Achilles Last Stand

WHAT HAPPENED

After making our first runs in the fuel economy trials, we learned that our DAS numbers on mpg-e were really good, and our car had no problems on the run. At least, none that we could see…

After our highway segment ended, George Voll was a little shaken about the effect of the last lap, since the race officials forgot to signal him with his team flag, wondering how that late call might have hurt his efficiency through the trace of the course. After getting the car back to impound, it was time to weigh our fuel, to see what the overall fuel consumption was for the course of the three separate segments of the fuel economy run: urban, city, and highway. When we learned how much fuel we used, we knew it was something bigger than a missed signal.

So on Friday, we were called in to meet with officials about our status. We couldn’t argue with the numbers that were produced, but we did make an argument about how the data were collected. And so we were instructed to include that in our protest, to have it filed and hope for an appeal to continue our entry in the competition.

But when we returned to our bay, a fellow competitor was

there to inquire about a certain part was on the engine. George took a look and yelled for the rest of us to see. We discovered that a cap had been removed from the turbo , nullifying its boost effect and inhibiting our water injection system from operating. Loosing boost is like running a 100 meter sprint breathing through a straw. Instead of using more air, it uses more fuel to do the same amount of work. Our friend from the other team added that he saw this a couple of days before—which would have meant he noticed it before we performed our economy run.

Yet our car still ran…

And our car was running as a normally

aspirated engine, with no help from turbo boost, or water injection. We ran our fuel economy test with none of our fuel economy technology operating. And because of our understanding of the rules, we weren’t allowed to perform any maintenance or routine inspections on the car, never looking under the hood after each leg to ensure things were intact.

It’s baffling to us how it might have happened. While we should have caught it before we ever left our bay, we may never know how the plug came off of that port. One of two things: engine pressure, or a sharp yank.

I was thinking that this plug was our "Achilles Heel."

Kevin Smith, of Illuminati Motor Works, also mentioned Achilles as we discussed the events in the garage after the events. Like the Led Zep song title, Achilles Last Stand, so it was for BITW Technologies. Just like the 1967 Indy 500 Turbine car, we were felled by a part that cost less than a dollar.

We packed the trailer, loaned by Doug Harkness, of Corydon Glass and Mirror, and said our goodbyes. George put a new plug on and with 180 lbs of extra weight, drove home. We fueled up at Coldwater, MI and drove 201 miles to Whiteland,IN, averaging 65 MPH. George put in 3 gallons to top off the ATL fuel bladder.

Did you do the math? We got 66 MPG at 65mph with the plug in place. What would we get at 50 mph? Point proven to ourselves, but that won't get us back into the competition.

We got this far on a stock car, and still achieved better MPG than cars being sold today. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, yet some of our former competitors believe that is the only way to achieve real fuel efficiency. We’ll see how far they go before returning to time-tested conventions.

There are many unanswered questions we’ll continue to explore. What would our numbers actually be if our tech was connected? As of now, we may be out, but we’re not down. More to come.