University of Colorado Eco cars

[Koncretekid]

Last Saturday was the monthly "First Saturday" impromptu car and bike show at 95th and Arapahoe just east of Boulder, about 5 miles from my house in Lafayette.  I rode my Plum Crazy socially unacceptable B50 road bike which because of a shortage of bikes actually attracted a few questions.  Of course there were the usual gaggle of Ferraris, Lotus's, Lamborginis, Porsches, a few hot rods and old American Iron, a Ford Daytona coupe, a brand new S&S V-twin powered Morgan replica, etc. etc.  But what interested me the most was the display by a few University of Colorado students showing off their Shell Eco Marathon cars.  They have two, the elder 6 year old 50cc pushrod Honda powered carbon fiber monocoque framed 3-wheeler and a new 35cc overhead cam Honda powered tube framed model.

The first was pretty thoroughly developed with a homemade throttle bodied fuel injection system with their own design engine control system using an AFR controlled fuel injector.  What kind of air throttle control are you using I asked? "None - we just control the pulse width of the injector."  Sounds a little primitive, you say, but only gets about 1700 miles per gallon of gas. Mileage is calculated over several laps of a .6 mile course in Houston at a minimum of 15mph.  "We actually only run the motor for part of the lap and coast the rest of the way" reported one of the students.  "Was that a winner" I asked?  "No - - the students from Laval University in Quebec got over 3,000 mpg" (plug for Canada.)

[Koncretekid]

The second car was the tube frame model with the 35cc motor which hasn't been in the competition yet, I gathered.  They hadn't had enough time to develop fuel injection for this one so it uses a Walbro pumper carb.  Both cars has sophisticated free wheeling rear hubs, electric starters, fully machined steering parts, and used carbon fiber wheels (not shown). I spent over an hour with the students, but left with plenty of questions.  Interestingly, the students were extremely interested in what I was doing, as well.  I wish I had had such an opportunity when I went to school. It's never too late to learn!

[Tman]

Very cool stuff!

[Frankie7799]

Very cool, thanks for sharing the pics with us.

[RidgeRunner]

     Thanks for posting.  Good to see them [and the group from Oregon] thinking and building constructively.  With youth like that there is hope for the world yet.  Never know when an idea they might come up with can be expanded upon to benefit future real world vehicles.  Maybe even pick their brains and steal some tech applicable for LSR......

      Looking forward to seeing you again and the changes you've made to the BSA at Loring in July.

                         Ed

[Frank06]

Good report Tom - thank you.

[tauruck]

The second car was the tube frame model with the 35cc motor which hasn't been in the competition yet, I gathered.  They hadn't had enough time to develop fuel injection for this one so it uses a Walbro pumper carb.  Both cars has sophisticated free wheeling rear hubs, electric starters, fully machined steering parts, and used carbon fiber wheels (not shown). I spent over an hour with the students, but left with plenty of questions.  Interestingly, the students were extremely interested in what I was doing, as well.  I wish I had had such an opportunity when I went to school. It's never too late to learn!

You may have missed an opportunity right at that event. Imagine having a group like that designing parts to make your bike faster.