A cool, foggy morning blossomed into beautiful autumn day, just perfect for a country drive in your classic or modern sports car. Unfortunately numbers were down considerably on past Cento Miglias, but at least the quality was there!
Leaving Warragul, the participants headed out to Darnum , then Cloverlea and Ellinbank before encountering very heavy traffic ?around Lardner Park where the Field Days were in full swing. From Larder the route headed south to Poowong and across the South Gippsland Highway at Bena before winding through the hills around Konwak and Krowera and descending through Woodleigh out onto the flats before heading towards Lang Lang where most teams had a short morning tea break. From there it was a fairly direct run through Modella and Longwarry to the eastbound service station on the Princes Highway?at Longwarry North. A total distance of 142km. Several drivers were seen to miss a turn here or there, thus adding more distance and using more fuel than intended, to find their way back to the correct route.
Various driving techniques were employed to save fuel, including switching the engine off on long downhill runs. Most drivers tried to keep the revs down, making it an unusually slow and pleasant outing for those in the passenger seats.
If it was a sprint event, Kevin Riley would have won hands down. He arrived at the refuelling station a good 15 minutes before the next car. Unfortunately, enjoying the power of the big Merc had a detrimental effect on his fuel consumption, drinking more than twice the amount of petrol as the more frugal cars. The overall winner was a close run contest between the Mazda MX5 of Ian and Carol Mallows and the supercharged Toyota MR2 of Ian Maud. The Toyota, with only one person on board, took the honours by using just 60ml less fuel than the Mazda. The rest of the results are tabled below.
Following the refuel at Longwarry North, all participants gathered at Picnic Point for lunch and the presentation of trophies. It was great to see four or five additional Sporting Register vehicles?and their occupants?at the lunch venue, swelling our numbers and joining in the festivities.
| 2015 CENTO MIGLIA ECONOMY RUN | |||||
| Entrant | Vehicle | Engine cc | Litres used | l/100km | mpg |
| MODERN | |||||
| Ken & Bev Purcell | MGF | 1600 | 8.45 | 5.9591 | 47.4 |
| Phil & Judy Barnard | Porsche Boxster | 2700 | 11.53 | 8.1312 | 34.74 |
| Kevin Riley | Mercedes SL55 | 5500 | 16.88 | 11.904 | 23.73 |
| CLASSIC Up to 1.3 | |||||
| David & Claire Richards | Mini Deluxe | 1100 | 10.78 | 7.6023 | 37.16 |
| CLASSIC 1.3 to 1.7 | |||||
| Ian Maud | Toyota MR2 | 1600 | 8.27 | 5.8322 | 48.43 |
| Ian & Carol Mallows | Mazda MX5 | 1600 | 8.33 | 5.8745 | 48.09 |
| CLASSIC 1.7 to 2.0 | |||||
| Ian & Glynnis Murray | BMW 320i | 1990 | 10.35 | 7.299 | 38.7 |
| Wayne & Coleen Eccles | MGB | 1800 | 11.12 | 7.842 | 36.02 |
| CLASSIC Over 2 litres | |||||
| David & Paula Anderson | MGB V8 | 3500 | 9.11 | 6.4245 | 43.97 |
| Glenn & Pam Campbell | Porsche 911 | 3200 | 11.95 | 8.4274 | 33.52 |
no images were found
Looks like a it was a perfect day for it.
Look forward to meeting and joining soon.
Cheers,
Paul.
A great day of laid back driving through lovely South Gippsland hills meticulously planned by Steve Schmidt. It was a pity numbers were down due to the cricket and associated gatherings, we guessed.
It was interesting to observe that both maximum and very low fuel consumption were recorded by two V8s, one in a Mercedes and the other in an MGB. The MGB was especially surprising, but due it seems to massive torque/ kgs and little need for lower gears, and thus a figure of 43.97 mpg,good economy techniques by David also no doubt The Mercedes had, I think, 5,5litres of supercharged motor and must be staggering to ride in when the pedal is put to the metal Also the 2,7l Porsche did well given the HP it generates, well driven also no doubt.Surprising results!
Maybe next year will need to include diesel and electric cars , also with some staggering economy figures no doubt. Car engines are changing rapidly.
Economy runs … lots of fun for sure. If a weighbridge can be accessed for the next one, maybe try for a ton-miles per gallon figure as well? You might be surprised at the outcome!