Here's a little history on the Gilmore / Mobilgas Economy Run's that i posted on my blog that i thought you guys might enjoy.... If hot rodding is for speed and power, then I guess that the act of tuning for economy and mileage must be known as cold rodding. Nowadays, i see Yahoo geeks having secret meetings to discuss how to tweak another mpg out of their Prius'-- and just yesterday i was thoroughly annoyed by a guy on the highway using the "shut the car down off every time you coast" technique to save a bit of fuel. It seems cold rodding is the new dance trend sweeping the nation and while it may be good for the world, it reminds me a bit of the "Macarena." As you can see, the cold rodder of today seems to remind me of a modern day metro hippie who tends to look a bit "quirky" doing his/her thing in these tiny, funny colored roller skate vehicles w/ electric motors, strange receptacles and digital gauges. Since I don't seem to get it, let's look back in history to see what we can learn... In 1936, the Gilmore Oil Company of California recognized the fun in fuel economy and held the first annual Gilmore Economy Run-- which was a half day event that ran from Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles, CA to Yosemite. The rules were simple: You were weighed and you were put into a class based on size of your car and cubic inches of your engine. The person who got the best gas mileage won, and in 1936 they approached 30mpg. Gilmore also won that year as they sold 97 million gallons of gas, 5x the sales versus 5 years earlier. The Economy Run, as well as Gilmore's 2nd event, the "Gilmore Grand Canyon Mileage Run" took a break during World War II-- as the world was focused on killing eachother. By the time the war was over, the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company had acquired and killed Gilmore, so the company changed to Socony's trade name of "Mobiloil." The Economy Run then started up again, now called the "Mobilgas Economy Run" with the expanded route to the Grand Canyon. By the 1950's, the Economy Run had turned into a major event, with all the big US auto manufactures putting major resources into winning. The route distance continued to expand from LA to Detroit, via 6 legs: LA to Flagstaff; Flagstaff to Tucumari; Tucumari to Tulsa; Tulsa to St. Louis; St. Louis to Chicago and Chicago to Detroit. When i look at the Prius gang of Cold Rodders today, i have to be patient with their quirks and remember that even Mickey Thompson was a cold rodder back in the day. In 1962, both him and his wife Judy participated and won the Economy Run-- Mickey driving in the Class C Large Compact, winning with 27.30mpg and Judy winning the Class G Medium Category with 19.48mpg. Just looking at this picture reminds me that Mickey Thompson was THE MAN.... almost like a Jesus Christ of Hot Rodding. R.I.P. <table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" width="525"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="2" bgcolor="SILVER" valign="top" width="39%"> [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]LA- DETROIT ECONOMY RUN HIGHLIGHTS[/FONT] </td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="39%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]Overall Distance[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="61%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]2[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]497.6[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco] miles[/FONT]</td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="39%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]Average Speed[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="61%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]4[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]2[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco].7[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]0[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco] mph[/FONT]</td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="39%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]Highest Altitude[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="61%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]9010 feet Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming[/FONT]</td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="39%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]Lowest Point on course[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="61%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]47 feet below sea level. Indio, California[/FONT]</td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="39%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]Number of towns passed through[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="61%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]183[/FONT]</td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="39%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]Number of States passed through[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="61%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]9[/FONT]</td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="39%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]Traffic Signals[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="61%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]256[/FONT]</td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="39%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]City Driving[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="61%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]272.6 miles[/FONT]</td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="39%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]Expressway Driving[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="WHITE" valign="top" width="61%">[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]830.8[/FONT]</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> By the way-- to prove that cold rodding doesn't require the balls that hot rodding does, i'll note that for the two years the Thompson's competed, Judy got the better results over Mickey (they switched cars year to year.) Maybe that's what it is-- cold rodding is a girls thing. I now understand-- so i'll stick to what i know. Fuel economy is cool. I encourage everyone to save gas and do the brand new cold rod dance. It's imperative that we cut down the demand for gasoline, keep the money out of the pockets of terrorists and cause gas prices to drop so that i can afford to drive my old cars more. Do as i say, not as i do. -scott noteboom One more thing-- i have to point out that I find it amusing that it was the oil companies that held the economy events in years past-- and it proved successful for them. Using that logic, i betcha Jack Daniels would bump revenues if they began to sponsor some Alcoholics Anonymous...
Love it. Nicely done. Now I have to admit I'm a bit of a cold rodder, at least when it comes to mpg. But no mater how hard I try, or who I ask for advice, two minutes into the conversation and talk always turns to turbos or supershargers or other speedy parts. Hey, it's hard to be a cold rodder. On the flip side, we all know what happens when two Prius' meet on a lonely stretch of road (not that much I know), but one guy is bound to challenge the other guy for green slips. Gary
beginning in the mid 50's Mobilgas would also help to arrange local one day events. here's a video about a gal who set one up in the Bay Area back then... <object width="512" height="323"><param name="movie" value="http://d.yimg.com/static.video.yahoo.com/yep/YV_YEP.swf?ver=2.2.7" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /><param name="flashVars" value="id=8678668&vid=3037525&lang=en-us&intl=us&thumbUrl=http%3A//us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/i/bcst/videosearch/3966/67751448.jpeg&embed=1" /><embed src="http://d.yimg.com/static.video.yahoo.com/yep/YV_YEP.swf?ver=2.2.7" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="512" height="323" allowFullScreen="true" bgcolor="#000000" flashVars="id=8678668&vid=3037525&lang=en-us&intl=us&thumbUrl=http%3A//us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/i/bcst/videosearch/3966/67751448.jpeg&embed=1" ></embed></object> -scott noteboom
here's part two of the above video... <object width="512" height="323"><param name="movie" value="http://d.yimg.com/static.video.yahoo.com/yep/YV_YEP.swf?ver=2.2.7" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /><param name="flashVars" value="id=8678710&vid=3037584&lang=en-us&intl=us&thumbUrl=http%3A//us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/i/bcst/videosearch/3967/67751618.jpeg&embed=1" /><embed src="http://d.yimg.com/static.video.yahoo.com/yep/YV_YEP.swf?ver=2.2.7" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="512" height="323" allowFullScreen="true" bgcolor="#000000" flashVars="id=8678710&vid=3037584&lang=en-us&intl=us&thumbUrl=http%3A//us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/i/bcst/videosearch/3967/67751618.jpeg&embed=1" ></embed></object> -scott noteboom
What that shows me is that auto companies suck! Look at the mileage as far back as 36!? And GM is bragging about their latest hybrids that get the same 30mpg WTF? The problem isnt the oil, it is the auto companies lack of technological advancement. BTW, I thought Ryan covered the Gilmore deal a few years back? No biggie, still a fun topic.
There is even more information on this if you search out "hypermiling" or 'hypermilers'. They did a story about this stuff awhile back on our local news about some clowns who did this stuff regularly. They'd drive mainly the back roads, shut off the ignition and coast for as long as they could. When you look at the computer readout in the car that shows the instant mileage, the readouts in these guys' cars would top out at 150mpg. I tried it in my '03 3/4 ton Dodge the other day and got my instant mileage up to over 40mpg.... but when the motor was off and I was coasting, there was no way to even come close to turning that big beast without herculean strength!
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