California Team Achieves Over 1,900 MPG

RUU-CHAMA

RUU-CHAMA

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FONTANA, Calif. ? Cal Poly's Super Mileage team received 1st place honors and a check for $10,000 at the conclusion of the Shell Eco-marathon Americas this weekend at California Speedway in Fontana, California.

The Shell Eco-marathon offers students the opportunity to engineer futuristic, eco-friendly vehicles, competing to see which prototype can travel the farthest distance on the least amount of fuel.

"As a leading provider of fuels today, we believe it's important to encourage education and awareness about sustainable mobility," said David Sexton, president of Shell Oil Products U.S.

Twenty high school and college teams took the challenge, among them 18 conventional fuel-powered entries, one hydrogen-powered entry and one solar-powered entry. Cal Poly's team earned both the grand prize and 1st place in the Combustion Engine Group with its 1,902.7-mpg triumph.

"It's important to be involved in programs like the Shell Eco-marathon to make people aware of what we can achieve in future transportation," said Mechanical Engineering major Tom Heckel, team manager for Cal Poly's Super Mileage team. "I hope teams like ours will help shape the vehicles people drive years from now and those vehicles will be more environmentally friendly."

Second place went to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology from Terre Haute, Indiana, with 1,637.2 mpg.

The Shell Eco-marathon Americas makes its debut this year. The European Shell Eco-marathon has been in place for more than 20 years, with the 2007 event set to take place at the Nogaro Racing Circuit in the South of France in May.
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http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=120453#3


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you should give those guys a reeeeeeeally big budget .........
 
Impressive. There was a Fifth Gear segment, with Michael Schumacher, about vehicles like this. I think the winner in that particular competition got something like 10,000 mpg.
 
i like how their prize was only 10 grand :roflmao:
 
Dark Templar: kinda. Looks more like a cat trapped in a laundry bag furiously clawing to get away from the socks.

No Boss said:
"In a related story, gas prices have been raised to $346.87 per gallon."
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Close enough. $2.99 here...

I should have just prepaid at Thrifty and got $2.81. But nooo, I had to try my luck...

<- :rolleyes:
 
$3.52 for regular here.
 
Ok, so it gets 1900mpg, but I bet it's shit in the 1/4 mile, there's always a trade off. :D


Now put an LS6 in there and we'll talk.
 
thedguy said:
Ok, so it gets 1900mpg, but I bet it's shit in the 1/4 mile, there's always a trade off. :D


Now put an LS6 in there and we'll talk.
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It isn't even a car... look at it its shit. They won 10 000 for... nothing.
Is it a good achievement? Yes. Practical? Heck no.
 
It looks like a shoe. It's about as practical a a chocolate teapot, so why not just buy a soapbox racer? That never needs fuel!
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Global Warming=solved.
 
Genius! Just make all roads go downhill only!
 
thedguy said:
Ok, so it gets 1900mpg, but I bet it's shit in the 1/4 mile, there's always a trade off. :D


Now put an LS6 in there and we'll talk.
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theres no where to put potatoes either, and i bet town driving is just miserable:lol:

still it would be good to get some of this tech into cars....the only problem is sizes and shapes. some of these just dont lend themselve to light and aerodynamic, and we cant make cars completely from carbon fibre and composites unless you want a ford focus to cost about the same as a DB9.

the most useful part from these little cars will be the engine management software and controlls, and the fuel injection systems.

at my uni they do alot of work on fuel injectors in the laser shed, we've got completely see thru engines as well courtesy of lotus :D

and i think the auto dept used to do stuff with the Jag F1 team... i remember being shown a cylinder head with a massive hole in it where the valve parted company at 13,000rpm.

its certainly impressive stuff, but i dont think its something that others arent trying or succeeded at already.
 
otispunkmeyer said:
the most useful part from these little cars will be the engine management software and controlls, and the fuel injection systems.
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That reminds me of something I was thinking about the other day.

There are always people giving tips on improving fuel economy, like driving with light throttle movements, and keeping a steady throttle position, etc...

A lot of performance cars have "sport" buttons or some kind of button that makes the car some how more "sporty." With these types of cars, why not set them up so if that button hasn't been pressed, the engine management basically keeps the driver from doing this.

With electronic throttles and computer controlled ignitions and the lot, I don't see why they couldn't make the ECU throw out small movements in throttle position when it's obvious the driver is trying to cruise. Prevent the driver from doing excessively quick launches from stop lights, and tuning the acceleration fuel enrichment so the engine may not accelerate quite as quick but saves on fuel. The latter I know Toyota and GM both do, this was a complaint with the 2zz engine feeling a bit sluggish, and part of the problem with throttle response on ecotec's.
 
An excellent accomplishment, but like others have noted much better mileage has been attained. And 10k is peanuts compared to what they spent building that thing lol. I wish my Formula SAE team could've gotten that kind of sponsorship.
 
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