80mpg 400hp Rustang..
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Racer
Joined: Mar 2002
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From: California
80mpg 400hp Rustang..
http://www.mustangevolution.com/20080702712/
These are the kind of articles that reaffirm my belief that in 3-4 years we will see cars change dramatically...
These are the kind of articles that reaffirm my belief that in 3-4 years we will see cars change dramatically...
Doug Pelmear has lots of secrets beneath the hood of his black 1987 Ford Mustang on which the only outward hint of individuality is a series of stickers.
But looks can be deceiving. Mr. Pelmear’s 21-year-old pony car has enough technological innovation to quadruple the classic Mustang’s original gas mileage while almost doubling its available horsepower.
That’s 80 miles per gallon and 400 horsepower, folks. And the 48-year-old electronics engineer and master mechanic is not done yet.
The third-generation automotive tinkerer hopes that next year his Mustang - more specifically its engine - will help him win the $10 million Progressive Automotive X Prize: a “race” to find an affordable, marketable automobile that gets at least 100 miles per gallon, or its equivalent.
“I’m an optimist, and I think people need to know there is hope out there,” Mr. Pelmear said. “That’s why I decided to enter the X Prize race. I could have sold this [technology] off, but then people might not have seen it.
“It’s not about the money. Our country really needs this.”
The Progressive Automotive X Prize is sponsored by the X Prize Foundation to focus attention on and improve technology for real-world fuel economy.
Private teams compete in two categories, mainstream and concept, and compete against one another in a staged race that will judge performance, fuel economy, and marketability. There are no official entrants yet, but scores of teams have signed letters of intent to participate in the races, scheduled for 2009.
What radical technology did Mr. Pelmear introduce? His patents are not fully in place, but he said it mostly is a matter of electronics and precision.
“We redesigned a lot of different things on the [engine] block,” the engineer said.
“It’s still a rod-and-piston engine; it just has a lot more electronics on it.”
Mr. Pelmear said that traditional gas engines operate “at a very low efficiency, like 8 to 10 percent, and our engine is like at 38 percent efficiency.”
He said he could greatly increase even that number if his car used traditional gasoline instead of a mix of gas and 85 percent ethanol, which burns hotter but releases fewer hydrocarbons into the atmosphere.
His engine also would be more efficient if he had sacrificed some of its 400 horsepower or 500 foot-pounds of torque, but Mr. Pelmear said his design is intended for “real-world” uses, not the laboratory.
“I’m not the highest-miles-per-gallon vehicle entered in the X Prize, but I think I’m the more consumer friendly, more down to earth, more conventional,” he said.
Mr. Pelmear’s Mustang is entered in the X Prize’s “mainstream” competition against other modified pro-
duction cars.
According to the X Prize foundation, he will compete against several dozen other vehicles from around the world.
But looks can be deceiving. Mr. Pelmear’s 21-year-old pony car has enough technological innovation to quadruple the classic Mustang’s original gas mileage while almost doubling its available horsepower.
That’s 80 miles per gallon and 400 horsepower, folks. And the 48-year-old electronics engineer and master mechanic is not done yet.
The third-generation automotive tinkerer hopes that next year his Mustang - more specifically its engine - will help him win the $10 million Progressive Automotive X Prize: a “race” to find an affordable, marketable automobile that gets at least 100 miles per gallon, or its equivalent.
“I’m an optimist, and I think people need to know there is hope out there,” Mr. Pelmear said. “That’s why I decided to enter the X Prize race. I could have sold this [technology] off, but then people might not have seen it.
“It’s not about the money. Our country really needs this.”
The Progressive Automotive X Prize is sponsored by the X Prize Foundation to focus attention on and improve technology for real-world fuel economy.
Private teams compete in two categories, mainstream and concept, and compete against one another in a staged race that will judge performance, fuel economy, and marketability. There are no official entrants yet, but scores of teams have signed letters of intent to participate in the races, scheduled for 2009.
What radical technology did Mr. Pelmear introduce? His patents are not fully in place, but he said it mostly is a matter of electronics and precision.
“We redesigned a lot of different things on the [engine] block,” the engineer said.
“It’s still a rod-and-piston engine; it just has a lot more electronics on it.”
Mr. Pelmear said that traditional gas engines operate “at a very low efficiency, like 8 to 10 percent, and our engine is like at 38 percent efficiency.”
He said he could greatly increase even that number if his car used traditional gasoline instead of a mix of gas and 85 percent ethanol, which burns hotter but releases fewer hydrocarbons into the atmosphere.
His engine also would be more efficient if he had sacrificed some of its 400 horsepower or 500 foot-pounds of torque, but Mr. Pelmear said his design is intended for “real-world” uses, not the laboratory.
“I’m not the highest-miles-per-gallon vehicle entered in the X Prize, but I think I’m the more consumer friendly, more down to earth, more conventional,” he said.
Mr. Pelmear’s Mustang is entered in the X Prize’s “mainstream” competition against other modified pro-
duction cars.
According to the X Prize foundation, he will compete against several dozen other vehicles from around the world.
Speaks French in Russian
Joined: Oct 2002
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From: What is G?
was watching this on CNN earlier. Very interesting stuff. I hope we can see something like this shortly. Pretty cool he finds 400hp to be good for everyday use. Id be excited w/ that amount of power and little fuel useage. But how much would something like this cost?
if a combustion engine is really 8-10% efficient (most combustion engines are higher than this) and if its making quadruple the mileage and double the power, that does not equal 38% efficiency. Doubling power and quadrupling the mileage is a 8x efficiency increase
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It sounds like he's building an idea I had some years ago. Since he said the modifications to the block were electronic, I'd bet a lot of money he's doing a better job of heat management with feedback controlled devices in the cooling system. The biggest losses in efficiency are when you are not fully heat soaking the cylinder, so optimizing coolant flow using feedback controlled devices allows the engine to perform better under all operating conditions because you're actively managing how much heat is lost to the cooling system in the combustion process. I'd thought about using this concept to allow lower octane fuel in boosted applications about 10 years ago, but I've never done the work to validate it. I figured there would be efficiency gains, but this is pretty impressive.
Most are more efficient at WOT and peak torque. Not under all load conditions. What this guy is doing is optimizing operation to mimic WOT and peak torque from a heat control perspective. Keep in mind, your cooling system has only two controls on it - rpm and a really cheesy thermostat. The thermostat does an OK job of stabilizing heat to prevent overheating, but a very poor job of maintaining optimum temperature in the combustion chamber. Any energy not used to force the piston down is wasted, and an overachieving cooling system will waste a lot of heat mostly at less than full load which just happens to be where most people drive.
I can go claim my SC300 has been modified with new electronics that magically make it get 75mpg and 500hp. I can claim that to a magazine and provide no proof, also.
I highly doubt an NA 5.0 mustang is making 400hp and 500ft-lbs of torque. Those numbers don't line up at all; much less 80mpg.
Getting that kind of mileage requires more than just reworking the electronics to get better efficiency; it requires the engine to be built of different materials, superior sensors, and other items like fuel injection ( I highly doubt he's using DI ) and highly precise fuel metering (better than a Ford MAF sensor
). We're not talking about a pushrod engine here anymore, nor any stock Ford part.Sounds like one of the guys that claims to have a perpetual motion machine. Its a load of crap.
100mpg muscle car!?
Just saw this on CNN and I'm wondering exactly what is done to the car to achieve this. I know some of the over-the-top hyper milers have done some cryonics to engine components such as in the Honda Insight and somehow achieve over 100mpg, but how the heck could this muscle car do the same? 
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/...00mpg.car.wnwo
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/...00mpg.car.wnwo
Pole Position
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2,883
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From: Coral Springs, Fl
0 - 60 in 3 sec. and 110 MPG!!
Originally Posted by NBCSanDiego.com
Doug Pelmear said he has perfected an engine developed by his grandfather 60 years ago. As gas prices continue to rise across the country, Pelmear said his engine gives his 1987 Ford Mustang 110 mpg.
"My grandfather had the idea back in the (1940s) that he (could) make a difference then," Pelmear said. "There was quite a need at that time also, with the war going on and everything."
Pelmear, a mechanic in Napoleon, has been tweaking the engine for the past 10 years, squeezing out the maximum amount of power for a minimum amount of gas.
"This will bring back the automotive industry," he said. "They can sell trucks and (sport utility vehicles) and the models that are almost dead at this time."
Pelmear said the engine is 400 horsepower and goes from zero to 60 mph in three seconds.
Some seemed more excited by the car's power than its thrifty use of gas.
"Even those of us who grew up in the muscle car age, this will pretty much blow your muscle car away," said developer Mark Schnitkey.
Pelmear wouldn't allow anyone to take a detailed look under the car's hood -- some of his gizmos are still awaiting patents, he said.
But Pelmear said the secret lies in making the engine more efficient. And with a little more work, developers believe they'll be getting 500 miles to the gallon and revolutionizing the auto industry.
"My grandfather had the idea back in the (1940s) that he (could) make a difference then," Pelmear said. "There was quite a need at that time also, with the war going on and everything."
Pelmear, a mechanic in Napoleon, has been tweaking the engine for the past 10 years, squeezing out the maximum amount of power for a minimum amount of gas.
"This will bring back the automotive industry," he said. "They can sell trucks and (sport utility vehicles) and the models that are almost dead at this time."
Pelmear said the engine is 400 horsepower and goes from zero to 60 mph in three seconds.
Some seemed more excited by the car's power than its thrifty use of gas.
"Even those of us who grew up in the muscle car age, this will pretty much blow your muscle car away," said developer Mark Schnitkey.
Pelmear wouldn't allow anyone to take a detailed look under the car's hood -- some of his gizmos are still awaiting patents, he said.
But Pelmear said the secret lies in making the engine more efficient. And with a little more work, developers believe they'll be getting 500 miles to the gallon and revolutionizing the auto industry.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/16768626/detail.html
Can you believe this guy? Is he claiming that he can literally "smoke" anything on the street and still get 110 MPG?
