Eco-cars › Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

REUTERS/Chang-Ran Kim

Tuesday 13th October, 03:00 PM JST

Teams of engineers and aspiring engineers participate in the annual Honda “Eco-Run” competition in Motegi, north of Tokyo, this week. In the event, contenders design vehicles powered by a four-stroke 50cc engine, driving them seven laps around a track for a total 16.8 kilometers, using as little fuel as possible. Apart from a few regulations on the vehicle’s dimensions—they must measure under 3.5 meters long and have at least three wheels, for instance—the rules are simple: cover the designated distance in under 39 minutes and 20 seconds, equivalent to a minimum speed of 25 kms an hour.

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13 Comments

BurakuminDes at 03:21 PM JST - 13th October

Good stuff. I'm happy to see huge companies pumping massive amounts of cash into something like this, rather than say, Formula Yawn (F1). Hopefully this technology will filter down to the average road car in a few years.
kweto at 03:23 PM JST - 13th October

the annual Honda “Eco-Run” competition in Motegi, north of Tokyo

More specifically, it's at the Twin Ring Motegi race circuit.
Yelnats at 03:43 PM JST - 13th October

Looks so very cool, but why are they all working so close together?
KallyPygous at 03:45 PM JST - 13th October

A rare glimpse into Honda's secretive R&D complex.
dishdash at 04:07 PM JST - 13th October

Now this is really cool and this is the Japan everyone wants to see. I hope one of these little dudes keeps it up and ends up running the country one day. GAMBATTE!
blvtzpk at 04:30 PM JST - 13th October

These are boys I admire - and not a drop of bronzing solution among them! :)
Icantbelieveit at 06:40 PM JST - 13th October

This will do alot of good when Toyota, Honda and GM start making cars powered by four-stroke 50cc engines with max speeds of 25km...other than that, YAWN!
noborito at 06:56 PM JST - 13th October

Glad the body builder photo got yanked. but not much better.
Cliffy at 09:39 PM JST - 13th October

Cool!
TokyoGas at 10:05 PM JST - 13th October

Looks like a lotta work and a lotta fun. Good job!
Dewaashita at 10:28 PM JST - 13th October

This is great for the kids to learn something fun.
usaexpat at 11:06 PM JST - 13th October

Pretty cool, I'm also a fan of the solar race in the US where engineering colleges build the cars that run only on solar power. These type of exercises can hatch good ideas that can be applied to passenger cars in the future.
Smythe at 05:13 AM JST - 14th October

Work/fun like that can possibly turn out some good engineers in the future that will pay off with their learning abilities at this young age. So my compliments to all.