CleanMPG Fuel Economy Challenge VI - Summer 2009

Presenting the Summer 2009 Challenge, running from June 1, 2009 until September 31, 2009.

[FIMG=right]http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/07_TCH.jpg[/FIMG]Andrew McGuckin - CleanMPG - June 1, 2009

Summer is here. Depending on where you live, rejoice or weep. Join us in our quarterly challenge to beat the EPA mileage ratings. The winner is the driver who beats the EPA by the highest percentage.

Drive your daily routes in your normal car. Real-world cars, real-world routes, everyday conditions, etc. This is where the real results prove the value of hypermiling. Remember the CleanMPG motto, "Learn to raise fuel economy and lower emissions in whatever you drive".

Please note that this is a 4-month challenge, instead of the normal 3-month runs. This is to align it with standard quarters used in business, and in our own Alternative Transportation Challenge.

Results from previous economy runs:
I: February - May 2008. Winner: PaleMelanesian
II: June - August, 2008. Winners: CobraPond (A), lamebums (B)
III: Sept - Nov 2008. Winners: CobraPond (A), MT bucket (B), jps000 (C)
IV: Dec 2008 - Feb 2009. Winners: lnmcmahan (A), GaryG (B), jhu (C)
V: March - May 2009. Winners: lnmcmahan (A), nissynis (B), Damionk (C)

How to Join
To participate in the June to August economy run, all you have to do is the following:

1. Create a new mileage log. This will be an alter-ego of your vehicle, except make sure you use the 2008 EPA ratings for your car found at www.fueleconomy.gov. CleanMPG staff will move your vehicle into a separate category for this challenge. Please use a new log and leave the winter logs as-is until the previous Challenge results are finalized.
   
2. Post here in this thread to announce your participation. Be sure to include a link to your new mileage log.
   
3. Post in this thread with updates. Start wherever you are now, and use your next fillup, whenever it comes, as the start of your log. There is now no minimum mileage or number of fillups, only a request for no single-tank entries. We want complete daily driving records, and not cherry-picked entries.

The standings here on page 1 will be updated periodically.


Handicaps
For a level playing field, we will all use the new revised EPA estimates for fuel economy. If you are using a handicap, please list it when you announce your participation.

Hybrid Handicap: Reduce your epa ratings by multiplying by 0.85. Hybrids are already optimized for good mileage by automatically doing many of the things hypermilers do.

E10 Handicap: Reduce your epa ratings by 3%, to match the reduced BTU of 10% ethanol.
Part-time E10: If you only sometimes use E10, log 3% less fuel used when you record that fillup. Make a note in the comments for the tank. Example: "Pumped 10.3 gallons E10, logged 10.0 gallons". Use this adjustment for the fill that finishes the tank of E10 fuel, not when you put it in.

E85 Handicap: If you are using E85 instead of regular gasoline and EPA ratings are not available, you can estimate your E85 rating. Just lower the gasoline numbers by 25% (multiply by 0.75) and round to the nearest MPG. Enter this as your EPA rating.


Which Division?
This was created to help divide people into three levels, in order to increase competitiveness.

For Returning Members:
If you were in the top 2 or 3 in your division, please consider moving up.
If you were near the bottom, consider moving down. Everything is more fun when the competition is close.

For New Members:
If are are new to hypermiling or to this challenge then I recommend either the B or C divisions to allow a good chance to get on your feet and familiarize yourself with hypermiling.


Official Standings
Division A

Column1	Column2	Column3
Driver	Vehicle	Handicap
cpeter38		E10
cobrapond
Daox		E10
diamondlarry		Hybrid
PaleMelanesian
lnmcmahan
groar
nissynis		Part-time E10
MT Bucket
rhwinger		Hybrid, E10

Division B

Column1	Column2	Column3
Driver	Vehicle	Handicap
froggman		E6 2%
JusBringIt		E10
cpeter38		E10
Kacey Green		Hybrid, Partial E10
ILAveo
voodoo22		E10
Mr Pancake		Hybrid, E10
drummerboy2004		E10
PDK		Hybrid
swineone		E25 8%
sulfuric		E10
McTimson		Partial E10
Aether Glider

Division C

Column1	Column2	Column3
Driver	Vehicle	Handicap
Taliesin		E10
some_other_dave
josh2008		Hybrid
WoodyWoodchuck
TomMig
Die2self		E10
Kurz		E10
ScorpD		Hybrid, E10
ChrisK14
Nevyn		E10
chillimac02

 

Previous run, now finished: http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19925

Some notable changes this time:
- modified hybrid handicap - this will make the hybrids even more competitive
- E10 handicap
- no mileage minimum, just be active through the whole challenge
- 4 months instead of 3, but just this time, to realign with standard quarters.


---------------
Here is my official signup:

No handicaps

 

Aaron - you can prorate it. The actual calculation is 3.2%, so your 56% of that would come out to 1.8%. Go ahead and use 2%, then.

 

Jason, I think that's fine. Just double-check it when you enter the next tank.

Edit: I checked by changing mine, and it's NOT ok. It rounds the entered number when you save it. That's not a big deal with higher-rated cars like mine, or especially like Sean's, but in your case it's a BIG difference. We'll have to find a solution.

 

Jason, I've got an answer for you. Since the log here uses a 50/50 average of city and highway, you can do 13/17 or 14/16 and get your desired 15 combined. Take your pick.

 

3.2% lower btu * .56 = 1.79% handicap
3.2% lower btu * .68 = 2.17% handicap

I still say use 2%. Which, incidentally, will likely kill my chances of beating Larry.