A.M.E.C. Economy Run II - Gas mileage contest!

[blownb310]

Greetings fellow Japanese classic car owners. For those of you located in the northeast, the Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club A.M.E.C. will be holding a Fall Foliage "Economy Run" coming up this October 5, 2008. I will be driving the above '77 Datsun B210 in this event. What better way is there to showcase what our cars were originally designed for right?


A little history: A.M.E.C. held it's first Economy Run back in 1954. Now 54 years later with record high fuel prices, the club decided to bring the event back. Our members created a new course and the event took place this past August 10th. It was very well received and was thoroughly enjoyed by all who participated. Results can been seen here. It was a good dry run to make sure everything went smoothly and that our laptop excel program worked properly to calculate the results. We enjoyed it so much that we have planned an "Economy Run II" and this time would like to open it up to like minded individuals who would like to join us. To keep it easy to manage and fun we will limit registration to the first 20 entrants.

Here are the details:

What: Fuel mileage contest through the southern Adirondacks of NY. The route will be on some really nice scenic and challenging roads and will run 106.3 miles in distance. Your “economic” driving ability will be tested. Cars will be filled with fuel by an AMEC official and then weighed on electronic scales. Small ramps are employed for easy on and off of the scales. 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 Fairway Oil gas station on Route 5 in Fonda, NY. [directions below].

When: Sunday, October 5th, 2008. 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. (They also don’t use ethanol, if that makes a difference to anyone.)

Cost: $10 per vehicle

Awards include:

1. Best overall mpg for gas cars

2. Best overall mpg for diesel and hybrid cars

3. Best ton-mile per gallon [TMPG] vehicle weight in pounds, divided by 2000, times miles driven, divided by gallons consumed. A handy calculator is here.

4. Best carbureted mpg

5. Best miles per dollar. [Based on the actual cost to travel the 106 miles. For example, we had a diesel VW Jetta get 56 mpg and a Dodge Avenger get 48 mpg. Because the diesel fuel was about a dollar more per gallon than the gasoline, the Avenger won this contest.]

Note: If we get more than one motorcycle we will add a class for them.

Awards: This event will conclude about noon, and our plan is to proceed up the nearby Checkers Out Go-Kart track for lunch, awards, and optional indoor go-kart races if you so desire. Checkers Out Speedway is an indoor go kart track open year round, and is located about ¾ of a mile south of Johnstown, NY, on NYS Route 30A. Physical address: 2299 State Hwy 30A Johnstown, NY 12905. Track phone: 518 736-4630

Directions: to Fairway Oil gas station: 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.

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. There is also a message board thread regarding this event on the A.M.E.C. message board here.





Registered driver's list as of 9-6-08

1. Dave Burnham - 1991 Diesel VW Jetta
2. Dick Vedder - 2000 Ford ZX2 S/R
3. Mark Long - 1997 Dodge Avenger
4. Mike Kamm - 1977 Datsun B210 mpg
5. Claude Hutchings - 1999 Saab 9-3
6. Ernie Yue - 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250cc
7. Ronny Kienhuis - 1972 Citroen SM or 1992 Subaru SVX
8. "Bestmapman" [Clean mpg forums] 2007 Toyota Prius, Cincinnati, KY.
9. "JPS000" - 2008 Toyota Prius
10. Al Walker - [Clean MPG] - 2004 Toyota Prius - Boston, MA
11. Brian Wilsey - 2003 Mazda Protege [2.0]
12. Tom Moeller - 1994 Mazda Miata - Saratoga NY
13. Carl Germain - 1950 Studebaker Champion Business Coupe
14. Bill Clark - 1960 Metropolitan convertible - Endicott, NY
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.



_________________
'77 Datsun B210 [Hypermiler - 77.04 mpg!]
'81 Datsun 210

[blownb310]

Other classics are signing up. Carl Germain's bringing a 1950 Studebaker Champion Business Coupe and look what Bill Clark plans to be driving:



It's a 1960 Nash Metropolitan. If it rains, he will bring his Metro hardtop instead!

I'd love to have some classic Japanese cars come out to play too.
_________________
'77 Datsun B210 [Hypermiler - 77.04 mpg!]
'81 Datsun 210

[blownb310]

_________________
'77 Datsun B210 [Hypermiler - 77.04 mpg!]
'81 Datsun 210

[blownb310]

Updated enrty list as of 9-14-08

1. Dave Burnham - 1991 Diesel Jetta - Delanson, NY
2. Dick Vedder - 2000 Ford ZX2 S/R - Johnstown, NY
3. Mark Long - 1997 Dodge Avenger - Staatsburg, NY
4. Mike Kamm - 1977 Datsun B210 - Averill Park, NY
5. Claude Hutchings - 1999 Saab 9-3 - Saquiot, NY
6. Ernie Yue - 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250cc - Mechanicville, NY
7. Ronny Kienhuis - 1972 Citroen SM or 1992 Subaru SVX - Long Island, NY
8. "Bestmapman" [Clean mpg forums] 2007 Toyota Prius - Cincinnati, KY.
9. "JPS000" - 2008 Toyota Prius
10. Al Walker - [Clean MPG] - 2004 Toyota Prius - Boston, MA
11. Brian Wilsey - 2003 Mazda Protege - Amsterdam, NY
12. Tom Moeller - 1994 Mazda Miata - Saratoga NY
13. Carl Germain - 1950 Studebaker Champion Business Coupe - Syracuse, NY
14. Bill Clark - 1960 Metropolitan - Endicott, NY
15. Jonathan Bartlett - 2005 Passat TDI wagon[Biodiesel] - Sterling, MA
16. Pam Subik - 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee - Mayfield, NY
17. Tom Compoli - 1981 VW Rabbit - Schenectady, NY
18. Chris Werner, 1991 Ford Festiva - Troy, NY
19.
20.

Only two spots left!

This event will be completely full shortly. What I will do is add 3 more spots for last minute cancellations and no shows.

1.
2.
3.
_________________
'77 Datsun B210 [Hypermiler - 77.04 mpg!]
'81 Datsun 210

[blownb310]

Here's a recap of how I prepared my '77 B210 for this event.

Previously the car was modified for speed and power. I used it for hillclimbs and such. I built and modified the 1397cc engine to 1608cc's complete with twin 40mm Dellortos...


It ran terrific but only got 25 mpg. OK so I needed a stock engine for economy run events.


So I removed this original 1397cc engine from my '76 B210 parts car. It sat outside in a field for the last 15 years. It needed some TLC.


I tore it down and freshened it up.


I used an '80 Datsun 210 "mpg" cylinder head with it's smaller round intake ports and small combustion chambers. This head, on the B210 block [with it's flat top pistons] yields about 10.5 to 1 compression ratio. High compression is key for improving gas mileage.


Other than the Pacesetter header and 2" mandrel bent exhaust system, the reast of the drivetrain is stock.


The big engine comes out, the little one goes in....

After bolting it all together, I fine tuned it with an Innovate LM1 wide band oxygen sensor setup. After rejetting the stock Hitachi carburetor for between 14.6 and 15.0 to 1 A/F ratio, I took the car out on a 64 mile test loop the afternoon before the big event. I topped up the fuel tank to the rim and then carefully drove a 64 mile loop. I refilled the tank [right to the rim again] and it took 1.1 gallons of gas. I was very happy to have gotten 56 mpg in this initial test! B210's sit quite high off of the ground and this brings a poor drag coefficient, so I went home that night and tried to help the poor aerodynamics. I added a makeshift front chin spoiler, clear plexiglass headlight covers, and blocked off half of the grill to reduce wind drag.



The next I morning I competed in the A.M.E.C. Economy Run event and carefully drove the 118.7 mile distance. During the post event refill it took only 1.91 gallons of fuel. This equates to 61.53 miles per gallon!



I think we have a new record for the B210/B310 chassis folks!

This was not my absolute best attempt at fuel mileage for these cars. I would have needed much more time to prepare. There are many other things I can and will try in the future but I don't want to do this with my B210 though. My plan is to take this to the next level with my '81 210 sedan instead. Then I will get into lowering the car for aerodynamics and such.

Full results for this event are HERE.

More pics can be seen HERE.
_________________
'77 Datsun B210 [Hypermiler - 77.04 mpg!]
'81 Datsun 210

[CharlieBucket]

i have enjoyed following this on the yahoo. nice to have pictures to go along. i have always been jealous of your motor and your bumpers! i would buy either of them in a heartbeat but i doubt you want to sell. do you have connections for more bumpers and sidedraft carbs? really i want the bumpers more but even if i could afford them i don't know a realible source.

[blownb310]

I bought the bumpers from LMC Hadrian in the UK, but that was 10 years ago. I was able to source the proper brackets to mount them from a dealer in the UK also. I doubt you could find these nowadays though.

The twin side draft intake manifold came from Redline manifolds in Australia. The twin 40 Dellortos were bought used from a friend. They have 32mm chokes in them.

Mike
_________________
'77 Datsun B210 [Hypermiler - 77.04 mpg!]
'81 Datsun 210

[blownb310]

As winter is approaching the car will be stored for the next several months, but I did source a 3.54 differential for it to replace my standard 3.70's. I also have a set of narrow 155/80R13's for it as well. Plus there are quite a bit more changes being planned. Records are made to be broken, so I'll be aiming for even higher mpg's in the Spring.

Mike
_________________
'77 Datsun B210 [Hypermiler - 77.04 mpg!]
'81 Datsun 210