WACC Supermileage Team Hopes To Repeat Success In Texas
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Last year, the team won first in the Urban Concept division.
“We want to try for first position (again) for sure,” said student Nick Kuhn.
“With the Urban, we want to hold first position for sure. We’ll try to get Unlimited in there,” said Kyler Pence, student.
“We had issues with the Unlimited (car) and we didn’t get too many hours. We had starter issues, but we think we’ve got those resolved,” said Joe Bryan, teacher.
This is only the second year WACC has had a team compete at the Eco-marathon, Bryan said, though the school’s team competes annually at the state Supermileage challenge.
The Eco-marathon is a challenge for students to design, build and test fuel-efficient vehicles that travel the farthest distance using the least amount of energy. There are three competitions around the world, with the Americas competition featuring university and high school teams from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
“It’s big time,” Bryan said, with more than 135 cars registered for the event. Indiana has 22 teams going down, he said, more than any other state.
“You’re talking about running with the Big Dogs,” Bryan said, because there will be major universities like UCLA and high schools from across the Americas competing.
The Unlimited car is gas operated and highly modified with a Briggs & Stratton engine, he said. “It’s purely made for mileage.”
Pence described the Urban Concept car as having four wheels, three-horse powered diesel engine and emulates a street legal car. Warsaw runs its car on biodiesel. Last year, it got about 106 mph, but Pence said they are looking to get more than that this year with a torque converter.
Kuhn said the Urban Concept car has everything a standard car has, including headlights, taillights and a trunk.
Bryan said, “Everything was built by the students. All the fabrication was done by the students. Splendor Boats helped us with the body. Troy Martin helped us and DePuy also helped us with the custom-intake manifold. The kids were involved in all the phases.”
The students will fly down on Thursday with retired teacher Jim LeMasters, with competition taking place Saturday and Sunday. The awards banquet is Sunday night, with students flying back Monday.
Bryan is going down with the equipment, thanks to JEM Transport, which is owned by Kevin Cousins. Besides Warsaw’s two vehicles, he also will be transporting the two cars from Goshen, one from Fairfield and three from Wawasee High School.
Warsaw Community High School Media Specialist Angela Hopper and her husband are planning to fly down to do video of the competition and take pictures, Bryan said.
Pence and Kuhn are the only two WACC students this year who went down to Texas in 2012.
Bryan said a lot of first-timers are going down this year.
“Most don’t know what to expect. Every year is different,” Bryan said.
Kuhn said it’s cool to meet other teams and everyone shares what they know. Pence said there’s no secrets, every team is just down there to compete.
Mitch Shriver will drive the Urban Concept car in the competition, and Alex Miller will be behind the wheel of the Unlimited. Kuhn could drive either car.
“What we did last year was a great first step. We did our homework well and we were well prepared,” Bryan said. “It was kind of an amazing run last year and we hope to do it again this year. It’s really a fun event.”
“It’s Texas, so everything is big,” Kuhn stated.
“You’re treated very well down there,” Bryan remarked.[[In-content Ad]]
Last year, the team won first in the Urban Concept division.
“We want to try for first position (again) for sure,” said student Nick Kuhn.
“With the Urban, we want to hold first position for sure. We’ll try to get Unlimited in there,” said Kyler Pence, student.
“We had issues with the Unlimited (car) and we didn’t get too many hours. We had starter issues, but we think we’ve got those resolved,” said Joe Bryan, teacher.
This is only the second year WACC has had a team compete at the Eco-marathon, Bryan said, though the school’s team competes annually at the state Supermileage challenge.
The Eco-marathon is a challenge for students to design, build and test fuel-efficient vehicles that travel the farthest distance using the least amount of energy. There are three competitions around the world, with the Americas competition featuring university and high school teams from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
“It’s big time,” Bryan said, with more than 135 cars registered for the event. Indiana has 22 teams going down, he said, more than any other state.
“You’re talking about running with the Big Dogs,” Bryan said, because there will be major universities like UCLA and high schools from across the Americas competing.
The Unlimited car is gas operated and highly modified with a Briggs & Stratton engine, he said. “It’s purely made for mileage.”
Pence described the Urban Concept car as having four wheels, three-horse powered diesel engine and emulates a street legal car. Warsaw runs its car on biodiesel. Last year, it got about 106 mph, but Pence said they are looking to get more than that this year with a torque converter.
Kuhn said the Urban Concept car has everything a standard car has, including headlights, taillights and a trunk.
Bryan said, “Everything was built by the students. All the fabrication was done by the students. Splendor Boats helped us with the body. Troy Martin helped us and DePuy also helped us with the custom-intake manifold. The kids were involved in all the phases.”
The students will fly down on Thursday with retired teacher Jim LeMasters, with competition taking place Saturday and Sunday. The awards banquet is Sunday night, with students flying back Monday.
Bryan is going down with the equipment, thanks to JEM Transport, which is owned by Kevin Cousins. Besides Warsaw’s two vehicles, he also will be transporting the two cars from Goshen, one from Fairfield and three from Wawasee High School.
Warsaw Community High School Media Specialist Angela Hopper and her husband are planning to fly down to do video of the competition and take pictures, Bryan said.
Pence and Kuhn are the only two WACC students this year who went down to Texas in 2012.
Bryan said a lot of first-timers are going down this year.
“Most don’t know what to expect. Every year is different,” Bryan said.
Kuhn said it’s cool to meet other teams and everyone shares what they know. Pence said there’s no secrets, every team is just down there to compete.
Mitch Shriver will drive the Urban Concept car in the competition, and Alex Miller will be behind the wheel of the Unlimited. Kuhn could drive either car.
“What we did last year was a great first step. We did our homework well and we were well prepared,” Bryan said. “It was kind of an amazing run last year and we hope to do it again this year. It’s really a fun event.”
“It’s Texas, so everything is big,” Kuhn stated.
“You’re treated very well down there,” Bryan remarked.[[In-content Ad]]
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