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Shell Oil Company achieves 376.59 mpg in test car- 1973!
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by René | November 5, 2008 at 08:07 am
310 views | 4 Recommendations | 5 comments
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Shell Oil Company achieves 376.59 mpg in test car- 1973! ECO MARATHON
uploaded by SOLARLIFE
Indianapolis (IN) - Using fully stock production gasoline engine powered vehicles, with engine modifications limited only to changes in fuel mixture and ignition timing, Shell Oil Company served host to an open competition in automobile efficiency.
The fruit of their forum was sweet indeed as a two-door, full-sized production car was able to drive off with the prize by achieving 376.59 miles in normal driving conditions using a single gallon of fuel. A more heavily modified vehicle was able to achieve over 1140 miles on a single gallon of fuel.
Results like these are truly astounding and beg the question: Are we really getting all we can in efficiency from auto makers?
Images of the test cars in question: Shell Oil 1973 - 376 MPG!
A PDF on these test cars.
Anybody wonder why the tech used on these old cars can't be implemented now?
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (5)
at 10:39 on November 5th, 2008
Just think were we would be if the auto industry had created vehicles with just half of the demonstrated MPG. A whole 'nother world from where we find ourselves now.
at 11:30 on November 5th, 2008
René, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 20:56 on November 5th, 2008
did you notice that the 1983 Peugeot 205 got 67 mpg? only in Europe, the American ones only got about 21 mpg. curious? I think it's outrageous. and the excuse is all the 'modifications' for safety and environmental issues.
at 18:07 on November 5th, 2008
René, I like this story. It's good stuff.
Interesting... Now, how RELIABLE were they and how "full-featured?"
I know that some modern folks have produced high MPG cars, but at the expense of all the bells and whistles. Often they're little more than a chassis an aneinge and a steering column. IE, none of the modern safety features, and other stuff that adds weight and lowers MPG.
So, again, were the cars stripped down junkers with little to weigh them down, or were they full-featured, fully operational vehicles with all the standard equipment of the time? What kind of acceleration profiles and top speeds were they capable of?
If they were standard vehicles without anything stripped out, then the question "why can't we build such efficient engines these days?" seems reasonable. If they were ultra-strippeddown models, one might ask whether putting some or all of the stuff back in would significantly reduce the efficieny or whether there would be minimal impact...
~Michael
at 20:43 on November 5th, 2008
The cars were supposed to be stock equipment, and weigh at least as much as street cars, with only minor alterations. the photos provided are way after the fact. so no way to tell.
The guy who hosts the pdfs, and articles and links to info on alterations you can make now to get better mileage from even much older cars. A couple of vehicles available now with great mileage are a new Toyota and the Puegeot (particularly an older one), both available in Europe. might be using diesel fuel which always gets better mileage.