The fastest car under the sun

Photo courtesy of the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project

A University of Minnesota solar car won the 2009 Formula Sun Grand Prix race in Texas over the weekend. To see updates and photos from the track, check out www.twitter.com/umnsvp or www.flickr.com/umnsvp.

A University of Minnesota team and its car, called Centaurus, lapped the competition at a race in Texas.

By JENNA ROSS, Star Tribune

Last update: June 8, 2009 - 8:34 PM

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Adem Rudin always loved airplanes and rockets. Still does. Then, just before he began studying aerospace engineering at the University of Minnesota, he spotted solar cars.

He found them to be "really frickin' cool."

Four years later, Rudin has helped lead the university's solar car team to a victory at the 2009 Formula Sun Grand Prix.

The engineering students' car, called Centaurus, completed 487 laps at the Texas track -- 94 more than the second-place team from the University of Kentucky, according to the race website.

Minnesota also had the fastest individual lap at 2 minutes, 20 seconds.

The 17-person team didn't fully realize that "we were way ahead" until the second of three days of racing, said Rudin, the team's crew chief.

The big deal in the solar-car-racing world is the North American Solar Challenge, a race that spans the country. The Texas race, on a closed track over the weekend, was a kind of training run. The U won it the last time it was held, in 2005.

Team members detailed blown tires, clear skies and their eventual victory on Twitter, at times posting a message a minute. "Awake and charging from the sunrise," they wrote Friday morning.

They will soon begin building the team's next car, the Centaurus II -- the ninth car in its 19-year history.

The first Centaurus, which the team also used in last year's cross-country race, weighs about 420 pounds, is capable of reaching a maximum speed of 80 miles per hour and produces 1,500 watts of power on a sunny day.

The team hopes the next one will be lighter, faster and more powerful.

"There are no books out there that teach you how to build a solar car," Rudin said. "It's all word of mouth, passed-on knowledge and just doing it."

Jenna Ross • 612-673-7168

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