Weight factored FE?

[theholycow]

Would TMPG competitors be able to carry ballast? A ton of weight in my truckbed puts me at a decent 54.4 TMPG.

I'd win the TPMG competition towing my camper. 14,400 pounds total weight and 10 mpg shoving it up mountains as hard as I could without any regard for FE; I'm sure I'd get 12mpg now unless it was 100% stop-and-go. That's 86 TMPG by your calculator...

[Jay2TheRescue]

If I stop by the quarry before I leave town I can get a ton of bluestone gravel in my pickup truck for $10...

-Jay

[blownb310]

Originally Posted by theholycow

Would TMPG competitors be able to carry ballast? A ton of weight in my truckbed puts me at a decent 54.4 TMPG.

I'd have to say no because our electronic race car scales don't go high enough. When we drove the 6,400 lb. Suburban onto the scales the digital readout went to all zeros. We then realized that we could not accurately weigh the Chevy so we used the curb weight on the vehicle registration instead. Also, the only reason the Suburban was there was because our August Economy Run event preceeded our club picnic later that day and we knew that entire families would be coming along. So we offered an award for the Worst fuel mileage to encourage people with gas guzzlers to particpate. That's the reason why the [454 c.i.] 4WD Suburban only got 11 mpg. He wasn't hypermiling one bit.

[theholycow]

The weight on the registration may have been GVWR (maximum legal weight with a full load), not curb weight. Many states (mine, for example) do it that way.

Perhaps a nearby truck scale (truck stops, gravel yards, landfills, transfer stations, some trucking/multimodal hubs), or the police/DOT, would be willing to help weigh the heavier vehicles?

My VW would come in at a respectable 66 TMPG with a full tank of gas and if I squeezed 40 MPG out of it (not my best record but tough for me to achieve on my commute).

[GasSavers_SD26]

I drove over the scale where I take my aluminum cans for recycling. The Excursion went over the scale at 7900# with less than 3/4 of a tank of fuel. LOL! At least it's lighter than the bus was.

Does make my ton miles per gallon better than our Focus.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by blownb310

I'd have to say no because our electronic race car scales don't go high enough. When we drove the 6,400 lb. Suburban onto the scales the digital readout went to all zeros. We then realized that we could not accurately weigh the Chevy so we used the curb weight on the vehicle registration instead. Also, the only reason the Suburban was there was because our August Economy Run event preceeded our club picnic later that day and we knew that entire families would be coming along. So we offered an award for the Worst fuel mileage to encourage people with gas guzzlers to particpate. That's the reason why the [454 c.i.] 4WD Suburban only got 11 mpg. He wasn't hypermiling one bit.

Oh, Ok. I'd take Rusty up there then, but he's recently been put back on the road. Not sure I'm ready to take my chances on a long haul with him.

-Jay

[DarbyWalters]

My Jeep Liberty CRD went over the scales at 4550#...on the highway (100%) I can get 28+...What would be my TMPG at 28mpg?

[Jay2TheRescue]

According to the calculator it it is 63.7 TMPG

[itjstagame]

Not sure if you guys saw the results of the 2nd one or not: http://www.icerace.com/amec-2008-economy-2.html

The first one was for fun before a picnic, the 2nd one brought out some hardcore drivers. The Prius and the diesel had over 100 ton mpg.

That Avenger that won last time at 48MPG I was sure was a filling fluke but he got 50MPG this time, so that's amazing, he needs to start a gaslog.

As for the route, it's sweeping curves with lots of ups and downs in the Adirondacks. The only lights are at the end we pass a stretch of 6 or so in 1-2 miles. That sucked. But there was also a section of probably almost 30 miles all with either a steady or slight downgrade. I'm sure most didn't have their engines on for a long time.

I rode with my friend in his RX7, we got the worst MPG and the fastest course time! But mostly we tuned up his MegaSquirt a bit and had a fun time. It's really funny because I have a Festiva that can average 50MPG and he has an CRX HF (as well as a VX) that easily pulls 55MPG and we probably could have gotten really close to the 65MPG needed to win.

[samandw]

A measure of efficiency commonly used in the aerospace industry is "seat miles per gallon". I think to factor in weight, we need to compare "actual payload-mile/gallon".

i.e. examples:

If you drive a 5800# SUV, get 13 mpg, and normally drive by yourself at say 200#, thats 2600 payload-lb-miles/gallon. Weight of vehicle shouldn't matter, it's the weight of the payload carried that matters. On the other hand, if you filled all 9 seats with 220# passengers, and manage 12 mpg, you get 23,760 payload-lb-miles/gallon.

A motorcycle at 70 mpg with a 170# rider would be 11,900 payload-lb-miles/gallon.

A 12 passenger Dodge Sprinter Diesel full of 200# passengers at 26 mpg would net 62,400 payload-lb-miles/gallon.

just my .02