Students from Sarnia's Northern Collegiate high school competed in the Shell Eco Marathon in Detroit this past weekend.
Their car passed all technical inspections, and placed 23rd of 56 teams in the Prototype Internal Combustion Engine division, with fuel consumption of 440 miles per gallon.
Teacher Doug McArthur says even passing all of the inspections was a big accomplishment.
"There were quite a few universities that didn't even get through the technical inspection part of the process," says McArthur. "There were maybe ten or 15 universities that didn't even get to run their car. So, I'm pretty proud of the kids to be able construct the car and make it safe for the raceway."
For the second straight year, Northern was the only high school team in Canada to qualify and compete on the outdoor track.
McArthur says a lot of work went into building the car and making sure it met all of the requirements.
He says they were able to use the body of the car from last year's competition.
"We redesigned some of the steering systems and drive line, and put a new engine in as well," says McArthur. "The kids worked on installing a fuel injection system as well for the single cylinder engine. Back in September, the driver would have got used to the car for about a month and a half before winter set in, and then we took the car apart and did the modifications that the kids had in mind."
The group was also presented with the Go Green award for youth groups.
They're now preparing for next year's competition which is taking place in California.
