Prius Marathon Run

**efusco** · 07-31-2005, 05:10 AM

Four drivers will be taking turns behind the wheel of a 2004 Prius August 5-7 in an effort to achieve the best possible mpg and longest distance on a tank of gas recorded to date.

Dan Kroushl has discovered a route near his home in Pittsburgh where
he has been able to consistently achieve laps of 100+ mpg and two of
the three drivers who will be assisting him have been able to
duplicate his results on the same course. The third they're confident
can do just as well, but he has not yet been there to try.

They'll start out Friday evening after rush hour and go until they run
out of gas, with each driver taking a four hour shift behind the
wheel on a 23 mile there-and-back portion of four lane road near Pittsburg with 12 traffic lights and two moderate hills. Their technique will be pulse-
and-glide going no faster than 40 mph and rarely slower than 30. Their
goal is to achieve or approach 100 mpg for an entire tank and go 1100-
1200 or more miles, running out sometime Sunday.

The event has started to attract media attention. They just got word
yesterday that HBO is sending a crew to cover the event as part of an
upcoming climate change feature they're putting together, and earlier
this week Dave Bassage was interviewed while driving a similar route by Jeff Young of the NPR syndicated show Living on Earth. You can hear or
read the transcript of that interview at http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?prog...030&segmentID=8

They will try to post updates as the event unfolds on all the various forums they frequent.

If anyone is interested in stopping by for any or all of the
event you'd be most welcome, and there's a good chance at any given
time that there will be a driver available to offer pulse-and-glide
hands on instruction who is not currently on a driving shift. Feel
free to email Dave directly (fikescr@earthlink.net) for more information if you're interested.

Their primary goal is to see just how much fuel efficiency can be eeked
out of this already very efficient car. They'd also like to share their
techniques with anyone interested and are just warped enough to think
this is a fun way to spend a summer weekend.

Dan Krousl routinely achives mpgs above 60 and 70mpg in his daily driving.

Dave is an enthusiast who lives nearby and also achives mpgs in the 60mpg range.

dreichla · 07-31-2005, 07:56 AM

Awsome audio transcript! I'd love to see a video of this event if one becomes available.

fikescr · 07-31-2005, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Awsome audio transcript! I'd love to see a video of this event if one becomes available.

Whatever video comes out of it will be courtesy of the HBO folks who are including our effort as part of a climate change piece they're working on. The HBO crew will be there all weekend, taping interviews and covering aspects of the effort including some in-car footage, we hope.

You mentioned audio transcript - you should have been able to listen to it from the website as well, at http://tinyurl.com/dt5ul

As posted on a different thread here, Dan just scored a personal best tank of 1007 miles at 86.6 mpg. He's got a pretty impressive photo that includes the sort of five minute bars we'll be experiencing during the marathon. I'm struggling to hang on to his coat tails with a personal best tank of 71.0 mpg, but Dan tells me using the blue screen background rather than my green screen makes all the difference....

Dave Bassage

dreichla · 08-01-2005, 08:20 AM

Quote:

. . . but Dan tells me using the blue screen background rather than my green screen makes all the difference....

Dave Bassage

I'm changing mine to blue right now!

vande23 · 08-01-2005, 04:37 PM

Now I can breathe easy - at least I have been completely overtaken in the "Prius Nerd" category. yeah, my totally random license plate here in Minnesota even starts with PND !!

100MPG? sheesh, you guys are going to TILT the MPG LCD screen. I wonder if your math will get you over 100MPM but the screen will not be able to handle it?

Anyone else sense Y2K computer issues here?

**efusco** · 08-01-2005, 04:53 PM

Dan's already had several runs in excess of 100mpg...what he usually does is go to a different road that he can drive on until the mileage drops below 100mpg and then back calculate what his mileage was for the distance that was above 100mpg

CraigCSJ · 08-03-2005, 10:25 AM

Will the Prius Marathon Run be done with a stock Prius, or will it be modified in some way? It seems to me that I saw way back that Dan Kroushl had added more batteries to his Prius. I hope the Prius is an unmodified version, as that would show most owners of Prius what their car is capable of doing, given optimal conditions.

CraigCSJ 04 Driftwood #9BC

**efusco** · 08-03-2005, 12:09 PM

Unmodified. He does run on some pretty worn OEM Integrity tires at about 60psi. He also uses 0W20 Mobil 1 oil.

jtmhog · 08-03-2005, 01:00 PM

A list of all his fuel saving tricks would be nice. And then there the person who put in cruise at 35 MPH and left it there for 1000 miles, for an average of 88MPG. And they let these people run around loose!!

CraigCSJ · 08-03-2005, 01:35 PM

Thanks for the reply. 60psi in the tires surely must compromise ride. I would think that pressure would be dangerous at normal speeds, given the 44 max stated on the tire. However, at the slow marathon speeds I doubt there will be trouble, and if there is, they can change a tire. I wish they were keeping the car within normal specifications, but 60psi will undoubtably get better mileage than 44.

07-31-2005, 05:10 AM	#1
efusco Troll Slayer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nixa, MO Posts: 17,222 My Car: 2004 Prius Model: Package: #9 Thanks: 49 Thanked 245 Times in 145 Posts Friends: 37	Prius Marathon Run Four drivers will be taking turns behind the wheel of a 2004 Prius August 5-7 in an effort to achieve the best possible mpg and longest distance on a tank of gas recorded to date. Dan Kroushl has discovered a route near his home in Pittsburgh where he has been able to consistently achieve laps of 100+ mpg and two of the three drivers who will be assisting him have been able to duplicate his results on the same course. The third they're confident can do just as well, but he has not yet been there to try. They'll start out Friday evening after rush hour and go until they run out of gas, with each driver taking a four hour shift behind the wheel on a 23 mile there-and-back portion of four lane road near Pittsburg with 12 traffic lights and two moderate hills. Their technique will be pulse- and-glide going no faster than 40 mph and rarely slower than 30. Their goal is to achieve or approach 100 mpg for an entire tank and go 1100- 1200 or more miles, running out sometime Sunday. The event has started to attract media attention. They just got word yesterday that HBO is sending a crew to cover the event as part of an upcoming climate change feature they're putting together, and earlier this week Dave Bassage was interviewed while driving a similar route by Jeff Young of the NPR syndicated show Living on Earth. You can hear or read the transcript of that interview at http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?prog...030&segmentID=8 They will try to post updates as the event unfolds on all the various forums they frequent. If anyone is interested in stopping by for any or all of the event you'd be most welcome, and there's a good chance at any given time that there will be a driver available to offer pulse-and-glide hands on instruction who is not currently on a driving shift. Feel free to email Dave directly (fikescr@earthlink.net) for more information if you're interested. Their primary goal is to see just how much fuel efficiency can be eeked out of this already very efficient car. They'd also like to share their techniques with anyone interested and are just warped enough to think this is a fun way to spend a summer weekend. Dan Krousl routinely achives mpgs above 60 and 70mpg in his daily driving. Dave is an enthusiast who lives nearby and also achives mpgs in the 60mpg range. __________________ Evan E. Fusco, MD "It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word." -Andrew Jackson

08-01-2005, 04:37 PM	#5
vande23 Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: St.Paul, MN Posts: 20 My Car: Model: Package: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	Re: Prius Marathon Run Now I can breathe easy - at least I have been completely overtaken in the "Prius Nerd" category. yeah, my totally random license plate here in Minnesota even starts with PND !! 100MPG? sheesh, you guys are going to TILT the MPG LCD screen. I wonder if your math will get you over 100MPM but the screen will not be able to handle it? Anyone else sense Y2K computer issues here?

08-03-2005, 10:25 AM	#7
CraigCSJ Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Southern California Posts: 49 My Car: Model: Package: Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	Re: Prius Marathon Run Will the Prius Marathon Run be done with a stock Prius, or will it be modified in some way? It seems to me that I saw way back that Dan Kroushl had added more batteries to his Prius. I hope the Prius is an unmodified version, as that would show most owners of Prius what their car is capable of doing, given optimal conditions. CraigCSJ 04 Driftwood #9BC

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07-31-2005, 07:56 AM	#2
dreichla Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Connecticut Posts: 2,230 My Car: Model: Package: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	Awsome audio transcript! I'd love to see a video of this event if one becomes available.

08-01-2005, 04:53 PM	#6
efusco Troll Slayer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nixa, MO Posts: 17,222 My Car: 2004 Prius Model: Package: #9 Thanks: 49 Thanked 245 Times in 145 Posts Friends: 37	Dan's already had several runs in excess of 100mpg...what he usually does is go to a different road that he can drive on until the mileage drops below 100mpg and then back calculate what his mileage was for the distance that was above 100mpg

08-03-2005, 12:09 PM	#8
efusco Troll Slayer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nixa, MO Posts: 17,222 My Car: 2004 Prius Model: Package: #9 Thanks: 49 Thanked 245 Times in 145 Posts Friends: 37	Unmodified. He does run on some pretty worn OEM Integrity tires at about 60psi. He also uses 0W20 Mobil 1 oil.

08-03-2005, 01:00 PM	#9
jtmhog Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 151 My Car: 2006 Prius Model: Package: Base Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Friends: 0	A list of all his fuel saving tricks would be nice. And then there the person who put in cruise at 35 MPH and left it there for 1000 miles, for an average of 88MPG. And they let these people run around loose!!

08-03-2005, 01:35 PM	#10
CraigCSJ Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Southern California Posts: 49 My Car: Model: Package: Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	Thanks for the reply. 60psi in the tires surely must compromise ride. I would think that pressure would be dangerous at normal speeds, given the 44 max stated on the tire. However, at the slow marathon speeds I doubt there will be trouble, and if there is, they can change a tire. I wish they were keeping the car within normal specifications, but 60psi will undoubtably get better mileage than 44.