For the third consecutive year, a team from Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada, placed first and set the all-time event record by achieving 3,788 miles per gallon (mpg) with their student-designed vehicle at the SAE Supermileage Competition.
“I can’t count the number of hours we put into this. Overall, I think we had a good idea, good design and good team,” said Julien St. Hilaire, a Université Laval team member.
There were 21 teams who came to Eaton’s Marshall Proving Grounds, 17 who completed the technical inspection (10 from the United States, five from Canada, one from India, and one from Lebanon), and 12 who had successful fuel economy attempts.
Two new teams at this year’s event from Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women and Texas A&M University competed with all-female team members. Michigan-based University of Detroit Mercy and Lawrence Technological University demonstrated growth in their second year of attendance by improving upon their previous results.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
