The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Our Crappy Race → Any estimates on fuel costs for the thunderhill race?
Just trying to get a budget figured out for the team coming up, and I have no idea what to expect for pump prices as well as how fast our car will go through fuel. We are driving a 4 cylinder turbo mitsubishi starion fyi. Any input helps, thank you.
If you run the whole weekend I'd expect to burn about a 100 gallons of gas as a real ballpark figure. I know the price at the pump at Thunderhill is pretty high... someone else can give you the exact price I'm sure.
But since you're running a starion it will break the transmission or half shaft within an hour of racing so you'll only burn about 10 gallons 
65 gallons
KT
Okay....turbo engines are well known to have higher fuel consumption....typically .6-.7 BSFC vs .4-5 for NA engines..WHY..because they need more fuel to cool things vs an NA engine.... (pressure equals heat)
I used to OWN a 1988 Chrysler Conquest Tsi (188hp) and it did "okay" on gas..but not on boost you would see in racing conditions....
I would base your consumption similar to ours...10 gallons PER HOUR..... or 150 gallons.... for the weekend.....if you end up under...good give the team a refund...vs asking for a BILL if your wrong...also remember at Thunderhill you MUST buy gas from Thunderhill...so its $4.50 per gallon at 91 octane....100 is $7.50....
wow you guys bur some gas, we on burn about 35.
When we ran the 5200lb 385hp V-12 Mercedes S600 at the last Thunderhill Arse-Freeze we averaged 1/2 gallon PER LAP. Ouch. One of the reasons I was happy to have it claimed!
65 gallons for a complete race.
Less if you stop for black flags, engines, brakes, and lunch.
Fernley - 35 gallons
Thunderhill - Incomplete data
Sears Point - Incomplete data
Don't forget to budget tow vehicle gas as well. Nearly bankrupted my play fund traveling to Reno and back. Something like $600 total.
Thanks for the answers guys, and yes I budgeted the tow vehicle and everything else to get out to the track. I just had no idea what to expect for the gas actually on track. We were kind of thinking to keep costs down we would have a few small 5-10 gallon containers and whenever we get a chance have the members who are not driving leave the track to go fill them up. I know there's a drop fee for a 55 gallon drum and up, but this shouldn't be a problem right? And is there a gas station somewhat close to the track?
We burned ~ 60 gallons in our 2200lb FX16 over the weekend. That's with penalties, rookie pit stops, etc. I imagine a clean race would be roughly 65-70 gal.
The closest gas station is in Willows, about 7 miles to the east. $3.00ish for regular.
We're bringing a 50 gallon drum along with cans.
...also remember at Thunderhill you MUST buy gas from Thunderhill...so its $4.50 per gallon at 91 octane....100 is $7.50....
There is no requirement to buy your fuel from the track. We run down to town with our fuel jugs to refill.
We also run a turbo 4-cylinder and I think we went through between 65 - 70 gallons at Thunderhill last time... OK, nearly every time.
Don't buy your gas at the track. Lines are long and prices are high (except for Infineon so far). Send your least favorite team member with all of your gas jugs and his/her credit card down the road to one of the local gas stations to get premium. Also, be sure to put a gallon or two of the 100 octane to keep your turbo engine from 'splodin'.
I'm guessing we'll be required to fill up in the area of the gas pump like previous times at T-hill?
EDIT nm, I actually bothered to read the rules. Glad they're allowing fill ups in our pit space.
87 octane in Willows was $3,29 yesterday. 91, the lowest available at the track, was $4.99 this past weekend. If you only need 87, it might be worth the drive in to town. The difference between 91 in town and 91 at the track, however, might make one lean towards supporting the track if 91 is what you need...
87 was that much?
Daaamnnnn
seems like a couple 55 gallon drums will be handy!
Ours broke down so much we didn't use to much fuel... If you are in need of any spare parts let me know. I will give you a good deal on them. We will be at Thunderhill and we could bring them up with us. Mike.
Are you talking about another starion? if so that would be awesome because we have almost no spare parts and there doesn't seem to be a lot out here in Utah. Hopefully we don't need anything, but it is a mitsubishi.
We burn through a tank in 2 hours in the v8 Mustang. it is probably not as fast as the starion, but likely as thirsty.
you know you'll be running some crazy ass turbo with stratospheric boost, so be wise and find an oil cooler, get an additive like TORCO to help with detonation, and maybe find a better intercooler.
Okay....turbo engines are well known to have higher fuel consumption...
I would base your consumption similar to ours...10 gallons PER HOUR..... or 150 gallons.... for the weekend
Ouch, the Peugeot does much better than that, more like 7 gph. With three hours of down/penalty time we didn't even use a whole 55 gallon drum at Infineon.
87 octane in Willows was $3,29 yesterday. 91, the lowest available at the track, was $4.99 this past weekend. If you only need 87, it might be worth the drive in to town. The difference between 91 in town and 91 at the track, however, might make one lean towards supporting the track if 91 is what you need...
The 87 was 3.29 at Chevron and Shell, but I believe $3.09 directly accross the street at AM/PM.
The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Our Crappy Race → Any estimates on fuel costs for the thunderhill race?