First WFEC was a huge success!
Auston Hensley –
CleanMPG – June 22, 2008
The history of fuel economy goes as far back as cars do. Cars have always had the need for fuel efficiency to keep costs down regardless of who it was or whatever was being driven. Fuel economy championships date to the 1950's during the Mobilgas Economy Runs and similar events being held today. Where better than to demonstrate what can be done with a vehicle in the best possible conditions in any place other than Indiana, the home of the Indianapolis 500?
This is of course, a story told through my own eyes.
The World Fuel Economy Championship held its first meeting over the weekend in Elkhart, Indiana, at Larry Trowbridge's (Diamondlarry) place. I arrived with Jud (Bestmapman) in his Prius-II. Wayne B, Larry, Hobbit, and others had already arrived and were setting up tents in the backyard to spend the weekend.
The rest of the evening was pretty much spent setting up the tents and meeting everybody. I think it was just spent swamped in various bugs and barn cats who'd eat anything. Larry has a Beagle and several cats, as well as a variety of older vehicles laying about. Also, we found out that he and his son have the best commute imaginable. There's almost no traffic lights of stop signs, no traffic, just about as flat as it could possibly be, and if there was any traffic it was all country roads so they could go around. We spent the rest of the night in lawn chairs in a circle, with a bright light well away from us to attract the bugs away. And then hobbit got right next to the light...
At about two in the morning, Wayne arrived in the MDX along with a whole FSP-full of people. I, half-awake, walk over and ask what kind of car it is and the response I get is 'It's a fuel sucking pig' :P
Without any further major incidents, the rest of us had arrived by the next morning. As soon as enough of us were awake, we then spent the next two hours talking about various small things, none of which were important. We were hungry. The move that finally got us moving though was when I cranked the starter in the MDX, immediately getting everyone's attention. LOL
Official course map placed on Larry's wall.
Hobbit with Blue Swayed and TorqueNada visible in the background.
Left to right: Hobbit, Debbie, Peter, and Jerad
The cars in the parking lot as we ate at McDeath (McDonalds).
Note the orange Insight, compare it to the Ram doolie
Wayne talking just before the economy runs began.
That is, after we got some McDeath for breakfast.
Never, ever burn any gas unless you absolutely have to!
Wayne pressing up those tires to 80 PSI
Hobbit pressing up his tires the hard way
And then once breakfast was done, the fuel economy runs began. I was the official score-keeper, which also became the guy who makes sure all the cars are out there, and who's supposed to be driving, and who's next. I spent most of Saturday running around like a chicken with my head cut off.
For the Priuses and FEH, they started halfway down Larry's driveway, left on the road, and then another left up the hill at the stop sign. We drew lots on who would go in what order, and three Priuses and the FEH were all out there at any one time. The Insights started at the top of the hill with someone to push, in order to get it rolling down a hill and then pop the clutch.
The Priuses started with a SoC at 70 and the FEH at 52.4. The Insights had their IMA functions disabled and the packs fully charged. All cars were sent off at three to five minute intervals when the road was clear of traffic.
The course was 16.1 miles round trip. This consisted of four miles south along County Road 1, including three stop signs. Then we'd turn west along County Road 40, with a posted speed limit of 50. We'd go another four miles to a school where we'd turn around and come back the same way we'd come.
As Saturday went on and the results began coming in. During this time, Laurie in a clinic with Wayne posted a 1.1 L/100km (213.8 MPG over 6.2 miles!)
The highlight of the day had to be this, though: as I was making my run in Blue Swayed late in the day, I drove by a house with kids playing in the front yard. And as I rolled past, < 15 MPH for sure, one of the kids shouted out loud "Why can't those cars go faster?"
Now that I think of it, this event would look really weird to an outsider. The same seven cars, all with out of state plates, going back and forth on a road in front of your house, all day? And they never do more than 20 miles an hour? That's probably on a local Northern Indiana forum somewhere by now. "Strange sighting in Elkhart today" or something.
The world-record holder of the best miles per gallon in a hypermiling championship now belongs to Wayne (xcel), who posted a 1.1L/100km (213.8 MPG) over 16.1 miles in Sean's Insight, Blue Swayed.
Wayne Gerdes (xcel) in Blue Swayed after the economy run.
The FCD reports 15.7 miles/25.2 kilometers, probably because of so much FAS'ing.
Final Results
Prius
| Name | Miles per gallon (mpg) | State of Charge (SoC) |
| Wayne G. (Champion) | 136 MPG | 46.0 |
| Justin F. (Runner-up) | 131 MPG | 47.0 |
| Dan | 129 MPG | 44.0 |
| Jerad | 127 MPG *1 | 49.0 |
| Andrew | 119 MPG | 50.5 |
| Hobbit | 118 MPG | 52.5 |
| Ken | 118 MPG | 48.5 |
| Brian | 117 MPG | 55.5 |
| Peter | 117 MPG *1 | 47.0 |
| Laurie | 116 MPG *2 | 55.0 |
| Larry | 113 MPG | 52.5 |
| Sean | 113 MPG *1 | 50.0 |
| Jud | 112 MPG *2 | 47.0 |
| Mike | 110 MPG | 51.5 |
| Rani | 108 MPG | 46.5 |
| Bob | 102 MPG | 48.0 |
Ford Escape Hybrid
| Name | Miles per gallon (mpg) | State of Charge (SoC) |
| Wayne G. (Champion) | 75.7 MPG | 43.5 |
| Sean W. (Runner-up) | 74.4 MPG | 48.1 |
| Dan | 72.1 MPG | 42.3 |
| Ken | 70.4 MPG | 40.2 |
| Debbie | 70.2 MPG | 50.4 |
Honda Insight
The Honda Insight FCD maxes out at 150 MPG so we used metric measurements and converted to US MPG.
| Name | Miles per gallon (mpg) |
| Wayne G. (Champion) | 213.8 MPG (1.1L/100km) |
| Wayne B. (Runner-up) | 196.0 MPG (1.2L/100km) |
| Dan | 168.0 MPG (1.4L/100km) |
| Auston | 156.8 MPG (1.5L/100km) |
| Andrew | 156.8 MPG (1.5L/100km) |
| Brian | 149.6 MPG |
| Justin | 145.9 MPG *3 |
| Ken | 145.7 MPG |
| Jud | 144.7 MPG |
| Laurie | 142.4 MPG |
| Bob | 141.4 MPG |
| Rani | 134.1 MPG *3 |
| Chuck | 129.4 MPG |
| Sean | 93.5 MPG *3 |
TorqueNada (Ford Ranger P/U)
| Name | Miles per gallon (mpg) |
| Ken (Champion) | 57.6 MPG |
| Andrew (Runner-up) | 53.0 MPG |
Toyota Corolla
| Name | Miles per gallon (mpg) |
| Wayne G. (Champion) | 73.5 MPG |
*1 = One of the Priuses read distance driven incorrectly, skewing final MPG by 3%. These are the corrected numbers.
*2 = Thunderstorms happened during these runs, lowering the final mileage.
*3 = At some point on Saturday one of the Insights had a brake problem, and it dragged, lowering mileages by a third or more.
All in all, I had a great time meeting Wayne, Chuck, Andrew, and the whole crew. I pray they all have a safe return home and that we hold another meeting like this as soon as possible.
Hybrid Mode
