Fuel use at Road America?
 

Hello,

I'm registered to do two days on Road America with NASA's HPDE program in a couple weeks. I'm used to my car going through quite a lot of fuel, even on the smaller tracks I'm familiar with. Does anybody have some guidance for me on how much fuel I can expect to go through in a day there? I will arrive topped up with an extra ten gallons in the trailer, but I wonder if I should bring more.

Some days, when I'm really on it and with a clear track in front of me, I am caught off-guard by how much fuel this car can eat. I haven't been on something like Road America. The straights are so much longer and the speeds so much higher.

If you've done some time on Road America with an RX-8 and would like to share your experience, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

There are is a gas station in Elkhart Lake about 5 miles away, so I wouldn't worry overmuch about bringing fuel with you. I would plan on going and refilling at lunch - also make sure to keep an eye on your gauge since you do burn through quite a bit of fuel on those long straights.

I have heard there is gas close by. Still, I don't love to leave the track if I don't have to.

I use Harry's Laptimer, which has a great on-screen fuel gauge. It shows the actual OBD2 fuel level, which can be quite different from what the gauge says. After a session, on the video overlay, you can see the fuel sloshing around in the tank.

probably 4 - 5 miles per gallon is a reasonable estimate

I have seen roughly that sometimes. But I've also seen as low as 3.5mpg, and on a shorter track with lower speeds.

My experience has been a quarter tank per 20 minute session at RA.

As a follow-up, my fuel use was not as bad as I thought it would be. I had four sessions one day and three the next (one was canceled due to weather), and I averaged about a quarter tank per session.

I should point out that none of the sessions were full-tilt all the way through. Either I had traffic, flags or drills to run. Also, Harry's Lap Timer never made it through a full session, so I have no recording of a full session. The OBD-II fuel level can vary quite a bit from the fuel gauge on the dash when the level goes down quickly.

There are gas stations within a ten-minute round-trip of RA.

Quarter of a tank per session seemed to be the norm for a 20 minute session for me.

Are you going to be out at NASA Autobahn in Sept? If so hit me up, should be out there with my new Honda Challenge car. If I'm not, I may bring out the RX8, if the race car isn't completed in time.

-Jake

If I'm really on it, I know the track well and I don't get a lot of traffic I have seen a half a tank go out my exhaust in a single session. That was on a short track, so I was a little worried about what I'd see happen at RA.

I don't think I'll be at Autobahn next month. Honestly, it's just not my favorite place to drive and I have too many things going on to make the sacrifices for it. Have a great time. :)

I get through about 5 gallons in a 30 minute session. Once I have 5 gallons left in the tank, my car cuts out after T8 or T9 at thunderhill... I have an s2, with a 15.x gallon tank, so I need to fill up every 2 sessions.

I ran out of fuel in the beginning of my fourth session at Roebling. I had a full tank going in, relatively little traffic in my run group. Coming on to the front straight it bogged (Turn 9 is a 90mph right sweeper) and the gauge was still indicating just less than 1/4 tank...

That was the end of my day as by the time I Got fueled up and back out there, the session would have been over. My last car would run full tilt until 1/8 tank...

Blanket statement is 1/4 to 1/3rd of a tank per session...I am buying a fuel can... :)

I average right at 5mpg at the other RA (Road Atlanta) in my EP car. Wonder what'll happen when it's ported a bit...

I just stumbled on this thread that I started a couple years ago. Coincidentally, I was at Road America again over the weekend.

I used a gallon every five minutes, so each 25-min session was at least 5 gallons. I do believe my fuel economy is worse than an F1 car's, all to go very, very slowly. ;)

your RX8 budget wouldn’t even fill the F1 fuel tank up, lol

For the sake of comparison, we used 4 gallons an our at Gingerman last weekend in our LeMons '93 Del Sol with B20 motor.

Yes, GMO apples to organic free-range oranges comparison in at least two dimension (vehicle and track).

That seems crazy economical for a race car. We go through a 12.5 gallon tank in about 80 min in our LeMons focus when running at full pace (no full course yellows). It is running stupid rich for some reason though so we could save 10 or 15% fuel if we can figure out how to lean it out, but even then, that's still about 2x the fuel of your civic!

We were turning in 1:55 - 2:10 laps at Gingerman. Two 4-gal quick-dump fuel cans got us ~2 hours of driving.

Before the D15 with DSM T25 turbo asploded we were running over double that. Probably because we were overloading the 1 bar MAP sensor and the ECU was just dumping tons of fuel to save the motor.

Were you running economically on purpose?

Rude. :yelrotflm

No, traffic mostly. You try turning in fast laps with 80+ other cars on track at the same time. If I wasn't trying to find my way around a Gremlin, I was giving a point-by to a 70's Rolls Royce powered by a Dodge V10.