Thursday, January 21, 2010

Hybrid car race through Idyllwild

Hybrid vehicle owners are invited to compete in a fuel economy rally Saturday. Jan. 23. Phil Fournier, co-owner of the Phil’s Auto Clinic repair shop in Hemet is organizing the event to test hybrid car gas mileage.

Check-in starts at 9:45 a.m., Saturday. The rally begins 45 minutes later at 10:30 a.m., from the Clinic, 111 North Soboba Street.

Fournier has mapped a 112-mile loop from Hemet to Hemet, climbing mountain roads, through Idyllwild, down to the desert and ending in Hemet

Fournier said that he presently has 10 hybrids registered for the rally and is still hoping someone with a 2010 Honda Insight registers to compete against a 2010 Toyota Prius entry. The Insight, the first hybrid available in the U.S. in 1999, is presently billed as the least expensive gas-electric hybrid available in America and, according to Fournier, is capable of getting up to 70 miles per gallon of gasoline.

Along the route, competitors will stop for a picnic lunch of homemade corn chowder, pumpkin soup and gaufrette cookies (a French waffle-cookie treat) prepared by Fournier’s wife, Karen. Winners of the competition will receive $50 Visa gift cards.

To register as a competitor, call Fournier at (951) 927-2102. For more information about the rally, go to www.philsautoonline.com.

Beth Nottley can be reached at beth@towncrier.com.

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