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I bet this car ends up doing 0-60 mph in about 11 seconds.
It is probably my least favorite of the cars I have looked at in this competition, but the engineering behind it is also the most impressive of the X-Prize cars that I have seen. What is nice about this ethanol engine is that the designer can take advantage of the small sweet spot on the BSFC map where there is diesel-like thermal efficiency thanks to the high compression ratio... Being that the engine is one cylinder, it's going to be trying to shoot the piston through the top of the engine, but the designers of the car have probably designed a way to reduce the vibration tremendously. The safety designed into this car is incredible.
I'd be much more interested if a diesel version were to be made. I look forward to seeing what gets built based on their concepts, whether by them, or someone else. They have lots of great ideas.
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