Q: What changes did you make to the 2006 vehicle to yield such large increases to your mileage this year?
A: We keep our vehicle as spartan as possible, with only the bare essentials to keep the vehicle lightweight. Aerodynamics, rolling resistance, driving technique and engine performance are always being revisited and continuously improved.
This year's most significant advances were most likely made in the execution of the design that we had intended for last year's vehicle. Everything in the vehicle was tuned and design with fuel efficiency in mind.
Not much there. Digging some more, their tech specs say their engine displaced 54 cc. However, the original engine displaced 148 cc. (See the engine manual.) Obviously, they made some modifications.
Slashdot Mirror
I was curious how the winning team won, so I went to their web site: http://www.mech.ubc.ca/~supermileage/.
From their FAQ:
Not much there. Digging some more, their tech specs say their engine displaced 54 cc. However, the original engine displaced 148 cc. (See the engine manual.) Obviously, they made some modifications.
Since the story didn't link to the blog, here it is: http://thomashawk.com/2006/03/yahoo-shoppers-bewar e-priceritephoto.html
http://www.equalccw.com/thedebateshowfiasco.html.
Not pretty.