FE Challenge 10 - Summer 2010

Presenting the Summer 2010 Challenge, running from July 1, 2010 to September 30, 2010.

[FIMG=right]http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Jeff_Townsley_-_Civic_on_the_road.jpg[/FIMG]Andrew McGuckin - CleanMPG - July 1, 2010

This is now the tenth episode of 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".

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)
VI: June - Sept 2009. Winners: cpeter38, froggman, Taliesin, Kacey Green (marathon)
VII: Oct - Dec 2009. Winners: cpeter38 (A), Swineone (B, Marathon), some_other_dave (C)
VIII: Winners: GaryG (A), Sulfuric (B), jimepting (C, highest mpg), tpmjr2004 (Marathon), Right Lane Cruiser (Winter)
IX: Winners: PaleMelanesian (A), jimepting (B), LinuxGold (C), tpmjr2004 (Marathon), Right Lane Cruiser (Highest MPG)

How to Join
To participate in this Fuel Economy Challenge, all you have to do is the following:

• 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. Choose the propulsion category "Quarter-Year FE Challenge". Please use a new log and leave the previous challenge logs as-is until the results are finalized. Once finalized, the previous vehicles can be deleted.
  
• Post here in this thread to announce your participation. Be sure to include a link to your new mileage log.
  
• Drive
  
• 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.
  
• Entries will be accepted for one month, after which the participation list will be final.
• Report your final fill within 7 days past the end of the challenge.

The standings here on page 1 will be updated periodically (by CleanMPG staff members).


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: "Last fill was E10. Pumped 10 gallons, logged 9.7 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?
Divisions A, B and C were created to help divide people into three levels, in order to increase competitiveness.

• 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.
• 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.

Special class - Marathon: If you drive lots of miles (1500+ a month or so), you belong here. (in addition to Div A, B or C. Sign up for both.)


Official Standings
Division A

Column1	Column2	Column3
Driver	Vehicle	Handicap
PaleMelanesian
Right Lane Cruiser		E10, Hybrid
groar
diamondlarry		Hybrid
jimepting		E10, Hybrid
RobertSmalls		Hybrid

Division B

Column1	Column2	Column3
Driver	Vehicle	Handicap
VegasDude		E10
Mr. Pancake		E10, Hybrid
tpmjr2004		E10
aburk4		E10
Sulfuric		E10
LinuxGold

Division C

Column1	Column2	Column3
Driver	Vehicle	Handicap
some_other_dave		Cali E6
Die2self		E10
bethomas463		E10
mcmurphy		E10

Marathon Division (long-distance)

Column1	Column2	Column3
Driver	Vehicle	Handicap
tpmjr2004		E10
Sulfuric		E10
bethomas463		E10

 

what's the EPA on that, umm, thing?

 

It's in the Fuel Type or Propulsion dropdown. Where you would go to choose Hybrid, but if you've never needed to do that, you likely haven't seen the other options in the list either.

I changed the instructions to make it more clear.