A.M.E.C. Economy Run III
Hypermilers boldly cruise into triple-digit mileage territory
BY DAVID TRAVER ADOLPHUS
PHOTOGRAPH Y COURTESY BILL AND NATHAN CLARK
When gas prices headed towards the four-dollar mark last sum- mer, members of the Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club noticed a
distinct decline in participation in club
events. Club historian Dave Burnham
pitched an idea: In 1954, the year the club
incorporated, they held an economy run,
a popular feature at the time. Fifty-four
years after their first run, the A.M.E.C.
would bring the competition back.
Dave Burnham and Bryon Seyfried put
the first 2008 event together with a 106.3-
mile course through the Adirondack mountains, and seven cars showed up. “Most of
the club are racers, and they didn’t have
much interest,” said current organizer
Mike Kamm. They ran it again on October
5, 2008, and attracted 15 contestants.
Each time, the results improved: For
I, the average MPG was 40. 15, with the
top (automobile) score posted by Dave
Burnham’s 1991 Volkswagen Jetta diesel, 56. 36 MPG. At II, the group average
rose to 49. 56, and Jonathan Bartlett’s
biodiesel 2005 Volkswagen Passat made
71. 55 MPG.
When Mike announced A.M.E.C. Econ-
omy Run III, the scoring structure was
changed. “At the first two, we weighed
each car to compute a ton-per-mile factor,” he said. They had envisioned a scenario where someone might show up in
a 7,500-pound diesel Dodge pickup, and
wanted to level the playing field. But it
never happened —participants were more
interested in ultimate mileage, rather
than an adjusted scale. “Although an
Economy Run event is not a racing event,
it is still an automotive competition, and
isequally as challenging,” said Mike,
who has an extensive racing background.
“It takes just as much talentto get top
results. I view the competitions as a way
to showcase our mechanical abilities as
well as our diversified driving skills.”
A.M.E.C. Economy Run III, organized
by Mike with help from Dave Burnham
and Mark Long, was held on August 23,
and entrants took all 20 available spots.
For the first time, a historic class was
included and five cars participated in
that. Mike’s own 1977 Datsun was eligible, but he “wanted to play with the
big boys,” and he felt his background
and extensive modifications gave him
an unfair advantage against a mostly
stock class. Bill Clark’s 1957 Metropolitan Hardtop won the Historic class with
a superb 44. 64 MPG, using 2. 33 gallons
of gas over 104 miles, followed closely
by Jonathan Bartlett’s 1969 Saab Sonett II at 44. 26 MPG. The overall winner
was Chang Ho Kim’s 1989 Honda CRX,
at 118. 18 MPG, using…0.88 gallons of
gas. Runner-up was Darin Cosgrove’s
Canadian market 1998 Pontiac Firefly
(Geo Metro) at 106. 12 MPG. The overall
group average was 63. 97 MPG. Many of
the entrants, including Kim, drew on
the wealth of information at ecomodder.
com, where his car is profiled in detail.
“This type of event draws out not
only some of our club’s racers and gear
heads, but also new people, many of
whom have various types of engineering
backgrounds,” said Mike. “The competitions are taken quite seriously by some,
but at the same time are very laid back,
and offer an interesting, engaging, and
entertaining way to feed our automotive hobby appetites.” Look for details of
upcoming events at the A.M.E.C.’s website, www.icerace.com.
HEMMINGS MOTOR NEWS • NOVEMBER 2009 73
