawlessly. MPG was higher at the 2015 Green Grand Prix and even though highway speed was also up, mpg was only marginally lower compared to last year's trip on the exact same route.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXnu...ature=youtu.be

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~CrazyJerry

[pgfpro]

Way Cool to see the younger generation into ecomodding.

[changzuki]

Yes, it is nice to see the younger folks taking notice:
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~CrazyJerry

[changzuki]

- Centurion's Camber -
In the post above, a passing car took pics and made references to Centurion's mismatched wheel camber. Looking from the front, the wheels resemble a cowboy who's just got off a very round and overweight horse - major bow legs! The opposite can be said when looking at the rear wheels from behind the car. The pic attached with this posting shows it fairly well even from a side view:
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There is however, a very good reason for this, but to the casual observer, it looks, well, "different". Early Triumph spitfires (and other cars with early independent rear suspensions) "could" get themselves into a situation where the rear wheels can "tuck" under the car. This Centurion uses a 1966 Spitfire as it's base so this concern has merit in certain (but rare) situations:
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The simple fix is to lower the rear of the car a tad and that in turn will allow the tops of the rear wheels to lean inward toward the car - thus lessening the chance of the dreaded wheel tuck ever happening. On the other end of the car, the tops of the front wheels do lean slightly away from the car. When the Brits were getting stoned in a garage engineering the early Spitfires (hey it was 1966), they deemed this odd looking arrangement to be the standard for these cars, and as crude as it was, it worked.
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So, in short - it looks odd but handles like a rocket on rails. We could run through hairpin/descending turn #1 at speeds other cars could not and we never chirped a tire or drifted out.
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- The above is taken from "Chapter 5: Interesting info that most are too disinterested to ask about" -
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~CrazyJerry