One last day of testing...
To test and validate some recent alterations to Continuum, the race crew completed one last day of testing on the Stuart highway last Thursday before heading up to Darwin. Testing ran on the northernmost stretch of the Stuart Highway in South Australia, allowing us enough road to simulate a full race day on a portion of the final race course.
Above: view of Continuum from Holden Captiva chase vehicle
Thanks to higher caravan speeds chosen by strategy and higher performance numbers from Continuum, testing ran significantly quicker than what we saw during mock race. The day ended earlier than expected, with higher average speeds than expected, and with more power remaining than expected.
Above: campsite in Australian Outback
Last Thursday was a fitting conclusion to our months of work with Continuum on the road. As is seen with most solar car teams, days of testing are invariably broken up with unexpected problems, unexplained noises, flat tires, or loose connectors. After more than 2,000 miles on the road, our last day of testing showed us what Continuum is truly capable of.
Brian
Labels: WSC 2007 Season
3 Comments:
Everything sounds fantastic! Good luck on the race. We'll be rooting for you over here.
For those of you that haven't seen it, there's a video about the team on the front page of the University website: www.umich.edu.
Team,
Two years and countless hours later, you surely have set yourself up for a perfect race. Watch out for those road-trains and bring it home.
Go Fast, Go Smooth, Go Blue
Doug, be sure to put that note on the steering wheel of lead...
That view from Chase looks eerily familiar. The head's a little taller on this one, and the middle fairing is a little fatter, but other than that, I swear I had that visual burned into my mind from driving behind the thing for about 2000 miles across two races. Is Doug the Lead driver again? God I hope so. He knows the entire course already.
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