[ECOBRAP]

Hey everyone! Just wanted to announce a new project I have started called "ECOBRAP". We are a YouTube channel and social media platform that aims to reduce the carbon footprint of racing (Yes, barking up the wrong tree, I know). But the purpose of the channel is to show that we can still have fun, but just be more efficient in the process.

That being said, we will be doing a few things differently. The biggest use of fuel in racing is transport to/from the track. We will be reducing this by getting 20+MPG while towing an enclosed car trailer. Yes really, Ecodiesel FTW!

On the racing side, we will be using less fuel, less tires, less waste, and utilizing a high flow catalytic converter on the race car while remaining competitive.

I have just released our first video, highlighting our first adventure, as we pursue the Holy Grail of efficiency, 20MPG while towing 4,000lbs!

Follow us on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram @ECOBRAP

 

[Captainmal]

Welcome to the forum - First post.

See you joined about four months ago and waited all that time to do a post. Interesting.

More interesting is your success at reaching your goal of 20 mpg or more. Of course you kept your speeds near the "double nickel". Wind resistance is a major, major factor in reducing drag and increasing mpg. Smart move to have that teeny Miata on an aluminum trailer with such a low drag cover. You are cutting through the wind like a long arrow with low drag on a slow run. One negative is admirable in that you are able to actually keep those speeds down in spite of the dangers of faster traffic causing an extraordinary number of contacts as you go along. Never try that in a race mode or you will be "blue flagged".

More things also interested me. You seemed to avert the issue of using the Ecodiesel with your constant comments about gas stations and pumping at the gas pump. Kind of an afterthought that the word diesel was sort of whispered out toward the end. Give praise to the power plant. It deserves some credit.

Curious how you afford that Ecodiesel, Miata, bike race skills and nice hauler with the looks of one of my grandchildren. I mean your obvious intelligence must have translated to a high-paying income to afford all those things at such a young age. That was quite a surprise to see.

FYI my Ecodiesel can do 23 mpg towing an open trailer with dual quads or motorcycles at speeds in the 75 mph range. That is with a cap on the truck bed and usually lots of gear stowed inside. It's certainly not as heavy but in the game with your set-up. The Ecodiesel can be a wonderfully efficient package in the hands of intelligent and skilled drivers. You show that.

 

[HYDREX]

Got 17.5 mpg towing a 26' boat mold at 60 mph and under. Not so heavy, but not very aerodynamic. About 6,000 lbs total. Towed like a dream, btw.

 

[ECOBRAP]

See you joined about four months ago and waited all that time to do a post. Interesting.

------ I only just announced this project last week, and hence have been quiet as a mouse until the official release. But I have been enjoying my Ecodiesel since November, and will hopefully be a bit more active on the forum from this point on, to demonstrate the capabilities of the truck.

More interesting is your success at reaching your goal of 20 mpg or more. Of course you kept your speeds near the "double nickel". Wind resistance is a major, major factor in reducing drag and increasing mpg. Smart move to have that teeny Miata on an aluminum trailer with such a low drag cover. You are cutting through the wind like a long arrow with low drag on a slow run. One negative is admirable in that you are able to actually keep those speeds down in spite of the dangers of faster traffic causing an extraordinary number of contacts as you go along. Never try that in a race mode or you will be "blue flagged".

----- I am the slowest one on the road, but invert that on the track! Jokes aside, I try to keep my differential speed from traffic to about 10mph. I agree that people blowing by at a 20mph delta is not the safest. But as I am on video, I am restricted to the 55mph California limit. If that weren't the case, I would likely compromise around 62mph. As for the setup, yes very low drag setup. Curious to try different things such as a single axle open trailer, using a truck cap to decrease aero resistance on the trailer itself, etc.

More things also interested me. You seemed to avert the issue of using the Ecodiesel with your constant comments about gas stations and pumping at the gas pump. Kind of an afterthought that the word diesel was sort of whispered out toward the end. Give praise to the power plant. It deserves some credit.

------ Just my bad habit of using the term "pumping gas" even when pumping diesel. The purpose of this video was to get people curious, and start asking questions, and looks like it is working! Diesels are the most efficient approach for towing, highway driving, and especially a combination of the two. But it seems like the expensive emissions systems on modern diesels do not like city driving, so I will rarely be using my truck for that, nor recommend them for that. Diesels also output more CO2 per gallon (22lbs) vs gasoline (20lbs), so my emissions results of 22MPG could be compared to a gas truck getting 20MPG. But we all know a gas truck will not achieve that due to the lack of low rpm (low fuel) torque that makes diesels so effective in this application.

Curious how you afford that Ecodiesel, Miata, bike race skills and nice hauler with the looks of one of my grandchildren. I mean your obvious intelligence must have translated to a high-paying income to afford all those things at such a young age. That was quite a surprise to see.

----- I received an invitation from Mazda to compete for a racing scholarship a few years ago, as they fortunately noticed my success while on an extremely tight budget. I was very fortunate to win that national shootout, and walked away with a $100,000 scholarship to go racing professionally. Instead of throwing that money down the drain, I tried to keep as much equity as possible, ran the entire operation myself, and have since used that equity to trade assets and acquire these, none of which I believe will depreciate much over the next few years. Truck cost $24k from a dealership (certified pre owned with 25k miles and CPO warranty, fantastic deal), trailer cost $6300 (10 years old, but aluminum so no frame rust to worry about)

FYI my Ecodiesel can do 23 mpg towing an open trailer with dual quads or motorcycles at speeds in the 75 mph range. That is with a cap on the truck bed and usually lots of gear stowed inside. It's certainly not as heavy but in the game with your set-up. The Ecodiesel can be a wonderfully efficient package in the hands of intelligent and skilled drivers. You show that.

----- That is excellent mileage for that set up. I am hoping that if I can get a clear shot with no crosswinds, summer blend fuel, higher temperatu, no traffic, etc, that we can touch the 23-24mpg mark with the same load!



All in all, I love the truck and its capabilities. Really my only issue with the design of the truck is that I can not take manual control of the gears! There are gear buttons on the steering wheel, but the only things they allow me to do are stop the truck from engine braking going downhill, or set a maximum gear. It doesn't let me keep the truck in 8th gear, so if I give it just 10-20% throttle, it downshifts into 7th gear, decreasing the efficiency by not making use of the low rpm torque. This turns my long hyper mileage runs into an endurance task of trying to keep the truck in 8th gear, by letting off the gas forcing it to upshift, and not being able to use cruise control as much as I would like to. I have heard GDE makes a transmission tune that lets you take full control, but they won't ship to California. At some point I will get my hands on one anyways!





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[MAS]

Got 17.5 mpg towing a 26' boat mold at 60 mph and under. Not so heavy, but not very aerodynamic. About 6,000 lbs total. Towed like a dream, btw.

Looks long and pointy, as far as trailers go I would consider that pretty damn aerodynamic.

 

[MAS]

Interesting. I find like you that checking every tank hand calculated by miles divided by gallons ( I also fuel at the same pump every time) that my trip computer is almost always 1-2 mpg off and more often than not the computer is just over 1 mpg... what I like to call optimistic.

My best mpg towing was a 16-foot flat bed with a bunch of lumber, plywood and building supplies and the bed full of tools (air compressor, nail gun, saws, etc) a cab of 4 adults and 1 child a dog and all the food and drinks for a long weekend. Drove 60-65 mph both ways. The way there was with the above load the way home was with empty trailer and the same people and tools. Averaged 21.4 hand calculated.

 

[Captainmal]

There may be a GDE tune that would allow you to have more control of the gearing. I would recommend you contact them but in California it's pointless. Your management is not conducive to alterations that allow your truck to be programmed to operate in manners other than stock.

Appreciate the time to parse my comments. You read like you deserved that scholarship. Good luck with your endeavors. Maybe you should go into politics? California needs some common sense guidance.

 

[Ram1]

Welcome to the forum from the snowy NE corner. 5" on the ground today and snowing hard...no racing here!
Enjoy the Eco Diesel.

 

[HYDREX]

Looks long and pointy, as far as trailers go I would consider that pretty damn aerodynamic.

I forgot to mention, it was very windy that day, could actually feel it start to lift the back of the truck, above 60 mph. Probably like driving 80 mph at least. Could have used the company hemi Ram, think the Ecodiesel did even better! Sorry about the California thing. No GDE and I pay $2.72 a gallon here in Maine for summer #2 diesel.

 

[Patroller8D]

Funny as it seems, one would think that "V" nose trailers would be more aerodynamic but testing proves otherwise. If it was doable (technically yes) but without wasting unusable space, trailers would have a rounded nose with a "V" tail. Of course there are a variety of naysayers on different forums, they have to believe it because they bought them and have to come up with their version of "double the mileage, etc".
https://www.hensleymfg.com/trailer-sway-v-nose-trailers/

 

[ECOBRAP]

Happy Friday everyone! Second towing video is up now. 360 mile round trip with a nasty headwind!

 

[Raffid]

Sweet setup and towing rig. Super jealous of you guys outside of CA able to get the GDE tune. Sure seems like it pumps up those MPGs.

 

[ECOBRAP]

Sweet setup and towing rig. Super jealous of you guys outside of CA able to get the GDE tune. Sure seems like it pumps up those MPGs.

Raffid, I live in California and cannot get the GDE tune either. This is a bone stock truck.

That being said, I will likely try and find a way to get my hands on a transmission tune so that I can lock it in 8th gear!

 

[Raffid]

Raffid, I live in California and cannot get the GDE tune either. This is a bone stock truck.

That being said, I will likely try and find a way to get my hands on a transmission tune so that I can lock it in 8th gear!

Wow, that's great MPG for towing. I just assumed you had the GDE when I saw those numbers.
What are you normally getting while not towing? If I try hard enough I can get up to 25.5 but that seems to be it. Usual driving I'm at about 24.

 

[ECOBRAP]

Wow, that's great MPG for towing. I just assumed you had the GDE when I saw those numbers.
What are you normally getting while not towing? If I try hard enough I can get up to 25.5 but that seems to be it. Usual driving I'm at about 24.

When I first bought the truck, I REALLY went for it on my first tank of fuel. 75% 55-62mph hypermiling, 25% city driving. Probably 12-15 full heat cycles. I got 29.1MPG average (hand calculated) for the entire tank.

Now that I have been driving a little more realistically, I get 28-30 highway, and 26 for the entire tank.

 

[Raffid]

When I first bought the truck, I REALLY went for it on my first tank of fuel. 75% 55-62mph hypermiling, 25% city driving. Probably 12-15 full heat cycles. I got 29.1MPG average (hand calculated) for the entire tank.

Now that I have been driving a little more realistically, I get 28-30 highway, and 26 for the entire tank.

Sweet numbers! Enjoy it

 

[Captainmal]

Wind is not your friend unless it's on your tail. You still did very well. Guessing only you with an Ecodiesel could do that good.

That $21 bridge tool reminds me of New York. Here near Tampa the Sunshine Skyway Bridge costs me $3 but for a single trailer axle. Think it's $4.50 for twin axle but not sure.

 

[ECOBRAP]

Hey everyone, new towing video is up! Towing 4,000lbs, in the rain, through San Francisco again (to avoid that $25-30 toll LOL). Enjoy and let me know what you all think. Curious to get the emissions update and see how much it affects the numbers...

 

[phprof]

I get about 10-11 mpg towing this --> My RV rigging

across the UP of Michigan.

 

[ECOBRAP]

We just pulled off a personal best, 22.5MPG while towing 4,000lbs, along with 400lbs in the bed of the truck. Enjoy!