Competition

Below is a listing of the competition components. The car is judged on the efficiency of its design, its cost effectiveness, and its track performance. The vehicle's design receives credit for incorporating creative ideas and showing logical thinking and optimization of tradeoffs. A fictitious company seeking to produce 1,000 copies of the car has decreed that the cost of production, including materials and labor, should not exceed $8,500. The car's dynamic capabilities must also be competitive, and these are tested in a number of events. One of the primary challenges to participating teams is optimizing the design of the car. For example, a lightweight aluminum frame will lower the car's center of gravity, increase fuel economy, and allow the car to turn faster laps, but other parts of the car will have to be built more cheaply to offset the added cost of the aluminum. The goal is to develop a car that can optimize performance, quality, and cost effectiveness to net the highest number of points.