‘87 Ford Mustang that does 110 mpg

The X Prize Foundation is a non profit organisation that fosters innovative, high-profile competitions for the benefit of humanity. And they also give away substantial prizes. For example, the Progressive Automotive X Prize is worth $10 million and it’s a race to find an affordable, marketable automobile that gets at least 100 miles per gallon.

One of the competitors for this prize is Doug Pelmear, an engineer from Napoleon, Ohio, who modified the engine of a 1987 Ford Mustang, so the car now does 110 mpg. Yeah, we know, that’s really impressive and if Doug wins the prize, he sure deserves it. He tweaked the Mustang’s engine and made it nearly five times more efficient than a regular one. He said: “”We redesigned a lot of different things on the engine block. It’s still a rod-and-piston engine; it just has a lot more electronics on it.”

And if you think this car is some clean hybrid that hardly moves on the street, you must know that Doug’s Mustang has 400 horsepower, goes well over 100 mph and can go from 0 to 60 mph in three seconds (we’re not really sure about this last part). The engine operates at 38 percent efficiency (8 to 10 on the regular cars) and Doug says he could increase even that number, by using regular gas instead of a mix of gas and 85 percent ethanol.

Though we wouldn’t say the same, Doug said that the $10 million prize was not the reason he joined the X Prize. “I’m an optimist, and I think people need to know there is hope out there. That’s why I decided to enter the X Prize race. I could have sold this [technology] off, but then people might not have seen it. This will bring back the automotive industry when they can sell trucks and SUVs and the models that are almost dead at this time”.

Source: KMBC