Finger Lakes Region SCCA Forums

I realize that winter night tsd rallies are most people's favorite type [mine too], but I do like to participate in daytime events during the other three seasons. In addition, I enjoy the challenge of a good Economy Run event as well.

Here's an idea that might make a summer road rally more interesting [and challenging] for some.

How about incorporating an Economy Run aspect into a summer road rally? A what you say? What's an economy run? Older members will know about these events, but the younger crowd may not. Last August with gas @ $4.00 a gallon, my primary car club [A.M.E.C.] and I brought back our "Economy Run" event, that our club last held in 1954. There's a thread about it HERE. It was so popular that we did another one in October. We tweaked our cars for best efficiency and employed "hypermiling" driving techniques and really surprised a lot of people. Take a look at our results page to see what cars ran and what they were able to achieve for mpg.

So, what if we combined the two and had a summer road rally with the added twist of using as little fuel as possible?

What would I bring to an event like this? I could use my '2000 [automatic] Mazda Protege.
Photo from our A.M.E.C. August Economy Run. I got 39 mpg [not bad for an automatic].

But more likely I'd bring my other fuel efficient car:

My specially prepped [for fuel mileage] '77 Datsun B210 that got 61.5 mpg!

A road rally with an economy run twist could get the hybrid and turbo diesel crowd out to your events this summer as well.

Who would take on the extra task of implementing the fuel mileage mearsurements? I volunteer. I was in charge of this at our events last year. It isn't hard to do and doesn't take much time. I will elaborate if anyone is interested.

All comments or questions on this proposed idea are welcome.

Well maybe there'd be more interest if gas was back up to $4.00 a gallon again.


It worked last summer!

Whoa, wait a minute....jackpot! Check this out:

I just stumbled upon an "economy run" type of event and a road rally being put on by the Glen Region SCCA: Grand Prix Fuel Economy Competition.

What's interesting is that they are having two events at the same time on the same day. One is an SCCA road rally around Seneca Lake. The other is the aforementioned Fuel Economy contest. You choose which one you want to run in.

I am seriously thinking about entering the fuel economy contest with the B210. Another perk for me is that there is a $1,000 enduro the night before right there at Black Rock Speedway. [Did I mention I'm a dirt oval racer too?] I can spectate at the enduro on Friday night and then run in the Glen Region event the next morning [which starts where I'll be staying] at the Glen Motor Inn!

Nice!

Anyone else going and running in either event?

Hi Mike:
My name is Rick Leto and I am from Johnstown NY and also am a member of FLR. I plan on going to the TSD Rally in May at Seneca Lake. i have never done a TSD Rally and can anybody give me some insight on what to expect?
Thanks

Thanks for chiming in Rick, and welcome to the forum! I'll bet you've probably seen this already, but a good description of how a tsd rally works is HERE . Just to be clear, the event I described above [the Green Grand Prix] that makes a loop around Seneca lake is actually a Glen Region event, not FLR. I post about any northeastern tsd events on this forum as I enjoy tsd rallying in the summer or winter, day or night, doesn't matter to me. I have never been to a Glen Region tsd, but I would imagine that this is more of what the folks in this forum call a "social" or "touring" rally. In other words, not too long in duration [80 miles] and not at a very brisk pace. As this will be your first tsd rally, it should be perfect for you. You'll need someone to go along with you as your navigator. Have him or her bring a clip board and a pencil or pen. It is good to have at least a wrist watch, or preferably a good digital clock in the car to help you have a good reference to the organizer's official time. It also helps if your car's odometer is accurate. If you've changed the tire size it might not be, but it should be close enough for you to do some close estimations for mileages to the next turn.

Here are some pictures from thier 2006 event: http://www.greengrandprix.com/Pastevents_2006rally.htm

It should be fun and I hope to meet you out there. I haven't decided if I will enter the fuel mileage contest or the rally. I wish they were at held at separate times [morning/evening] so I could do both!

Mike

Thanks for the info Mike, I will see you and the 2nd.

You're welcome Rick.

Additionally, I thought I'd also note that this month's [April] edition of Sports Car magazine has a very good article on road rallying to boot!

Mike, I actually emailed you about this the other day. I think its a neat idea, but I question what sort of turn out you'd have and how you'd actually run it. But we should find out if there's interest from the region members to support it in the first place...

Thanks Rick,

Sorry for the delayed reply. I can report that absolutly no one replied to my email inquiry to the list or here for that matter, [other than yourself of course] so that tells me my idea was not so good after all. Oddly enough though, the Glen Region is doing something similar in their Green Grand Prix Road Rally/Fuel Economy event as seen HERE. These events are set for Saturday May 2nd.

What's interesting is that they are having two events at the same time on the same day. One is an SCCA road rally, which consists of an 80 mile loop around Seneca Lake. The other is the aforementioned Fuel Economy contest [using the same 80 mile loop]. You choose which one you want to run in. They both use the same course at an overlap of one hour in the starting times.

But you're right, the gas gulping WRX and Evo drivers that make up the better part of the FLR rally group would not likely have any interest in fuel economy. Silly me!

Mike

For those of you who liked the Economy Run driving tour idea, A.M.E.C. will be having their Economy Run III event coming up this August 23, 2009.


Here are the details for Economy Run III:

What: Fuel mileage contest through the southern Adirondacks of NY. The route will be on really scenic and challenging roads [mild grades] and will run approx. 94 miles in distance. Your “economic” driving ability will be tested. Cars will be filled with fuel by an AMEC official and be sent off at one minute intervals. There will be a time limit to complete the run. 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 [ethanol free] Fairway Oil gas station on Route 5 in Fonda, NY. 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.

When: Sunday, August 23rd, 2009. 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.

Cost: $10 per vehicle plus $8 per car for lunch at the awards picnic by the lake. [see "Awards" below]

Awards include:

1. Best overall mpg for gas cars [1st, 2nd, and 3rd places]

2. Best overall mpg for diesel and hybrid cars [1st, 2nd, and 3rd places]

3. Best Historic car ['79 and earlier - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places].

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

Finish: will be at the Citgo located at 746 NY-30, in Northville. They are less than a mile from Northampton Beach Campground and their lot is plenty big. It will be on your right as you're heading on Route 30 south in Northville.

Awards and Lunch: This event will conclude about noon, and we will be having our A.M.E.C. summer picnic immediately following the event. All Economy run participants are invited to join us for awards and a picnic lunch at Northampton Beach Campground located on Housmann Street, in Mayfield, [it's actually closer to Northville] NY. Their website is HERE. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the map links. The picnic pavilion and beach are right on the shore of beautiful Sacandaga lake. Hamburgers, hot dogs, and soda will be served. This park is only about a mile from the Citgo station where the event concluded.

To register for this event: Please contact Mike Kamm at (518) 674-0520 or via email: mikek [at ]icerace [ dot] com. Or just simply reply to this thread with your name, year/model car. The vehicle count will be limited so please sign up before this event is full.

Registered driver's list as of 6-30-09

1. Mike Kamm - 1977 Datsun B210 - Averill Park, NY
2. Tom Moeller - 1994 Mazda Miata - Saratoga, NY
3. Dave Burnham - 1991 Eco Diesel Jetta - Delanson, NY
4. Ben Jones - 1991 Honda CRX - Hanover, NH
5. Dick Vedder - 2000 Ford ZX2 S/R - Johnstown, NY
6. Martin Deschenes - 2000 VW Jetta TDI - Quebec City, QC
7. Ron Kienhuis - 1972 Citroën SM - Long Island, NY
8. Vlad Saakyan - 2003 Suzuki Svs650 - 518 forums
9. Bill Clark - 1957 Metropolitan Hartop - Endicott, NY
10. Bruce Turk- 1958 Saab 93B - Walden, NY
11. Ernie Yue - 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250cc
12. Dan & Richard Dobbins - 1964 Studebaker GT Hawk - Long Island, NY
13. Matt Herring - 2009 Toyota Prius - Boston, MA
14. Robert Smalls - 2000 Honda Insight - Buffalo, NY
15. Peter Ramotowski - 2000 VW Golf TDI - Albany, NY
16.
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Rick, canI put your name on this list?

Sorry, but I don't think my 323GTX will be competitive on this front. Same argument as made before about the typical rallyist car. I think on it's best day, I might have seen 21 mpg. I don't have that white Capri anymore, otherwise I'd consider using that. The EXP shown to the left isn't in a driveable state at the moment. Right now, I don't own a car that's particularly fuel efficient. That's one reason I spend most of the summer on a motorcycle...

Thanks for the reply Rick. I know you said you were interested in this sort of thing and I was thinking about your white Capri, but I see you sold it.

Hey we have a bike class too.

Your competition at the moment would be Ernie Yue's 2008 Ninja 250. He got 73 mpg at the last one [even in a downpour] but has changed his drive sprocket to a taller final drive in hopes of breaking 80 mpg.

Mike

How exactly do you navigate a rally on a motorcycle? Unless I'm assuming normal rally practices apply and they really don't... Anyway, my GS750 only gets about 40 mpg. There's no way I'd be able to come close to being competitive.

Rick,

The directions are very simple for this event. You want that for economy, steady speeds, very few stop signs, traffic signals, etc. The route is basically route 5 west to route 10 north, to route 8 east, to route 30 south. Done deal. Ninety four miles in all, passing seven beautiful lakes [many of which we race on in the winter] etc.

Mike

P.S. There was a motorcycle economy run at Americade this year in Lake George. Check it out here: http://www.tourexpo.com/data/content/view/1507/1/

Only 40 mpg? Geez they had a BMW K1200LT making 56 mpg with two people on it!

40 MPG is pretty much par for the course for a 30-year-old 750cc road bike. Especially when driven in traffic. I probably could stand to clean out the carbs, jet it a little leaner and adjust the choke cable though...