40 MPG or Bust!

[BenjaminT]

...Okay, there are probably more realistic goals in life than to get a'07 Mustang GT to 40 MPG but, hey, it beats sitting on my arse and watching television.

I've literally averaged 60.2 Miles/day since I bought the car. While the ultimate fate is to retire it to fun/track status, (No real resale value after being wrecked twice and being manual), I'm still not done yet.

Here's my story: While I am extremely gifted I had no real drive in school so, instead of going to college, I became a mechanic and then a bodyman. Now, after nearly a decade in the field, I'm fed up with it. At some point I started hanging out in the SCA and met and impressed a lot of engineers. With much encouragement, I decided to go back to school and pursue a BS in Mechanical Engineering.

Looking into the future, I decided it would behoove me to land a Co-op in order to support myself financially through school. While I could just dress nice, fill out a superfluous resume, and do interviews; I've never been one to do things the easy way. So I decided that the best way to get into a co-op, besides continuing to rock community college, was to document a project that would floor prospective employers.

The ultimate goal: To build a highway-going hydrostatic-drive reverse-trike with an accumulator. The prime mover will be a Briggs & Stratton that's turbo-charged and fuel injected from scratch. (That is to say, make and program a home-brew ECU.)

I've got about three years before transferring to learn and do all this. Combined with what I learn here, I can display a wide range of skills in a very dense and tangible package: Materials and processes, design, hydraulics, aerodynamics, mechatronics, programming, and so on.

The reason for starting with the Mustang is for practice in suspension design, composite construction, and aerodynamics. It's going to be a SALA front with a torque-arm rear. This happens to be the exact layout I plan on using for the "trike."

The fact that I will essentially end up with a race car and a 100 MPG commuter' is icing on the cake.

[larrybuck]

Welcome! I'm sure you'll still find good info here.

It's a shame that more Americans do not appreciate the joys of owning, and driving stick vehicles.

A lot of people are just not ready for college immediately after high school.


We are all wired differently. Feeling obligated to follow a herd, at their timing versus
what is right for you just causes frustration.

I look forward to reading on here the progress of both projects!