Experiment for VXers

[monroe74]

Originally Posted by R.I.D.E.

My efforts at recognition are related to my engine and powertrain patents

Very impressive. I didn't realize patents had been issued. What are the patent numbers?

By the way, good luck with the medical issues.

[palemelanesian]

I admit, my statements on what throttle position to use for the pulse are not scientifically derived. I've looked at every BSFC chart I can find and averaged the points. That's how I get my 1500-2200 rpm range. The charts vary, but the load ranges seem to be 50-90% with many in the tighter 65-80% range. I use that for a baseline.

From there it's seat-of-pants driving with constant adjustments for conditions. I know what works in my car.
I should preface my comments with that, because it may or may not apply to another car.

By the way, I've used up to 2700 rpm (60mph) on the highway and that was my best highway trip. It was with a nice tailwind, though.

[monroe74]

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

I admit, my statements on what throttle position to use for the pulse are not scientifically derived.

Likewise. Statements on a forum like this that are scientifically derived are inevitably outnumbered by the other kind.

From there it's seat-of-pants driving with constant adjustments for conditions. I know what works in my car.
I should preface my comments with that, because it may or may not apply to another car.

In other words, YMMV. But hopefully that's obvious.

I think the subject is interesting because the VX/HX are a slightly different animal, compared with other cars and even other Civics. So the normal rules might not fit exactly.

It was with a nice tailwind, though.

I don't know why I can't buy a sail I can mount on my roof. I'm almost serious. After all, it could be retractable, and under computer control. A little bit like those silly spoilers on the back of the Chrysler Crossfire, and certain Porsches.

[R.I.D.E.]

Appreciate the imput Pale. I understand your driving tactic and try to emulate it within the constraints of the differences in our cars. I would also be willing to bet that WOT would reduce your mileage.

My best mileage was 304 using 4.627 gallons of gas, at about 67 MPH drafting trucks as much as possible, probably about 80 % on the time. Most of the rest was in heavy traffic on Prince Willaim Parkway going to the Dulles Expo Center and back. Started at 1100 AM and rerturned at 1030 PM, with some bumper to bumper, on I 95 south, from exit 152B south to Richmond, especially before Fredericksburg.

Monroe since 1999 I haven't kept every reciept. When I used to play golf and played a very good round. I could go back and remember all the shots, all the yardage, and the score per hole for a full round of 18 holes. I just remembered the average mileages over the last 150 K miles, all that I considered necessary.

I make a note of the mileage and remember it. From here on out I will save the reciepts which is all I need to start a gaslog. That doesn't change the results or the credibility of the claims. I didn't know the wife was throwing them away until yesterday, she usually never throws anything away. She had a maternity dress for 28 years LOL.

Whe I was driving the Del Sol I used exactly the same tactic as Pale but on Interstates I found P&G to be too much work for me, or should I say too much of a distraction to my situational awareness. My driving puts most people to sleep. In the Del Sol S (not SI) I averaged 43-44 mpg, so consider than in comparing my VX mileage to Pales considerable accomplishnment using a very similar vehicle.

The VX is 14 mpg average better than that (the Del Sol).

The patents are still in process, a long drawn out battle that has cost 20 grand to date.

The first one was for an engine design, second is for an in wheel infinitely variable and reversible transmission that weighs the same as the brake parts you no longer need. Selective 4 wheel drive, 4 wheel regeneration, with acceleration potential of 0-60 in 5 seconds or less. An accumulator can store many hundreds of horsepower seconds of energy, enough to reach the limit of the 4 tires ability to maintain traction. It takes about 20 revolutions of your wheel to do a 60-0 panic stop. With this system your acceleration rate would be exactly the opposite. In other words you car could accelerate as fast as it stopped, with 90% of the energy recovered by the previous stop. Add the power of the engine to make up the small loss in the drive system, the essence of a hybrid.

No electric hybrid comes close to the potential for the hydraulic hybrid. Regardless of whether your primary source of sustained power, electric, diesel, gasoline, regardless of the original source of your energy. The accumulator IVT design will be the powertrain. Future developments may prove a flywheel system to be more practical than an accumulator, but with accumulators at 97% they will be hard to beat, especially considering the fact accumulators offer almost indefinite storage times.

After the powertrain is developed iand commercialized, I will build the engine.
It has no reciprocating parts, variable compression, potential multifuel capability, no valve train, no cooling system, no induction system (always WOT Monroe). it will operate in a rpm range from 300 to 2500 rpm with exactly the same amount of fuel and air for each combustion cycle. Each combustion cycle will always be a complete cylinder filling event. Engine on off cycles will be controlled by sensors that determine the minimum and maximum pressure reserves in the accumulator. The engine uses a single intake and exhaust port, a single injector, for the equivalent of 6 cylinder operation, and can destroke itself and transform itself into a flywheel storing its energy reserves in its own spinning mass, with all parasitic losses reduced to the point where it could maintain at least 80% of its stored energy for a few minutes. The lubrication system would serve as cooling system when sustained loads created suffecient heat losses for cooling to be necessary.

NASA has developed Flywheel storage systems that are amazing, but extroadinarily expensive and not really practical for auto applications.
Mangnetic levitation bearings, 150K rpm composite rotors, six months at 95% efficiency with 10 kilowatt hours storage in a very small component.

This bodes well for dedicated electric hybrids with Lithium batteries and flyywheel or hydraulic accumulators for high load blistering acceleration comparable to any modern supercar.

The IVT in wheel transmissions will be capable of mciro adjustments in stroke so they can manitain speed regardless of the accumulators current pressure. In other words as the pressure drops the stroke in the motors (in wheel) increases using more volume to maintain the same wheel torque.
Virginia Tech has committed (read their document) to build, test, and CAD a prototype to prove the efficiency of the design. they have indicated that co-ownership is possible based on the results, the efficiency threshold is 82%. I am hoping for 90%. The best to date is about 78% (check UPS Hydraulic Hybrid).

I spoke to a journalist with the ASME yesterday who is investigating my design. This is after 3 years of doors slammed in my face, including 6 trips to my Senator, the DOE, John Kargull ofthe EPA, Charles Gray of the EPA., Batelle Labs, Blah, Blah, hundreds of hours of wasted effort.

The EPA has built a 3800 lb mule vehicle that gets 80 MPG combined using a hydraulic hybrid powertrain. The EPA also claims a potential 80% improvement for powertrain development, without any engine improvement.

Like your own skepticism Monroe I could have accomplished my goals and the whole planet could have been reaping the rewards right now if I had succeeded earlier (like 3 years ago). Over 1 trillion dollars has been wasted on imported oil during my constantly frustrating efforts to get people the message.

Compared to the EPA built vehicles mine is simple with 15-25% fewer parts per vehicle, and total reliability. The design (according to the professor of engineering at VaTech, has 3 distinct advantages over the surrent state of the art in bent axis pumps.

By this Christmas the questions will have been answered. the most basic design is a launch assist axle that collects deceleration energy and reapplies it for the next acceleration cycle. It could be incorporated into existing designs and used to immediately make city mileage figures better than highway. That change alone combined with current technology could get fleet averages to 35 MPG. One secret that is not well known is the launch assist axle also has the capability to be recharged by the cars engine with engine pulsing and gliding creating pressure in the accumulator to maintain vehicle speeds even while the engine is not running. Engine restart would be using the same hydraulic system.

Imagine pulse and glide, but your vehicle maintains a constant speed. That is the heart of my concept, as well as the end of hypermiling, because now your car will hypermile while you drive in a normal fashion.

We hypermile because our vehicles are not properly designed. When that has been corrected we will no longer need to hypermile. After all its more efficient to not have to pay the penalty of higher speeds necessary to hypermile. The average speed is more efficient that the sum of the extreemes.

regards
gary

[monroe74]

Originally Posted by R.I.D.E.

since 1999 I haven't kept every reciept

I'm not talking about 1999. I'm talking about your VX, which I understand you got recently. You said you have mileage figures for every mile you've traveled. But I guess actually you don't.

The patents are still in process

Oh. Earlier you said this: "My efforts at recognition are related to my engine and powertrain patents." That sounds like a reference to patents that exist. But I guess these don't exist yet.

Virginia Tech has committed (read their document)

What document?

Like your own skepticism

I'm skeptical of anyone who makes misstatements and then refuses to take responsibility for doing so.

I read all 1300 words in your latest post, but I can't find the ones that explain why you said this:

Originally Posted by R.I.D.E.

my mileage is 15% higher than yours.

[R.I.D.E.]

Yes but you provided the evidence you previously witheld, which proves my mileage is much better than 15% greater.

regards
gary

[palemelanesian]

Originally Posted by monroe74

Since I'm using WOT, lean burn is something that essentially never happens.

Originally Posted by R.I.D.E.

Yep and thats why my mileage is 15% higher than yours.

Originally Posted by R.I.D.E.

My mileage per fillup for the last 5 tanks is 55, 55, 57, 62, 65.

I learned to use the advantages of the differences in my VX versus my previous car a Del Sol, to achieve the same results, combined mileages of 3-5 mpg over the old EPA highway rating. You choose to guarantee they will never be utilized.

I'm getting the mileage I do by using Pulse & Glide extensively. I don't think my results would be much different between my current 75-80% throttle and WOT. The driving style stands, with that minor modification.

That best highway trip I mentioned earlier was 75mpg. That trip is included in my latest fillup at 66.6 mpg. My old epa highway estimate is 38. That's just a bit more than 3-5 mpg over. If I had a lighter car (vx), better gear ratios (vx), smaller engine (vx), I think I could get even better numbers, even ignoring the lean-burn option.

[monroe74]

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

If I had a lighter car (vx), better gear ratios (vx), smaller engine (vx), I think I could get even better numbers, even ignoring the lean-burn option.

Yes, I think you would probably get even better numbers in a VX. And I think lean burn wouldn't be a factor, since it tends to not happen with the large throttle openings you use.

[monroe74]

Originally Posted by R.I.D.E.

you provided the evidence you previously witheld, which proves my mileage is much better than 15% greater.

I haven't posted my average mileage. You're pretending I have. We're still waiting for you to tell us what my average mileage is, and how you know. Because you wouldn't simply be making things up, right?

[R.I.D.E.]

With 31,400 actual miles I have to consider what the long term consequences of some hypermiling techniques.

No EOC, no 60 + psi tires. Tranny problems ,and a rattletrap from zero flex tires. Long distance EOC has other consequences such as loosing your closed loop as the O2 sensor cools off, as well as the coolant in the radiator cooling off to the point where you get enrichment on a restart.

I lost a fan belt on my 280Z 10 years ago and pulsed and glided back to my shop, about 10 miles. When I got there the coolant temp had dropped 40 degrees. The fan was turning the water pump due to air pressure in spite of the fan clutch. On the Z car that made the ECU increase the injector duration which actually was detrimental to FE.

It's a balance and I read a post by Wayne Gerdes that basically stated the VX is not an easy car to get the results hypermiling compared to other cars.

As I stated in my earlier post when cars are designed properly they will hypermile themselves without the need for the driver functioning as the brains of the system.

My system of driving will never produce the best results possible, thats not my objective. My objective is 8 years of transportation, another 200 K miles. The best possible mileage without increasing wear and tear significantly is my objective.

My mods are higher tire pressure and WAI intake snorkel reversal.

I could drive on Route 17 in the deserted stretch between Gloucester and Tappahanock, pulse to 45 and glide with EOC down to 20, and get 100 MPG.
Thats not my objective. This car is my daily transportation and when my wife and I go anywhere her Murano stays in the garage.

I also do not generally go 60 MPH, don"t feel like being pushed down the Interstate by a moron, and with thraffic densities of a hundred cars with barely 4 car lengths between them in some cases I don't try to hypermile, just drafting when that is the situation.

I am not here to compete with anyone, my objective to to give OPEC the least amount of funding to spend on making my life miserable.

All things considered the best average speeds for best mileage are lower than my averages. If I lower my average I loose the light timing on my daily trip (also previously mentioned) and that means 56 traffic lights to destroy my mileage, in 40 miles.

No two situations are the same, mine works best for me, yours works best for you. It's not a matter of right or wrong, more a matter of maximizing the opportunities within the limitations of the situation.

regards
gary