Land range record bench 'racing'.

I was 'bench racing' this topic with some buddies of mine at lunch the other day, got to Googling and didn't come up with anything. Is there such a thing as a land range record? (Distance covered without refueling). If no, we should totally set one.

I was thinking that maybe next year's BABE rally I would attempt to complete on a single tank of fuel (3500 miles round trip, give or take). Might even do it in the Lamb-orghini, by removing the V8 & transmission and replacing it with 700lbs of fuel. If I can average 30mpg (totally do-able with the zetec by keeping my foot out of it), it might just happen.

At the extreme, what do you think would be the longest range street legal driveable vehicle? At some point the weight of fuel will drag down the fuel economy and its a game of averages...

Stuff I think about.

How big is 350 gallons of fuel? I think the volume and mass of fuel relative to the vehicle might be a problem, but the first place I went was this Kubota diesel powered, streamlined Locost.

EDIT: Ha! 35 gallons would get it there... I was converting your 700 pounds to gallons and realized where I'd gone wrong...

Well, in THEORY the MX6 could have a cruising range of 651.9 miles assuming i could get 41mpg out of an entire tank again.

I think it really depends on the car's ability to haul around all that extra fuel without "noticing," if you will.

I believe gas weighs around 6lbs/gallon. 300-400lbs could be easily done in the MX6 (just as example, i have a feeling the hot ticket here would be a diesel truck).

So that's 67 gallons of fuel. I think i could average 35mpg pretty easily throughout the whole tank, maybe a little higher, but we'll stick with 35mpg for the moment.

2345 miles. And there we're getting fairly close to the BABE requirement. Only problem is WHERE would you put a 67 gallon tank?

A friend and I hatched a plan while in college (beers involved) to build a Volvo 240 wagon into a rolling fuel tank and beer cooler. Pretty much any hatchback or wagon or truck can take the volume. The problem is less about absolute weight as the weight shift with fuel burn off (tail heavy to nose heavy from full to empty tanks).
As the same friend mentioned to me recently (again over beers), you don't need to make a plane (or anything else) can fly more than half-way around the planet...

35X6=210lbs of fuel... not bad at all. That's no more than a passenger. I've got a Locost in the garage....

Sure a plane can go half way around the planet. The Saturn V rocket can go to the moon (jettisoning some parts on the way) but that's not a LAND range record... I think that the record (that I'm making up the rules for right now) should require that you can't jettison tanks or fuel trailers or whatever. Or use solar panels. Or cruise at less than 75% of the posted speed limit.

sporqster wrote: 35X6=210lbs of fuel... not bad at all. That's no more than a passenger. I've got a Locost in the garage....

It won't do it, though, unless you're getting 100mpg.

You're back at your 700lb estimate with ~120gallons of fuel.

I know it is illegal as all get out to transport 350 gallons of fuel without permit or certifications.

Just don't want to see you loose your ride, or get a big fine, or blow up and die.

In reply to Flight Service:

So 350 gallons is clearly the limit. 350 gallons = 2100lbs of fuel. A one-ton diesel pickup carrying 2100 lbs, averaging 16mpg, range = 16 X 350 = 5600 miles.

Take a look at some of the things kids have built in the Shell Eco-Marathon.

The Microjoule car from a school in St Joseph La Joliverie, Nantes, France, has achieved the equivalent of 3,771 km/l (8,869.94 mpg).

So I guess a few gallons would take it pretty far.

I know this is in the more extreme Prototype Class, but even the low-tech Urban Transport class has plenty of two seat designs than can pull 350 mpg.

Shell Eco-Marathon

Most of the super high MPG claims (like the 9000mpg) are steady state cruising. The BABE rally has a lot of stops and starts, so you would not get nearly as good a gas mileage, it being real world and all.

But I say go for it! It would be a challenge, that's for sure. Lots of fun stuff to learn there.

New 18-wheelers hold ~300 gallons on average and 8 mpg (per the sales/manufacturer specs I just googled). That's 2400 miles per tank.

Bench racing again over lunch, I'm convinced the initial goal with unlimited fuel capacity is too easy ;-)

It seems that carrying just 350 gallons in, say, a modified diesel Mercedes for instance would go for 20k miles without a fill up, and the frame could totally be modified to handle the weight. Perhaps a 3500 mile range target is too easy.

sporqster wrote: It seems that carrying just 350 gallons in, say, a modified diesel Mercedes for instance would go for 20k miles without a fill up, and the frame could totally be modified to handle the weight.

Multiple oil changes per fill-up?

I get ~700 miles per tank in my '99.5 Golf TDI on ~15 gallons of fuel in the stock tank (~46mpg). Given it's a hatchback, and high mpg's, adding capacity wouldn't be that hard. A 2nd 10 gallon fuel cell would add another 460 miles of range without taking up too much space.

No need to tote ludicrous amounts of fuel if you run something highly efficient.

Regardless, you can easily put together a engine/fuel storage combo that will far surpass any reasonable drivers ability to keep from E36 M3ting themselves or falling asleep without multiple codrivers. Using less fuel per mile is cool... just doing the most miles possible is kind of silly.

The Ram Long Hauler goes 2,000 miles. It has a 162 gallon fuel tank.

http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2011/04/ram-long-haul-concept-begs-for-a-road-trip.html

Not the most efficient way to do it.

In reply to xflowgolf:

And how many things do we do with cars that are 'kind of silly'?

In reply to sporqster:

Nope, each state has it's own DOT rules, but NY is 150 gallons, PA is 114 gallons. In Canada the max is 454L (119 Gallons)

If you transport more you are required to have a haz-mat endorsement on your license.

The reason I even know about this is we ran into it when boat racing. We had to pre-order our fuel for the season and some teams picked the entire ration at the first race. If they were over the fuel limit we had issues with the local DOT agents.

IMHO, I would stay south of 100 gallons, or check all 50 states DOTs. The last thing you want is a local cop itching to see if he can break his ticket cost record.

sporqster wrote: In reply to xflowgolf: And how many things do we do with cars that are 'kind of silly'?

well lots yes.

I guess my point being the longest range isn't really a challenge.. it's just bolting the largest tank to any given vehicle.

Buy an 18 wheeler fuel tanker truck and plumb a line back to the rig's fuel tank. Here's a 9500 gallon tanker trailer.
http://www.senecatank.com/PIN/unit86138.htm

Even only geting 5mpg lugging it around you're looking at 47,500 miles of range. The circumference of the earth is only 24,900 miles.

The hard limit you're going to run up against legally is I believe the 80,000 GVWR limit in the US. The longest range possible is going to be a function of loading the most fuel possible in a tank up to the legal weight limit, and then using the most efficient truck to pull it along.

I have a long term goal of a 90 'burban with a d-max/allison and decent gears with a 50 gallon fuel tank and 20mpg for a trip to Alaska. That would have given a theoretical 1000 mile range. Now, if you wanted to do it right, and mileage was your main goal, I'd run one of those cummins 4BT's and a 4L80E in a 2wd 92 burban lowered 2/4 or maybe 3/4 with some aero to the front and some 3.23 rear gears. Then find one of those old JC Whitney 75-gallon fuel tanks for the older 'burbs, throw an air mattress in the back for the co-driver to sleep and go for days. Should be able to easily get 25-30mpg at any highway speed with that setup and have a usable 70 gallons of fuel so your range would be 1750-2100 miles.

EDIT: and find the MOST comfortable driver's chair you can because your ass is going to need it!