Winners have been announced for the 2004 Society of Automotive Engineer's (SAE) Snowmobile Challenge held March 20. This year's winner is the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The challenge, hosted by Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, is a collegiate design competition. Teams of engineering students from 14 United States and Canadian universities compete to re-engineer a stock snowmobile to reduce emissions and noise while maintaining or improving performance.
Teams are awarded points for snowmobile endurance, fuel economy, braking characteristics, acceleration and handling characteristics, snowmobile sound, vehicle design and performance standards, emissions and overall value.
Wisconsin-Madison built a new, modified, hybrid gas-electric engine, which included an electric motor for power assist on acceleration. The team won the Best Design Award presented by SAE.
The University of Maine took first place for the best overall fuel economy with their 600cc four-stroke Arctic Cat engine, averaging 18.8 miles per gallon during the 89-mile endurance run.
For complete challenge results go to
www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/snowmobile