Future Projects / Developments
The Long term future of the team is to develop a car which can 3000 MPG. This is a realistic target as we have an engine which we brought from an old team who achieved well over this target.
Having gone to many of these events it easy to see where we can achieve this. Below is a list of the key areas to develop this car.
- Engine - We have a small 25cc model aircraft engine. Compared to the C50 engine we have in the old car. This new engine is smaller lighter and is also twin spark. This should increase the performance in leaps in bounds.
- Rolling resistance - This is a very big area to focus on as the will be coasting for majority of the time. This is where expensive bearings come in. Open bearing are far better than closed ones as there is no grease in them, as long as you keep giving them a quick spray of WD40 then they should last a long time.
- Aero-dymamnics - This is best to be shown by the above picture. When a drop falls from a tap it forms a tear drop shape this is the most aero effiecnt so that is what our new car will look like. Although wheels and exhaust will have to come into play when designing the outer shell.
- Starting - This we found was best to accelerate hard up to 22 mph and then coast down to 10-12 mph. This proved more efficient than slowing building up to 22 mph, as we found out while testing at Goodwood race track.
- Weight - This also plays a major part. Making the car reach it's top speed a lot faster so using a lot less fuel. The outer shell will be constructed from Carbon Fibre. Any internal components will be honeycombe and have drill holes in them along the netural axis.
©Richard Olivey 2001