OT: 230 MPG car ..., Cars related Options

[johannes]

A 230 MPG car that ... looks nice ...

(IMG:http://apteramotors.com/images/photo_7.jpg)

http://apteramotors.com/

[Demick]

When I was at UCDavis, the SAE Supermileage team built a car that got 3300 mpg (yes, three thousand three hundred miles per gallon). Road and Track did an article on the car. This was about 15 years ago.

Demick

[Hammy]

When I was at UCDavis, the SAE Supermileage team built a car that got 3300 mpg (yes, three thousand three hundred miles per gallon). Road and Track did an article on the car. This was about 15 years ago.

Demick

What is a SAE car and how is that possible?

[Demick]

What is a SAE car and how is that possible?

SAE is Soceity of Automotive Engineers. They have a supermileage contest for colleges to compete in.

http://students.sae.org/competitions/supermileage/

The way incredible mileage like that is attained is not practical for an everyday vehicle. The vehicles are small, streamlined, and lightweight. Maybe a couple hundred pounds. They only hold one person - usually laying down one way or the other, and they have very small motors which have been tweaked for minimum fuel consumption. They use what's called 'burn and coast' to get high mileage. Since a normally asperated motor runs at peak efficiency at full throttle, the driver will start the motor, accelerate at full throttle up to a certain speed, then cut the motor and coast as far as possible before starting the motor again and accelerating. The contest has an average speed that must be maintained (in the 30 mph range I think), so there is a lot of technique of when to burn, and when to coast.

Using these same techniques, a stock Honda civic or something similar can probably get 200-300 miles per gallon. But like I said, not practical for everyday driving techniques.