In an effort to increase support for and promotion of Technology Education, public awareness in the area of fuel economy and student involvement, MTEEA will hold the Supermileage Challenge, a fuel economy competition for technology students every spring. Competing students and clubs will be challenged to build a one-person, fuel-efficient vehicle powered by a single cylinder four-stroke cycle engine. The 33rd annual competition will feature vehicles competing in Pro Sport, Super Sport, E-85, Urban Concept and Plug in Electric classes.
The supermileage season is fast approaching. 2023-2024 will be the 3rd season after a 20-year hiatus. For some students this will be their 3rd year competing and the advisor’s second year advising. The year 2021 showed us there was definitely a need for the club as many people were interested in competing. We learned that year that too many people was detrimental to the team. Organizing and delegating duties was a job in itself. Last year with a core group of 5 on a team worked, but still had room to grow. Ideally a team needs to be well organized and have a solid 7-10 members. Last year's team consisted solely of 10th and 11th graders that worked well together. This year it will be exciting to incorporate new members. The Supermileage Club is looking for 9-12th graders with an interest in the manufacturing process and in motorized vehicles.
Going forward ideally, we would like to create 2 teams, basically a Junior Varsity and a Varsity team of 7-10 members each. The competition allows us to use the same vehicle for 3 consecutive years with a major modification each year. The modification could be fuel type, chassis design or some other main component.
This year's Varsity team is excited to use their experiences of the last two years and create a new vehicle utilizing the success and failures of the past 2 years. The 2022-2023 would be handed down to the JV squad with several recommended modifications. This repurposing of the vehicle will allow it to be modified with minimal expense to the club. The JV team will have a season with a proven vehicle to learn on and gain their own experiences with the Varsity team mentoring them through the entire process.
Each team would have their own set of Officers with Varsity members mentoring Junior Varsity Officers throughout the entire process. All members would be responsible for fundraising and the manufacturing and design of the car. Formal meetings will be held twice a month that may be followed by workdays or used to schedule workdays.
The objective of the competition is to provide Career Technical Education students and MTEEA Clubs with a challenging project that allows practical experience in design, fabrication, and testing. This is exactly what the STANDARDS FOR TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY from the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association are all about!
In an effort to increase support for and promotion of Technology Education, public awareness in the area of fuel economy and student involvement, MTEEA will hold the Supermileage Challenge, a fuel economy competition for technology students every spring. Competing students and clubs will be challenged to build a one-person, fuel-efficient vehicle powered by a single cylinder four-stroke cycle engine. The 33rd annual competition will feature vehicles competing in Pro Sport, Super Sport, E-85, Urban Concept and Plug in Electric classes.
For the Supermileage Challenge, cars were expected to make 6 complete runs on the Brainerd International Road course. Each run is two laps around the course for a total of 6.2 miles on each run. The minimum time allowed is 15 minutes with the maximum time being 24 minutes. The maximum speed allowed is 30 MPH with no minimum speed. The race directors supply the fuel bottles which hold 250 ml of pump grade fuel. The race directors measure the weight of the fuel before and after each run to calculate the fuel used. The average of six runs fuel economy will decide team placement. If a team fails to complete 6 runs they will not be eligible for placing in the competition.
2022 season best of 246 MPG but completed less than 6 runs
2023 season best of 201 MPG and completed more than 11 runs
2024 season goals are yet to be determined.
2022 was an example of good efficiency but poor reliability. 2023 yielded good reliability but less efficiency. Experience and new members with new ideas should see an all-around improvement. The following are some of the guidelines that we need to adhere to.
Some of the car’s requirements include:
• Pro Sport-Any motor between 0-140cc
• Super Sport-Any motor between 141-250cc
• E-85 CLASS–Any motor between 0-250cc run a fuel mixture of an 85% Ethanol blend fuel.
• URBAN CONCEPT CLASS
o The vehicle must have 4 tires in contact with the road at all times
o The vehicle must have an enclosed body with a windshield and roof
o Wheels must be located inside of the body
• Each vehicle must have a steering geometry capable of a 35 foot inside turning radius.
• Vehicle wheelbase may not exceed 114” Length X 70” Width.
• SuperMileage Challenge requires a minimum of two kill switches grounding the engine ignition
• brakes must hold the vehicle and driver on a 15-degree ramp
• the driver must be able to exit the vehicle unassisted in under 10 seconds.
• All vehicles are to be equipped with at least two rear view mirrors
• A minimum 5-point, SFI type race harness is required
Generous donations from individuals and businesses within the community are what allows this program to exist.
