With the automotive industry ever striving to push the limits of fuel efficiency, the Shell EcoMarathon offers a glimpse into this energy conserving mindset by challenging engineering students around the world to design and build ultra-efficient vehicles to compete regionally. This requires synchronization of engineering fields to ensure that the vehicle and powertrain system work in parallel to achieve similar goals.
The goal for Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo’s EcoMarathon vehicle for the 2015 competition is to analyze the unique operating mode that the powertrain undergoes during competition and improve their current package to increase fuel efficiency. In this study, fuel delivery, ignition timing and engine temperature are experimentally varied to observe trends in steady state fuel consumption. A developmental simulation is then implemented with these trends to analyze potential differences in transient and steady state tuning targets. The engine is then tuned to finalized tuning targets and performance compared with benchmark values.
","abstract_html":"<p>With the automotive industry ever striving to push the limits of fuel efficiency, the Shell EcoMarathon offers a glimpse into this energy conserving mindset by challenging engineering students around the world to design and build ultra-efficient vehicles to compete regionally. This requires synchronization of engineering fields to ensure that the vehicle and powertrain system work in parallel to achieve similar goals.</p> <p>The goal for Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo’s EcoMarathon vehicle for the 2015 competition is to analyze the unique operating mode that the powertrain undergoes during competition and improve their current package to increase fuel efficiency. In this study, fuel delivery, ignition timing and engine temperature are experimentally varied to observe trends in steady state fuel consumption. A developmental simulation is then implemented with these trends to analyze potential differences in transient and steady state tuning targets. The engine is then tuned to finalized tuning targets and performance compared with benchmark values.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Griess, Eric J"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS in Mechanical Engineering","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Mechanical Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Patrick Lemieux"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-03-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-03-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:31:35Z","subjects":["Supermileage","Ecomarathon","fuel efficiency","single cylinder","engine tuning","vehicle simulation","Applied Mechanics","Computer-Aided Engineering and Design","Heat Transfer, Combustion"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10.15368/theses.2015.34"],"render_values":[{"text":"10.15368/theses.2015.34","href":"https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2015.34","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1485","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Patrick Lemieux"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Griess, Eric J"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-11-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS in Mechanical Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Supermileage","Ecomarathon","fuel efficiency","single cylinder","engine tuning","vehicle simulation","Applied Mechanics","Computer-Aided Engineering and Design","Heat Transfer, Combustion"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1485","10.15368/theses.2015.34"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["With the automotive industry ever striving to push the limits of fuel efficiency, the Shell EcoMarathon offers a glimpse into this energy conserving mindset by challenging engineering students around the world to design and build ultra-efficient vehicles to compete regionally. This requires synchronization of engineering fields to ensure that the vehicle and powertrain system work in parallel to achieve similar goals.
The goal for Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo’s EcoMarathon vehicle for the 2015 competition is to analyze the unique operating mode that the powertrain undergoes during competition and improve their current package to increase fuel efficiency. In this study, fuel delivery, ignition timing and engine temperature are experimentally varied to observe trends in steady state fuel consumption. A developmental simulation is then implemented with these trends to analyze potential differences in transient and steady state tuning targets. The engine is then tuned to finalized tuning targets and performance compared with benchmark values.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Benchmarking, Characterization and Tuning of Shell EcoMarathon Prototype Powertrain"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Patrick Lemieux"],"dc:creator":["Griess, Eric J"],"dc:date.available":["2015-11-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["With the automotive industry ever striving to push the limits of fuel efficiency, the Shell EcoMarathon offers a glimpse into this energy conserving mindset by challenging engineering students around the world to design and build ultra-efficient vehicles to compete regionally. This requires synchronization of engineering fields to ensure that the vehicle and powertrain system work in parallel to achieve similar goals.
The goal for Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo’s EcoMarathon vehicle for the 2015 competition is to analyze the unique operating mode that the powertrain undergoes during competition and improve their current package to increase fuel efficiency. In this study, fuel delivery, ignition timing and engine temperature are experimentally varied to observe trends in steady state fuel consumption. A developmental simulation is then implemented with these trends to analyze potential differences in transient and steady state tuning targets. The engine is then tuned to finalized tuning targets and performance compared with benchmark values.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1485","10.15368/theses.2015.34"],"dc:subject":["Supermileage","Ecomarathon","fuel efficiency","single cylinder","engine tuning","vehicle simulation","Applied Mechanics","Computer-Aided Engineering and Design","Heat Transfer, Combustion"],"dc:title":["Benchmarking, Characterization and Tuning of Shell EcoMarathon Prototype Powertrain"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Mechanical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS in Mechanical Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:31:35Z"}