Today, a select few Jr. Bills are heading cross-state to participate in the 15th Annual Missouri SuperMileage competition. In this STEM competition hosted by the University of Central Missouri, schools compete to drive life-size, student-built, student-driven vehicles around a half-mile course with the goal of using as little fuel as possible.

SLUH’s SuperMileage Vehicle Club has been participating in this competition annually through a partnership with Ranken Technical College. Since the fall, the club members have met on Saturdays at Ranken to construct the fuel-efficient vehicle, with the moderation of two professional mechanical engineers at the university. 

After SLUH Supermileage lay dormant due to Covid last year, this year was a great return. However, the Jr. Bills decided to continue improving their car from the 2019-2020 season—which was never given the chance to compete due to the beginning of lockdowns—rather than build a new one from scratch. This allowed for more leeway with the fickle Covid situation and the smaller group size, but also more time to focus on maximizing the car’s fuel-efficiency and sleek design.

“We wanted to honor the work of the graduated members,” said junior David Hunt. “We didn’t want to let the car go to waste because they were really dedicated to it.”

The club returns small but mighty this season with only six students.

“There are definitely less people than previous years,” said senior Tom Nguyen, the lead driver of the car. “At the same time, since we had a smaller group this year, it allowed more people to get hands-on, learn new skills, and play their part in making the car.”

At the first meeting in October 2021, the AutoBills lugged the dust-covered car into the Ranken workshop. It had one large, engine-powered wheel in the back and two smaller wheels for steering in the front, big enough to fit a smaller person in the cockpit. However, they quickly realized there were still a lot of changes to be made despite all the progress that had been made two years ago.

“We needed to get the steering to work, first of all,” described Hunt. “We also had to cover it all up and make the car aerodynamic, because it was just a shell.”

Right off the bat, the Jr. Bills jumped on the task of giving the car an outer structure and a metal frame. This highlighted one of the benefits of working at Ranken, which was the multitude of high-level, heavy-duty tools that the students were given full freedom to use.

“You have access to so much different equipment at Ranken, from the basic power drills all the way to plasma cutters,” explained Nguyen. “I think it's really cool just to use the opportunity to get yourself exposed to that stuff.”

After constructing the metal frame, the Jr. Bills applied plastic shrink-wrap to the car to give it a more aerodynamic and appealing shape. The group then spray painted the car, settling on a red and blue car design to represent the school colors of both Ranken and SLUH. 

As the weather warmed up after the long winter of technical adjustments, so did the roaring engine of the supermileage vehicle. The Jr. Bills were finally given the chance to take the car for a spin in the parking lot of Ranken. Despite the season’s shaky start, these test runs offered great promise. The car’s turn radius was exceedingly small, an important factor due to the sharp turns on the real course. Using their SLUH-honed math skills, the SuperBills also determined the speed to be about 23 mph, and very little fuel was used.

Today, the Jr. Bills and their competitors will have to complete two runs of ten laps around the half-mile course. The amount of fuel in each car will be weighed before and after each run, and whichever car is determined to have used the least fuel is crowned the winner. 

No matter the outcome, the SuperBills will look back on a season well-spent.

“We shared some great laughs and great crashes with the car,” concluded Nguyen. “It was a great way to spend Saturday mornings, just building a car with a group of great dudes.”