Students drive across England, Scotland and Wales to compete in Formula Student Diesel Eco Driving Challenge powered by Bosch on 19 – 21 June.

Engineering students from The University of Warwick have taken part in a non-stop driving challenge across the length of Britain in a bid to be crowned the nation’s most economical drivers.

The inaugural three-day competition, which started on June 19, will go via 46 universities and is being jointly run by Formula Student and Bosch.

Each team will drive a section of the route – while having their eco-driving ability measured by on-board computers - before passing the vehicle on to the next university. The University of Warwick team set off from WMG on June 19, and drove 21 miles to Birmingham University.

Patrick Kniveton, President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers – which runs Formula Student – flagged off the event at the Institution’s Westminster headquarters.

From Westminster, the car headed to the first stop – Queen Mary, University of London in Mile End – before the route headed south along the coast and then west towards Swansea.

It will be driven across England and Scotland towards the final destination of Aberdeen University on June 21.

Teams are driving a Ford Fiesta, powered by a 1.5-litre TDCi diesel engine, which uses Bosch common rail diesel injectors and a high-pressure Bosch fuel pump. Monitoring equipment will analyse the efficiency of each team’s driving, with three awards up for grabs, which cover city, rural and highway driving.  

Stevie Gosling, engineering student, will be driving for The University of Warwick. She said: “Luckily, within our degree course we studied a module called design for safety, in which we were given lectures on Eco driving styles, so I think this was beneficial.

 

The drive to Birmingham did consist of a few motorways and dual carriageways but I only had to stop at traffic lights once in the city centre, and I tried to avoid urban areas to maximise the fuel efficiency of the vehicle.

 

I am excited to have taken part in the challenge and hope I’ve done Warwick proud’.

 

The students, including three from Wales and five from Scotland, will be joined in the vehicle by an AA representative, who will help with the route and economical driving tips.

Students taking part are all involved with Formula Student 2013, taking place at at Silverstone from 4-7 July. The event challenges universities from across the world to design, build and race a single seat racing car from scratch in one year – before putting it to the test at one of the world’s greatest racetracks.

 

Jon Hilton, Chairman of Formula Student, said: “This is a fantastic challenge which will certainly prepare all the students for July’s competition.

 

“It’s the first time we’ve attempted a driving challenge of this scale and I wish all the teams the best of luck.”

 

Distances between universities range will from three miles to over 100 miles, but each team will be monitored equally. Prizes will be awarded at the Formula Student competition at Silverstone.

Peter Fouquet, president of Bosch UK, said: “With the help of Bosch technologies, the vehicle being used for the Formula Student Diesel Eco Driving Challenge achieves CO2 emissions of just 98g/km. In the near future, Bosch sees the potential across all vehicle segments for even greater CO2 emissions reductions – of up to 20 percent in some cases.”

During the Formula Student Diesel Eco Driving Challenge, drivers will use the Bosch Car Multimedia division’s satellite navigation app, as well as a data logger from Bosch’s subsidiary, ETAS. Shell is generously supplying Fuel-Save diesel for this Challenge.

 

Notes to Editors

· Contact the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Press Office on 020 7973 1261 or email media@imeche.org

· Formula Student, run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, is the world’s largest student motorsport event, challenging students from around the world to design, build and race a single-seat racing car from scratch. A total of 149 student teams from 32 countries have registered for Formula Student 2013, 54 of which are from UK universities.