89mpg Harley : Winner of the 2008 Green Grand Prix

The Green Grand Prix, which takes place in Watkins Glen, NY, is the only race sponsered by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) in the US specifically for alternative fuel vehicles. This year, there were many great entries covering every genre of vehicle, but 1 stood out when it came to fuel efficiency.

The event is divided into 2 separate parts. The larger is a 60 mile road race in which the drivers are timed on how lone it takes to complete the course. The second part is a building contest to see who can design the engine that gets the highest number of miles to every gallon of gasoline.

The winner of the latter was William Bolch with his 1990 Harley Davidson FX12P. Overall he managed to achieve 89 miles per gallon with a modified biodiesel powerplant.

All in all, the competition saw dozens of different cars, trucks and customs all with differently engineered powerplants. There was also a total of 10 different types of fuel. Everything from natural gas to solar power and even wood made an appearance. Many of the lessons learned here will be taken into R&D and could one day be seen on the road in production form.

Source : Faster and Faster