SMCC Economy Run - Montreal - 6/9/12

[Blownb310]

Click on the flyer for full event info.

Saturday, June 9th, 2012.

A fuel economy rally on fun to drive roads. The goal is to stay on time while minimising fuel consumption. There will be several elapsed time controls at which you may arrive early without penalty. Controls may only be located at the end of a section (EOS). Penalties will be accorded based on fuel consumption and lateness. There will equally be penalties for leaving a control before the given out-time. No previous experience is required to participate. 100% asphalt. Any car can complete the event without problems. The route is identical to the both the 2010 & 2011 events allowing comparisons with previous results.





Here are last June's results converted to mpg:

1977 Datsun B210 [1.4 liter] 60.40 mpg
2005 Smart [.8 liter diesel] 56.81 mpg
2010 Smart [1.0 liter gas] 58.94 mpg
2011 Honda Civic Hybrid 53.45 mpg
1999 Toyota Tercel 52.38 mpg
2001 Toyota Echo 51.80
2011 Hyundai Elantra 43.23 mpg
1992 Toyota Levin GT-Apex 41.85 mpg
1985 Toyota MR2 30.37 mpg
2007 Suzuki SX4 AWD 31.44 mpg

 

Distance :  198km
 
Classes : Gasoline, Diesel & Hybrid(e)
 
FIA affiliated rally club members : $30  - Otherwise : $40

[Blownb310]

Just under a week before the event now. I have taken my [newly aquired specifically for this event] '97 Geo Metro from rust bucket to properly functioning automobile in the last month or so.



I told myself not to buy any more cars that are rusted out, it's just not worth the time to fix them. And that was the plan...... until the phone rang. It was Dave B. letting me know of a car for sale by one of his customers. It was a rusty one for sure but with the 2012 Economy Run season coming up I could not resist the opportunity to own the Holy Grail of fuel economy, a 3 cylinder 5-speed Geo Metro. The price was right too, at exactly it's scrap value. The prior owner kindly left a note in the car listing all of the problems that needed attention. At the end of the note he said that they called the car "Fred".


I brought Fred home and put him in the air to take a look. OMG, what was I thinking? 


I came very close to taking Fred to the scrap yard several times, but because it ran perfectly, had a full new exhaust system and brakes all around, I started sorting it out one problem at a time.


The rust extended beyond the rocker panel and into the floor board as well. I had to lift up the carpet and wiring harnes inside to keep from melting them while welding.


So I got to work with cutting out and shaping new rocker/floor patch panels.


I didn't have a piece of sheet metal 36" long so I had to make it a two piece repair panel.


Ready to grind down and smooth out for paint.


Underside of floorboard.


The fuel tank also leaked when it was filled up. At Economy run events we top up to check how much fuel we used, so neglecting this repair was not an option. Finding a replacement was not cheap or easy. Used ones were simply not available from yards around here.


So I ordered and installed a new tank for $256 [which more than doubled my investment in this car.]

I also scrubbed out the filthy interior and blew the acorns out from under the hood. Then I installed a stereo cd player back into the hole in the dash where the original one used to be. As the radio harness wires had been cut, I had to go online and find a schematic to know what wires went where.

It is a well known weak area of any year Geo metro that the front frame horns rot out. This is the area where the tie rods come through and the front suspension mounts. This is what a good one should look like.



...and here's what mine looked like before I peeled back the undercoating.



...and after a bit more poking.....




This is a view from the back side of that same frame horn. Look how little metal was left supporting the lower control arm!


Patterns were cut from card stock [cereal boxes] and transferred to new steel.


After lots of grinding and no less than 6 hand cut pieces of steel were fitted and welded in.


Just before smoothing and priming.

Today I'm sanding bondo and might possibly have time to buff out what's left of the white paint.

[Blownb310]

Less than a week away.



Vermont's Ken Snowman will be bringing his gas class "FrankenJetta" out this weekend to Montreal. He is leaving early on Friday to give himself plenty of extra time at the border crossing!

He's been working on optimizing the profile of his boat tail, and plans to have some paint on it before the weekend.





Event organizer Jeff Dungen added a chin spoiler to his 20 valve JDM Toyota Levin Apex GT.

Mike

[Blownb310]

Yeah I wish I was spending my time ecomodding the car, but I was worried about the front suspension collapsing on the rougher sections of the rally, and I rather think it would have! I don't feel like taking the train home. 

Competition in the gas class will be very tough this year. Darin Cosgrove will be entering his 2000 Honda Insight in the gasoline class.



Huh you say? Why is it not in the hybrid class? It is because he bought the car cheaply with a bad hybrid battery. All of the hybrid functions have been disabled so the car is a very efficient gas class car with it's lean burn engine, light curb weight, and superior aerodynamics. Darin has achieved 85 mpg with it. This rally is challenging though, and top mpg numbers are not achievable when you're rushing up steep hills to stay on time.

It will be intereresting!

Mike

[Blownb310]

Raw results converted to mpg's:

Gas Class:

1. Darin Cosgrove, 2000 Insight: 76.12 mpg.
2. Mike Kamm, 1997 Geo Metro: 64.43 mpg.
3. William Morin, 1999 Toyota Tercel: 53.33 mpg.
4. Francis Reid, 2005 Toyota Echo: 50.80
5. Jeff Dungen, 1992 Toyota Levin GT Apex: 50.15 mpg.
6. Luc Lachambre, 2013 Smart ForTwo: 48.90 mpg.
7. Patrice Quenneville, 2008 Smart ForTwo: 46.03 mpg.
8. Ken Snowman, 1990 VW "FrankenJetta": 43.88 mpg.
9. Chris Werner, 1997 Saturn SW2 wagon [with four passengers]: 41.19 mpg.
10. Nathalie Wing, 2010 Smart ForTwo: 40.14 mpg.
11. Stephanie Beaulieu, 2009 Smart ForTwo: 39.93 mpg.

Diesel Class

1. Frederic Bedard, 2005 Smart ForTwo: 73.50 mpg.
2. Marc-Andre' Lajeunesse, 2006 Smart ForTwo: 62.22 mpg.
3. Michel Cuerrier, 2005 Smart ForTwo: 57.95 mpg.
4. Martin Boisvert, 2005 Smart ForTwo: 48.30 mpg.

Hybrid Class

1. Mathieu Laframboise, 2012 Toypta Prius C: 58.07 mpg. 

For the third straight year we had perfect weather! Kudo's to Jeff and the SMCC for another great event up north. 

The overall winner was...


Darin Cosgrove of Ecomodder.com. He won overall this year with his 2000 Honda Insight. It is a very efficient car with it's lean burn engine, light curb weight, and superior aerodynamics. And Darin knows how to get every bit of efficiency out of it!


I couldn't have been more pleased with second overall in my "refurbished" stock '97 Geo Metro. The nice thing about this event is that it uses the same route each time so you can compare your results from year to year. I've run in all three events and these are my raw mpg results to date:

2010 -  2.0L   '93 Sentra SE-R: 57.74 mpg
2011 - 1.4L    '77 Datsun B210: 60.40 mpg
2012 - 1.0 L   '97 Geo Metro: 64.43 mpg.

There is more good news, participation for this event was up again this year. The number of vehicles competing:

2010 - 6 cars
2011 - 10 cars
2012 - 16 cars


My Metro parked next to Ken Snowman's wild 1990 gas powered "FrankenJetta".




Check out Francis Reid's Toyota Echo. I love wild aero mods!


They called this car the Duck Nose Echo.


Underneath view. He had a full belly pan and side skirts like I had on my SE-R last year. This thing was cool!


The turnout from Team Smart Quebec was very impressive with no less than 8 entries. Four were gas powered and the other four were with the .8 liter diesels. The best one was a diesel driven by Frederic Bedard, at a great 73.50 mpg.


Organizer Jeff Dungen's rare RHD Toyota Levin Apex GT had it's best outing ever at  50.15 mpg. This is with a high performance 20 valve 1.6 liter engine with individual throttle bodies!