300 horsepower deliver 48 mpg

[pwd72s]

1,000-Lap Challenge: Mustang V-6 Runs 1,457 Laps At Bristol - Ford Mustang News

The 2011 Ford Mustang V-6, the first car ever to deliver more than 30 mpg and 305 horsepower, has set a new record by running 1,457 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway June 24 while averaging 48.5 mpg The challenge was 1,000 laps of the historic half-mile track -- 533 miles -- on one single tank of gas. With the aid of fuel efficient driving techniques by Ford engineers, the Mustang far surpassed its goal.




“To see a Mustang post average fuel economy of 48.5 mpg while running at Bristol is impressive,” said Dave Pericak, Mustang chief engineer. “The new V-6 engine along with the advanced six-speed transmission in the car is a key element in delivering both fuel economy and performance for Mustang.”

The Challenge team, which included NASCAR driver David Ragan and four Ford Mustang engineers, completed the challenge in 17 hours and 40 minutes, averaging 48.5 mpg over the course of the 776.5 miles. That distance is more than the two complete NASCAR Sprint Cup events that take place in Bristol every year.



Ragan pushed the Mustang past the 1,000-lap mark at 7:26 p.m., 12 hours and 26 minutes into the Challenge, but the car wasn’t close to being out of fuel. Mustang engineer Seong Park was behind the wheel when it finally came to a halt on the backstretch of the famed NASCAR track at 12:41 a.m. local time.

Other Mustang Challenge team drivers included Tom Barnes, Jonathan Mehl, Carl Ek, who along with Park each took one-hour driving stints during the event.


Members of the Mustang 1000 Lap Challenge driving team celebrate after completing the 1000 Lap Challenge at Bristol Motor Speedway early Thursday morning. The 2011 Mustang V6 logged 1,457 laps for 776.581 miles and an average of 48.536 mpg after running for nearly 18 hours. l-r Seong Park - Mustang engineer, Jonathan Mehl - Mustang engineer, Tom Barnes - Mustang engineer, Carl Ek - Mustang engineer. -- Photos courtesy Ford

“When we hit 1,000 laps we still had a quarter of a tank of gas left,” said Ragan, driver of the No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing. “The last driving stint before I passed 1,000 laps I was averaging 43.7 miles a gallon and that is unbelievable. These guys have run the distance of more than two Sprint Cup races at Bristol and they still have fuel left. Congratulations to everyone behind the Mustang and to everyone at Ford, because this 2011 Mustang V-6 is really something special.”

A team of Ford engineers prepared for the challenge by implementing fuel efficient driving tips like minimizing the use of air conditioning, steady and consistent driving, avoiding sudden stops/starts and by keeping the RPMs low.

The engine in the Mustang is powered by an all-aluminum 3.7-liter dual-overhead-cam (DOHC) V-6 engine that uses advanced engineering to deliver its combination of power and economy. Twin independent variable camshaft timing (Ti-VCT) adjusts the valve train in microseconds depending on driver inputs, further contributing to the engine’s overall efficiency. The Mustang used in the challenge is a stock production vehicle that can be purchased through a Ford dealer.

“This is beyond our wildest dreams,” said Tom Barnes, the lead engineer for the Ford Mustang 1,000 Lap Challenge. “There have been a lot of people who have done a lot of things in preparing this 2011 Mustang V-6 to run the Mustang 1,000 Lap Challenge and have the success we have had today. It was great when we went past the 1,000 lap mark with David, but nobody could ever imagine that we still had five hours ahead of us. This is a fantastic feeling and it shows again what a great car the 2011 Mustang V-6 is.”



More than 51,000 consumers registered their guesses for the event at mustang1000lapchallenge.com. One lucky consumer that correctly guessed 1,457 laps will be randomly drawn from all correct entries and will win their own 2011 Mustang V-6.

[turbo6bar]

776 miles / 18 hours = 43 mph.

Lots of cars get stupid mpg averaging a steady, but low 43 mph.

[masraum]

Regardless of how fast they went, that's pretty darn impressive from a 300hp V6.

I suspect they used some hypermiling techniques which aren't really very realistic or safe during a commute.

Some of those hypermilers get some pretty insane mileage...

Man Gets 124 MPG in Hypermiling Contest | TakePart - Inspiration to Action

In this year's Tour to the Shore hypermiling contest, which is a real event, Martin managed to get 124 miles out of one gallon of gas in an unmodified Honda Insight. Seriously. Martin himself admits that the greatest hypermiler is Wayne Gerdes, who treehugger.com notes, "drove '2,254 miles on a single 13.7-gallon tank of gas during the Honda Insight Marathon in Oklahoma last year.' That's an average of 164.53 miles per gallon over the whole distance.

Article about Wayne Gerdes...
This Guy Can Get 59 MPG in a Plain Old Accord. Beat That, Punk. | Mother Jones

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by masraum

Regardless of how fast they went, that's pretty darn impressive from a 300hp V6.

I suspect they used some hypermiling techniques which aren't really very realistic or safe during a commute.

Some of those hypermilers get some pretty insane mileage...

Man Gets 124 MPG in Hypermiling Contest | TakePart - Inspiration to Action


Article about Wayne Gerdes...
This Guy Can Get 59 MPG in a Plain Old Accord. Beat That, Punk. | Mother Jones

I'm sure they did...on a 1/2 mile oval? Probably did all the "downhill" they could...but guess I'm not a hypermiler...couldn't think of much else.

[Hugh R]

At 48 mph, it ain't using 300 HP, more like 30.

[jyl]

I'm no hyper miler but here are my thoughts. They were presumably going 44 or 48 mph, whichever it was, in 6th gear, which I think would be around 1,100 rpm. Tires likely inflated to 50 psi or more, windows closed. Accelerating very very slowly after each driver change stop, maybe they shut off the engine and coasted to that stop. I don't know if it'd be better to hug the inside of the track all the way, or to enter the turns high on the banking and coast down. It might actually be possible to enter high, shut off the engine, then bump-start as you exit the curve.

"The team of drivers was advised about efficient driving techniques before the challenge. To achieve their goal, they limited the use of air conditioning, kept the RPMs low, and minimized abrupt stops and starts. The task took 17 hours 40 minutes to complete, with a driver swap every hour. Average speed was roughly 44 mph, helping to minimize wind resistance.

Read more: http://wot.motortrend.com/hypermiler-2011-ford-mustang-v6-averages-485-mpg-at-bristol-8104.html#ixzz1V4FbnzZh"

[gt350mike]

Originally Posted by turbo6bar

776 miles / 18 hours = 43 mph.

Lots of cars get stupid mpg averaging a steady, but low 43 mph.

I would guess that the average was higher because you have to account for the driver changes. Regardless, it's still an impressive accomplishment.

[HardDrive]

Way back when, the first real taste of motorsports came into my family when my dad bought a 1989 SHO taurus. It had
a Yamaha V6 that made 220hp. Mated to a 5 speed, the car ripped. The redline was 7k, and everyone who had someone in the know at Ford knew it could do better. They haven't lost that tribal knowledge.

[turbo6bar]

Originally Posted by gt350mike

I would guess that the average was higher because you have to account for the driver changes. Regardless, it's still an impressive accomplishment.

Certainly higher, for sure, but they weren't doing 70 mph.

The computer on the Dodge is fairly close. Recently, I have been getting 18 mpg over the past 1000 miles. If I get into overdrive and maintain a constant 50 mph, I get at least 23-25 mpg. Holding a constant rpm and speed, I get around 25-30% boost in mileage. Wouldn't surprise me if I could get 25+ mpg at Bristol. For a 3/4 ton truck that can pull well over ten thousand pounds, I'm impressed, and on biodiesel, no less.

Driving behavior and drag are big. You can see that based on how their mpg went up after the 1000 mile mark. They boosted mpg significantly in the last 400 laps by changing behavior.

[red-beard]

When the 55 mph speed limt was set, it was already known that 45 mph is "ideal" for fuel efficiency. It was thought that 45 mph would be too low a speed to be accepted by the public. 60 would have been the "natural speed" but it wouldn't save the amount of gasoline needed. 55 mph was chosen as a compromise.

And we all know how well the 55 mph speed limt worked out...

BTW, they are raising 2 large sections of Interstate to 85 mph in West Texas. 80 mph is very common already, including sections of non-interstate highway, like US-67 and US-90.

[1990C4S]

This link from Steve is interesting and well written. Not all hyper-milers are sane....but it is interesting to consider how much fuel could be saved with a just a bit of education and effort.

This Guy Can Get 59 MPG in a Plain Old Accord. Beat That, Punk. | Mother Jones

[teenerted1]

i am not driving 17+hrs on any road trip at 43mph.
do a real world test
i try to average 70mph on my road trips. usually running at 75+ but with stops, traffic, pee breaks ave speed drops every time
i dont like the driver swapping every hr too. you stop when you have a empty tank or a full bladder. full bladders also result in faster speeds till the next off ramp.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Everybody here is missing the point.

This is a 300hp car that, in the right hands and right conditions, CAN get 48mpg.

If anybody else knows of a vehicle that can accomplish that, feel free to post all about it.

[turbo6bar]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte

Everybody here is missing the point.

This is a 300hp car that, in the right hands and right conditions, CAN get 48mpg.

Anyone can push an accelerator and steer. It isn't rocket science. Those are nearly perfect conditions. There's no stop and go. There's no need to adjust speed. No bozo in the left lane with cruise set at 2 mph under the speed limit.

If anybody else knows of a vehicle that can accomplish that, feel free to post all about it.

I googled "300 HP, 48 mpg at Bristol for 1400+ laps, 43 mph average speed" and got nothing, so I guess this must be a truly extraordinary feat. Please accept my apologies.

Bump the average speed up to a more realistic 50 or 55 mph, and now we're starting to talk. I imagine the Mustang can get around 35-38 mpg, which really isn't bad at all. It may be better than most/all sports cars.

[daepp]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

The 2011 Ford Mustang V-6, the first car ever to deliver more than 30 mpg and 305 horsepower...

Don't know if this is true - how old is that motor?

My 2008 Lexus V6 has 305 HP and gets 30MPG at 75 MPH. It has the new Direct Injection and it is amazing.

[turbo6bar]

A 436 HP Corvette gets 32.8 mpg at 55 mph.

2009 Chevrolet Corvette MPG Test Drive: Will the Vette Meet New CAFE Standards? - Popular Mechanics

That's probably the first 400 HP car that can get over 30 mpg. Makes me cringe when my puny M3 gets 21 or 22 mpg. I don't drive like a granny, though.

[dtw]

Our V6 Mustang couldn't get 30 mpg (much less 48) if you dropped it off the back of a cargo plane.

Let's recognize progress and give F their due. The '11 V6 is a lot of car for the money.

The Fox body is dead. Long live the Fox body.

[turbo6bar]

335d BMW. 265 HP and 425 torques. 0-60 under 6 seconds, but can deliver nearly 50 mpg on the highway.

CleanMPG Reviews the 2009 BMW 335d Turbo-Diesel - CleanMPG Forums

Their test on real roads showed 813 miles on 16.5 gallons, 49 mpg, and 51 mph average speed. OK. It isn't a 300 HP car, but it's pretty damn close, and the torque makes up for the puny HP.

Current tech on new cars is quite impressive when the focus is performance and efficiency.

[Normy]

This reminds me of the experimental ceramic engine that Volkswagen built in 1985. It was based upon their standard four cylinder engine, that had powered every Golf, Jetta, and Scirocco since 1974.

100% ceramic, the engine could withstand tremendous temperatures. They tested it on a dynamometer, and it worked just fine. They decided to mount it in a standard Golf four door; It ran fine for about 100 miles, but then all the internals broke. You see, they couldn't make the ceramics work long term. That's a real shame-

Because the biggest problem they had was with....the axle shafts. They kept snapping these in half, due to the fact that this 58 miles per gallon car was generating 385 turbocharged horsepower from 1500 cc's of displacement....and instantly snapping its cheap Russian steel drive shafts due to the nearly 500 foot pounds of torque.

Hello?

-We are limited ONLY by metallurgy. Volkswagen had a 58 mpg car that would destroy a Ferrari in 1985, but they couldn't produce it because the materials just weren't there.

If we can figure out better materials, you can use a 26 cc weed-whip motor to power your car....

N!

[Flieger]

There is a company making in very small numbers plastic (sort of forged composite) engines. Article in Racecar Engineering a few issues ago.