1,300 MPG student designed Ultra-Light car runs on a tiny lawn mower engine (VID)

Brilliant minds leading the way...
From UPRISER

Students at Brigham Young University in Utah have designed a car that can travel the distance from Utah to Michigan on a single gallon of fuel. The fish-shaped car which weighs less than 100 pounds and gets an astounding 1,300 miles per gallon will participate at this year’s SAE Supermileage Competition, an annual contest that challenges students to create the most fuel-efficient vehicle in North America. This fantastic fuel efficiency is attributed to the car’s lightness-it weighs under 100 pounds, a tank that holds only 20 grams of fuel and a tiny lawnmower engine that is engaged just enough to get the vehicle to a desirable speed, after which it shuts off and lets the vehicle glide along the track. The newest version of the BYU Supermileage Vehicle weights exactly 99 pounds-22 pounds less than its predecessor. To maximize fuel-efficiency, the BYU team added ceramic insulation to the lawn-mower engine and made several modifications so it can be electronically controlled. At the competition, the teams are given 20 grams of fuel to race around a 10-mile track. Vehicles that achieve an average of 15 miles per hour, have their tanks re-measured by the judges who deduce the mpg capability based on the leftover fuel. At the last year’s Supermileage competition the BYU team won second place with a final mark of 1,135 miles per gallon. This year they aim even higher-2,000 MPG.

a reply to: DjembeJedi

Nice mileage indeed!

What is the top speed?

originally posted by: swanne
What is the top speed?

80 MPH.


If it fell out of a helicopter.

originally posted by: swanne
a reply to: DjembeJedi

Nice mileage indeed!

What is the top speed?

Hold onto your hat! 15-25 mph !

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

You sure it's not 25? Still a bit slow, though.

But hey, it's a start. The longest journeys start with a single step.

top speed is 25mph- they run it around 15.
It was engineered for fuel efficiency and not usability.

Adding speed means adding wind resistance and internal parts friction- the whole idea is that it doesn't move that fast.



The way of nature is slow and steady- it's the humans that have gone and gotten themselves in a big ol' hurry.

originally posted by: lordcomac
top speed is 25mph- they run it around 15.
It was engineered for fuel efficiency and not usability.

Sure, but driving at 25 on a highway full of cars rushing by at 60 is beyond dangerous.

The way of nature is slow and steady- it's the humans that have gone and gotten themselves in a big ol' hurry.

Some of these humans have better to do than waste hours on driving...

To me, cars must by definition be fast.

Cars are modes of fast transportation. What used to take days can now be reached in hours only - pretty neat for emergencies, too. If you don't like speed, then don't use cars, just walk instead.

a reply to: lordcomac

The way of nature is slow and steady- it's the humans that have gone and gotten themselves in a big ol' hurry.

really? What's it like to be an animal click land, air, sea, insect. and see the speed they can travel.
maybe when their just chillin, or meandering around. but when they want to move here are their speeds.
and that is just 1hp, 1ep, 1cp, 1dp or what ever animal.

the tortoise is the only one that really fits your description.

It doesn't look like it would handle potholes too well, maybe skipping Michigan as a destination would be wise.

originally posted by: rickymouse
It doesn't look like it would handle potholes too well, maybe skipping Michigan as a destination would be wise.

Basically any where that gets an obscene amount of snow is avoidable..It shreds our asphalt here in the winter we get "Sinkholes" not potholes..lol

originally posted by: DjembeJedi
Brilliant minds leading the way...
From UPRISER

Students at Brigham Young University in Utah have designed a car that can travel the distance from Utah to Michigan on a single gallon of fuel. The fish-shaped car which weighs less than 100 pounds and gets an astounding 1,300 miles per gallon will participate at this year’s SAE Supermileage Competition, an annual contest that challenges students to create the most fuel-efficient vehicle in North America. This fantastic fuel efficiency is attributed to the car’s lightness-it weighs under 100 pounds, a tank that holds only 20 grams of fuel and a tiny lawnmower engine that is engaged just enough to get the vehicle to a desirable speed, after which it shuts off and lets the vehicle glide along the track. The newest version of the BYU Supermileage Vehicle weights exactly 99 pounds-22 pounds less than its predecessor. To maximize fuel-efficiency, the BYU team added ceramic insulation to the lawn-mower engine and made several modifications so it can be electronically controlled. At the competition, the teams are given 20 grams of fuel to race around a 10-mile track. Vehicles that achieve an average of 15 miles per hour, have their tanks re-measured by the judges who deduce the mpg capability based on the leftover fuel. At the last year’s Supermileage competition the BYU team won second place with a final mark of 1,135 miles per gallon. This year they aim even higher-2,000 MPG.

Too good to be true.
But any engineer will rubbish this claim. Time will tell

a reply to: DjembeJedi

The engine shuts down and it glides around the track? Well that is something that is feasible in everyday driving...Oh wait, this is absolutely no use to anyone for their commute to work....

How about let's figure out a way to make something realistic that people can use, my idea would not include a 99 pound car running with a tiny lawnmower engine that turns off when it hits the designated speeds....This stuff is just upsetting to know they run contests for something like this...How about something we can use and purchase? OH, that's right...Because everyone who has done that had their invention stripped away, smashed into a million pieces and the inventor suffered a tragic suicide...There really is no hope for finding something realistic, is there?

Sorry for my rant, this is a good first step...But they took that step last year getting over 1,100 miles on a gallon of gas also and that lead nowhere productive...Other than shooting for 2,000 miles this year....(while the engine shuts off and glides....)

a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

The only way to achieve the end result you are looking for is by taking the first steps...Experimental ideas such as this help lead to breakthroughs all the time... I'm certain the first electric Car motor invented in 1834 was sloooow and useless But now Look at them! 0-60 in 3.7 seconds

Fastest electric car...
From History of electric cars

1821 - Michael Faraday creates the first weak experimental electromagnet

1831 -Joseph Henry a math professor in Albany NY, builds the first electric motor in his quest to understand electro-magnetism. It is modeled along the lines of the “walking beam” used on early steam engines and resembles an electric teeter-totter.

1834 - Inspired by reading of Joseph Henry’s efforts Thomas Davenport develops the first rotary electric motor and builds a miniature electric railcar running in a circle on a tabletop; it is not strong enough to carry the weight of its own battery. His invention failed to interest investors. This might have been due to a lack of imagination among his audience, but practical minded people would point out the dependency on relatively expensive single use batteries, as neither practical rechargeable batteries, nor distributed electric power are available. He creates a proof of concept, which is generally ignored until after the Civil War.

So from a Magnet to a BEAST machine.... Your argument is invalid IMO.

In that case I'd rather get a horse, no gasoline needed just feed it. What's the top speed of a horse?

a reply to: DjembeJedi

Maybe in terms of performance electric has started to catch up to petrol, but they are limited in their battery capacity.
Before electric cars are taken more seriously, at least from me, they have to find a better means of storing the energy needed to power the car and do away with the 16 hour down time to charge. Yes I know they have quick charge stations, but those cut the batteries overall life expectancy in about half. Add that to the amount of environmental damage done from mining the metals to create the batteries, I think I'll just keep my Mustang.

a reply to: Majestic Lumen

according to the link i posted,54.7 mph, fells like 47.8.
that's running, walking is about 4 to 8 depending on the gate of the horse.

a reply to: TokiTheDestroyer

something i've wondered about, why not put two high output battery banks in the cars, and alternators driven by the wheels.
then transfer back and forth from the banks. i know that battery technology is limited, and the drag from the alternators would cause some loss, but i'm sure that could be worked out.

a reply to: hounddoghowlie

That would be a very difficult balancing act between discharge and recharge rate, outside of that the only thing I can really think of is we don't have good enough battery technology to actually pull it off at this point in time.

originally posted by: Chrisfishenstein
a reply to: DjembeJedi

The engine shuts down and it glides around the track? Well that is something that is feasible in everyday driving...Oh wait, this is absolutely no use to anyone for their commute to work....

How about let's figure out a way to make something realistic that people can use, my idea would not include a 99 pound car running with a tiny lawnmower engine that turns off when it hits the designated speeds....This stuff is just upsetting to know they run contests for something like this...How about something we can use and purchase? OH, that's right...Because everyone who has done that had their invention stripped away, smashed into a million pieces and the inventor suffered a tragic suicide...There really is no hope for finding something realistic, is there?

Sorry for my rant, this is a good first step...But they took that step last year getting over 1,100 miles on a gallon of gas also and that lead nowhere productive...Other than shooting for 2,000 miles this year....(while the engine shuts off and glides....)

You beat me to it. My dad got the same back in the 60's. He pretty much ran out of gas in an old Chevy, fortunately on the downward slope for many miles on the way home. He coasted for several miles even though it was PRETTY slow at times. My brother and sister and I rhythmically lunged forward to help it along. None of us won any awards, though in hind site it was rather fun. In the end, someone finally came along and gave us a ride.

Coasting with the engine off doesn't count in MPG ratings. And I agree with many comments, do something real and quit gaining fame by faux pas ratings. It contributes nothing. Heck, the boy scouts racing their basalt wood cars can do this well given a long and elevated platform.

Color me unimpressed.

a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

People at the university level have to have something to waste their tax payer grants on. Stuff like this is juvenile Childs play . They been doing stuff like this for decades. It's hardly new or groundbreaking. Now find a cure for male pattern baldness or how to turn a plastic bottle into gasoline and you might have something.