Solar Phantom ready to ride off into Sunrayce's sunset

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's Solar Phantom team can no longer hide behind its mystic nickname.

Not after finishing fifth in 1997's Sunrayce cross country road race.

Not after winning last year's National Road Solar Car Rally.

Not after being asked to help survey the route being used for Sunrayce 99.

Lessons learned during the past nine years of solar car racing from Phoenix, Ariz., to Arlington, Texas, to Colorado Springs, Colo., has Rose-Hulman in the envious position of being one of the favorites to win this summer's solar racing challenge from the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., on June 20-29. (See nine-day, 1,340-mile route on this page.)

"This team has a 'We Can Win' attitude. We're no longer happy to be one of the 40 teams in the race, competing against the nation's best engineering colleges. Now, we're competing to win," says Dan Vialard, the team's chief executive officer. "We have always improved upon our last Sunrayce performance (20th in 1990, 15th in '93, 14th in '95 and fifth in '97). That means we should be in the lead pack this year . . . We've got the car, the team and the experience to win the race."

Nearly 16 months of dedication has created a re-designed Solar Phantom V that's lighter (by 250 pounds), sleeker aerodynamically and more energy efficient than Rose-Hulman's car that was the top Midwest entry in 1997.

Most importantly, the new vehicle began road testing in mid-March and successfully traveled three days of the Sunrayce 99 route during spring break in early April. The team hopes to have 1,500 miles of road testing before the Sunrayce qualifications on May 2 at General Motors' Proving Grounds in Milford, Mich. Only the top 40 cars (out of 55 competitors) completing 125 miles at an average speed of 25 mph will qualify for the race. The car that completes the most miles will start from the pole position.

"We want to show that our performance in Sunrayce 97 wasn't a fluke. We can do even better this time because we know what it takes to win," says Grant Carpenter, the team's chief operations officer and one of the car's drivers. "We surprised many teams in 1997. We proved that a well-engineered and well-tested car can be competitive, no matter the size of the school or race budget."

Rose-Hulman has always been one of Sunrayce's smallest competitors. However, it finished ahead of two-time champion, the University of Michigan, in 1997, and has become competitive with elite engineering powerhouses Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and Texas A&M University. (Rose-Hulman President Samuel Hulbert calls Sunrayce "The Rose Bowl of Engineering.")

Now, teams from Ohio State University, Purdue University, the University of Missouri-Rolla and Taylor University seek advice from Solar Phantom team members regarding building and racing a successful solar car.

"It's gratifying to see other teams admiring the design and craftsmanship of our car. We must be doing something right," Jim Meyer, the Solar Phantom V's chief mechanical engineer. "We have built up a wealth of knowledge about how to build solar cars."

In fact, Rose-Hulman students organized their own race, the four-day National Road Solar Car Rally, along historic U.S. 40 last summer from Wheeling, W.Va., to Terre Haute. Two weeks later, the Solar Phantom was back on the road, surveying the Sunrayce 99 route. The team's suggestions brought major revisions to the proposed overnight stop in Atlanta. (For instance, team members cautioned against having solar cars traveling through downtown Atlanta on a Friday afternoon. Now, the cars will stop at the GM plant in the Atlanta suburb of Doraville, Ga.)

"Rose-Hulman has developed a highly motivated and experienced team that is respected by race officials and fellow competitors. They seem to have solar car racing in their blood," says Sunrayce 99 Headquarters Manager Bryan Arnold, pointing out that the Solar Phantom is one of eight teams that have participated in all four Sunrayce events. "They're a special group of students."

And, Sunrayce 99 could be a very special summer for the Rose-Hulman team.

"There are expectations and pressures," concedes Vialard. "We have a lot of support on campus, in the local community and among Rose-Hulman alumni. There's trust that we know what we're doing. We don't want to let anyone down."

The re-designed Solar Phantom V is quite different than the other four solar cars that have represented Rose-Hulman in Sunrayce. For one, it has four wheels (a 1999 rules requirement), instead of the previous three. The driver's compartment has been moved back to the middle of the car's body and now is encircled by 780 photovoltaic "solar" cells -- the lifeblood of any solar-powered racer.

Also, the car has a brightly colored front end of its body, complete with distinctive red flames and the mysterious outline of a Phantom.

"We want people to know that we're hot about engineering, hot about solar car racing and hot about Sunrayce," Vialard said.

And, things could get ever hotter this summer.