David Vizard's ‘Around America Economy Drive’ project in a Mini 1275GT on Dunlop Denovos was published in 1976 as a series of articles in the long gone 'Practical Motorist' magazine which I have now scanned and posted below.
I also found these extracts on the 'EconoMini' 1275GT project from an interesting Pistonheads interview with DV and on another USA tuning forum below:
DV:- "In the search for more power from my Mini engines I first got into the subject of wet port flow back about 1967 maybe 68. All this came to a head so to speak when I became involved as the project leader for the ‘Around America Economy Drive’ project using a Mini as the vehicle of choice. Here, working with several other highly competent engineers, I got to do a significant amount of work studying the effects of mixture atomization and preparation in relation to part throttle fuel economy. The result was a drive, in 1976, around the USA in a 1275 Mini GT with the family and all the luggage needed for a 3 month stay. This was no ordinary creep from point A to point B economy driving and doing so only when the sun was out and the air was dead still. This Mini was road tested by Car & Driver, driven on run flat Dunlops to determine how well they handled both on and off road conditions by Motor Trend and so on. Also I had to bash my way through 3 foot snow drifts in Wyoming by charging them in second or third gear at WOT. Failure to make it through these drifts could have meant freezing to death. I remember arriving in Laramie and noting that there was ice on the radiator in spite of the fact the engine was running. Indeed it was so cold that the heater only ever got to luke warm. All this and our mini averaged 49.88 to the gallon on our arrival back in New York. All this was detailed in one of the big UK ‘How Too’ auto magazines in 1976 – anyone remember it?"
"Interestingly enough I did this to wave the Union Jack but when I asked for some sponsorship from British Leyland they said my goals were engineeringly unreasonable. So, sponsored largely by a Japanese TV and electronics company, I set out to prove that once again they were wrong."
More:
http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.as ... +Interview+
The 100 mpg Carb.
By David Vizard
"First off let me give you what I believe qualifies me to address this subject. In 1975 I was the lead engineer on an economy project. The subject was a 1275 Mini GT. That’s a direct relative of the original 1275 Mini Cooper."
"The goal was to see if we could get this car to do 50 mpg at 50 mph. Once that had been achieved it would be taken on a 3 month round USA drive at normal highway speeds (not fuel economy test speeds which would take forever to go anywhere) and see if we could get 50 mpg.. An independent test at MIRA (Motor Industry Research Association) on a truly lousy wet and windy winter day recorded 55 mpg at 50 mph and 99 mpg at 30 mph. OK that 99 mpg is real close to 100 but do we all want to drive at no more than 30mph – no! Not only that but that 99 mpg was achieved with a 1600 lb car. The same size car today weighs in at over 2100 lbs and the average mid sized sedan at 2800 lbs plus."
"I am not sure my team was the first to break the 50 mpg at 50 mph but we did it before Honda and all for less than $100,000 in today’s money. We failed to see that 50 mpg with our round USA trip but did record a close 49.88 mpg. But in all fairness this figure included full throttle road test by Road & Track plus 300 miles of snow drift bashing in 2nd and 3rd gear as we drove through one of the worst winter storms in Wyoming. Added to that the car saw a hurricane in the New Orleans area which we had to out run. But that’s not the end. The car had 'run flat' tires which were magazine tested by driving at 50 mph for about 50 miles plus it was also driven off road. How many economy drives include such? Answer - about none!"
"In addition to the fuel saving we added over 10 mph to the top speed and cut the 0-60 time by 1.5 seconds so we really did address Performance, Economy and Green (PEG) issues successfully."
Picture 3 - DV's 1275GT parked by the Golden Gate Suspension Bridge - San Francisco, California on his 'Around America Economy Drive" in 1976
