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The BYU Supermileage Vehicle, built by a group of engineering students, is a lightweight and aerodynamic vehicle that is just big enough to fit one person. It weighs 99 pounds and needs only one gallon of fuel to travel over 1,000 miles.
The car is competing in the SAE Supermileage Competition this weekend to determine the most fuel-efficient vehicle in North America. Every team gets around 20 grams of fuel to race around a 10 mile track. Each car has to average 15 mph during the run, and the fuel tank is then re-measured to see how much fuel was used so the judges can deduce the mpg capability. ... link to whole article
To maximize fuel efficiency, the BYU team added ceramic insulation to the lawnmower engine they started with, and increased the 8-to-1 engine compression ratio to 14-to-1. They also made the engine fuel injected and modified it to be electronically controlled.
When it comes down to it, it really is a matter of simple physics. Use the smallest possible engine you can which means the least energy lost to friction, and it also means keeping the average load on the engine higher which is good, since fuel burned under a higher load (higher pressure) is burned more efficiently. Reduce mass as much as possible, reduce drag both from tires and aerodynamics, etc.
This also broadsides the argument I've seen floated around here that downsized engines aren't the way to go and aren't getting the efficiency they should because "they're working too hard". A lawnmower engine will work pretty hard pushing a 100lb vehicle plus person around a track at 15 mph, but gets 1000+ mpg.
to bad nobody in their right mind would sit like that in a real vehicle for the road. A science experiment is what they are doing, not necessarily changing the game.
to bad nobody in their right mind would sit like that in a real vehicle for the road. A science experiment is what they are doing, not necessarily changing the game.
Nope, nothing new, is a bicycle with a tiny engine going really slow
Guess what, take the engine out and paddle it, that give you infiniti MPG...........wow!!
When they can make a car that perform like the Veyron SuperSport and gets 1000 MPG with a MSRP of $10k, then I would be excited. So far all the fuel sipper that get amazing MPG are just very slow car that makes very little power, no power use no fuel............duh.
Toyota and Lexus Join Mille Miglia For The First Time
Slideshow: A five-car lineup spanning more than five decades of Toyota performance and engineering will tackle one of Italy's most celebrated automotive routes.