Japanese team takes top prize at World Solar Challenge
By Laura June 
posted Nov 2nd 2009 10:51AM
posted Nov 2nd 2009 10:51AM
[Via Wired]
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Oh crap the Dutch didn't win this time :(. Oh well I guess second place is fine too, at least they won from MIT.
actually, it's pretty much amazing they even finished 2nd place as during test before the race the crashed their car. They had to fix alot and even had to fly in new parts for the car from The Netherlands. They were not able to use the full capacity of the car.
Also too bad the Belgian car crashed and was totaled on the first day of the race. The went from 9th to 2nd place and had the Japanese in sight but then crashed due to a sudden strong wind and drove into a tree. Very tough luck :s
@bollewolle
Well, there you go! the other solar cars which meant to be driven outside wasn't able to handle the wind and therefore crash. It's all fair game when natural element is part of the competition. You're making it sound like the japanese team didn't deserved to win since they invent Gundam.
@Uchiha Sasuke: how the hell did you conclude that from what I wrote??? I am just giving some additional information from some of the other teams, because from what I mentioned above it is clear that the Japanese won, so they probably deserved it. The even won by quite a big difference. I believe over 200-300km before the 2nd arrived, which is pretty impressive.
Because it sounded like you were making excuses for the Dutch team, talking about "very tough luck". Yeah, like this crap doesn't happen to everyone else during competitions. You either deal with it well or you don't.
With an average speed of 62 MPH for 30 hours that's impressive.
QUITE impressive. I want one.
Am I the only one who read the above statement in a Darth Vader voice?
@platinum
...your comment observations are most impressive
where did he pee? o.o
well it's not that hard to maintain speed (at 62 mph you won't have too much wind resistance, especially with that thing's tiny cross section), it's accelerating that kills mileage.
Way to go Sharp!
They should do a separate challenge for best preforming "usable" vehicle. While I'm not saying the fact it went 62 MPH isn't impressive; I am saying that car has one purpose and one purpose only, wining winning the Solar Challenge.
the did: http://globalgreenchallenge.com.au/participants/eco-challenge
now this is interesting!! :) thanks for the link d00d
Ok, how do you get in that thing?
cutting the easy cheese from your diet
so the contest is more about 'dont crash your car' instead of 'best solar car'?
why 30 hours? is it a solar rally?
that sounds like the worse video game ever
Normally the Belgian team would have won but they crashed (read: Japanaese sabotage)
It's those damn Gremlins
why are they hailing hitler. damn dolphin killers.
They should be killing the chickens and the cows...
they do kill chickens and cows. then they add teriyaki sauce to it.
the japanese have an unfair advantage...they're so small they don't have to compensate as much for the size of the driver so they can throw a few more solar panels and batteries in their car.
It's not that easy. The rules say the driver has to be at least 80kg. If the driver is lighter additional weight has to be put in the car to match that. As far as the panels go, there are rules about the total size of those also. Each edition of the WSC has some additional rules compared to the previous edition. In this years cars for example the drive had to be positioned in a sitting position whereas in previous edition the driver was laying down.
by examining murdered dolphins they have gained insights into aerodynamic design.
Love how racist commenters come out of the woodwork as soon as Asians win anything.
@Steve
Which comment was racist?
Did you watch last week's South Park episode? The Japanese actually DO kill dolphins and whales.
Oh, and they're small. I've visited Tokyo recently, and while there were some people taller than me (I'm 5'9), they're still generally certainly much, much smaller than us fat americans.
Steve's a little sensitive to reality.
@Cornelius
I'm talking about Carl: How does the Japanese have any "unfair" advantage in size? It's not like the Belgians are all fat giants either. Why is should anyone be surprised by the fact that the team won? I'd like to tell some of these people to stop with the racist, negative stereotypes already, but all one can do is either ignore it or call them out.
It's because these "racist" commenters are just very insecure people.
@Stave
Wow, quoting a comic show episode. Bravo
And a Maoist on the far left!
Dang just got in second this year
I think of additional interest is the sunswift IV car which won in the silicon challenge class...
Hate to be pedantic, but it runs from North to South, not South to North; from Darwin in the Northern Territory to Adelaide in South Australia.
Those Japanese did it again.
I suppose, if by 'again', you mean for the first time.
No, they always do it again.
GO BLUE!
Our football team should take notes.
Michigan has always been a strong contender in solar cars:
http://solarcar.engin.umich.edu/about/pastteams
why no links to Michigan's team but link to MIT? After all they are the best placing American team, from a University no less.
http://solarcar.engin.umich.edu/
I am most excited about the average speed of 62 mph, and see this as an achievement the entire world can learn from. Advancing practical clean energy should be in the top five of humanity's to-do list.
The practical examples of using super clean solar energy in cases where we still burn poisonous fuels (and release ven more poisonous pollutions) is a proof solar energy is going to go main stream.
Checkout http://SolarByTheWatt.com for different research articles on the practicality and sense in going full solar. There are interesting analysis on how little is needed to replace oil and coal burning electricity generation with solar.
Ah! The video on the Read Link explains it all. Outstanding.
Got some pictures up from the finish on Sunday here
http://jmbh.org/gallery/v/Events/sc2009/