Engineer Gets 110 MPG Out Of '87 Mustang

Ohio Man Competing For $10M Prize

 

 

Doug Pelmear said he isn't toying with the engine of 1987 Ford Mustang for the money.

 

The engineer's tinkering, however, could earn him $10 million and save him plenty more in gas money.

 

Pelmear, who lives in Napoleon, Ohio, has tweaked his Mustang to get 110 mpg, making the engine nearly five times as efficient as a traditional gas engine, he told the Toledo Blade newspaper.

 

"We redesigned a lot of different things on the [engine] block," Pelmear told the paper. "It's still a rod-and-piston engine; it just has a lot more electronics on it."

 

Traditional gas engines operate at 8 to 10 percent, efficiency, while the engine on the Mustang, he said, is at 38 percent efficiency.

 

He said he could greatly increase even that number if his car used traditional gasoline instead of a mix of gas and 85 percent ethanol.

 

Pelmear entered his car to win the the $10 million Progressive Automotive X Prize: a race to find an affordable, marketable automobile that gets at least 100 miles per gallon.

 

"I'm an optimist, and I think people need to know there is hope out there," Pelmear told the Toledo Blade. "That's why I decided to enter the X Prize race. I could have sold this [technology] off, but then people might not have seen it.

 

Pelmear told television station WNWO that the car hasn't traded power for miles per gallon. Pelmear said the car has 400 horsepower, goes well over 100 mph and can go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds.

 

"This will bring back the automotive industry when they can sell trucks and SUVs and the models that are almost dead at this time," he told WNWO.

 

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Edited July 3, 200817 yr by juddling

That would be amazing. Is this legit or what? I mean, if a guy can get his Mustang 110 miles/gallon, then could all cars get that? Like, for example, if I buy a Chevy Tahoe, could I get the engine reconfigured to get 100 miles/gal? Any engineers or car guys out there that know if this is really feasible?

 

Also, it would seem to really hurt profits for oil companies, so in turn, would they then jack up the price to, like, $10/gallon?

So far he hasn't let anyone look at the engine or the car itself, so all there is is his claims to achive that milage. We'll see if he actually enters it in that contest, because then it will get a good going over to see if it actually works.

We've heard for years that this is simply not possible. (waits for all the car engineers to appear in the thread, because I've seen those comments on here).

 

So far he hasn't let anyone look at the engine or the car itself, so all there is is his claims to achive that milage. We'll see if he actually enters it in that contest, because then it will get a good going over to see if it actually works.

Well, I was pretty excited, until I noted a couple things. One, as you say, no one has verified these numbers. Two, so far, he isn't making himself very believable. He says is '87 Stang can go 0-60 in 3 seconds. No freakin' way that's the case. He's already exaggerating.

 

I hope he really has achieved something great, but, until someone else tests it, I'm highly skeptical.

 

That would be amazing. Is this legit or what? I mean, if a guy can get his Mustang 110 miles/gallon, then could all cars get that? Like, for example, if I buy a Chevy Tahoe, could I get the engine reconfigured to get 100 miles/gal? Any engineers or car guys out there that know if this is really feasible?

 

Also, it would seem to really hurt profits for oil companies, so in turn, would they then jack up the price to, like, $10/gallon?

 

If something like this went into production, it would have the exact opposite effect as demand would crash, and you would probably end up with a supply glut.

If something like this went into production, it would have the exact opposite effect as demand would crash, and you would probably end up with a supply glut.

Which is why this whole thing is a big consipracy theory, and why car manufacturers and oil companies hold all the patents for everything remotely technologically advanced.

 

/adjusts tin hat

Well, I was pretty excited, until I noted a couple things. One, as you say, no one has verified these numbers. Two, so far, he isn't making himself very believable. He says is '87 Stang can go 0-60 in 3 seconds. No freakin' way that's the case. He's already exaggerating.

 

I hope he really has achieved something great, but, until someone else tests it, I'm highly skeptical.

 

There's a lot of late-80's Mustangs that can do 0-60 in 3 seconds (or better). They're making a hell of a lot more power than 400HP and getting closer to 5 MPG, though.

 

This guy sounds like he's FOS.

There's a lot of late-80's Mustangs that can do 0-60 in 3 seconds (or better). They're making a hell of a lot more power than 400HP and getting closer to 5 MPG, though.

 

This guy sounds like he's FOS.

I'm sorry but I don't think so. Those Stangs may be in the 4's somewhere 0-60, but not 3 seconds. I know of only 2 production cars to ever break 3 seconds - that's two production cars, EVER.

 

IN any case, I agree, I think hes full of it.

 

I'm sorry but I don't think so. Those Stangs may be in the 4's somewhere 0-60, but not 3 seconds. I know of only 2 production cars to ever break 3 seconds - that's two production cars, EVER.

 

IN any case, I agree, I think hes full of it.

 

This is going off-topic, but there are plenty of late-80's stangs that run 8 second 1/4 miles (They'll hit about 160MPH in the 1/4). For comparison, the very fastest production cars run 10's. We're talking about 1000HP+, huge CC's, nitrous, supercharger, etc. etc., not your standard Mustang drivetrain. Which means that 5 MPG is optimistic.

 

Either way, yeah, we agree that his claims seem like BS.