Behind the environmental hype and "changing the world" rhetoric, the 2002 FutureTruck competition had a real purpose: giving engineering students the opportunity to shepherd a project from start to finish, and live or die on the decisions made along the way.
Under a scorching sun at the California Motor Speedway in Fontana this past June, competitors in the 2002 Future Truck competition ran through the last stage of this year's contest. Billeted in the capacious garages usually occupied by top-flight race teams, the competitors--engineering students from 15 universities across the U.S. and Canada--presented their vehicles for the last aspect of what had been a 10-day slog through Arizona and California. At Ford's Desert Proving Grounds in Yucca AZ, the students ran their modified 2002 Explorers on-road and off, measured fuel economy, acceleration and trailer towing capabilities, and presented their creations for emissions testing and greenhouse gas impact. At the California Motor Speedway in Ontario, CA, they lined up for design inspection, consumer acceptability and vehicle appearance judging.
Back Story
Between November 2001 and January 2002, the teams took delivery of nearly identical--only the colors were different--Explorers and $10,000 in seed money from Ford. The goals the teams were asked to reach, however, kept this largesse from being turned into supplies for a great frat party. They were: a minimum 25% improvement in on-road fuel economy; reduced greenhouse gas emissions; meeting federal Tier O emission standards while trying to achieve California's Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) standards; beating a 1/8-mile acceleration time of 15 seconds (the stock V6 Explorer does …
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