The latest generation of Honda’s solar cars, the Dream, broke the record in this year’s World Solar Challenge (WSC). Starting in Darwin on Sunday, 26th October, the two-man, four-wheel vehicle completed the 3010-kin-course to Adelaide in just 33 hours and 32 minutes, taking two and a half hours off the remarkable time set three years ago by the previous Honda Dream team in a lighter, one-man, three-wheel vehicle.
The latest Dream managed an average speed of 89.76 km/h, compared to 84.96 km/h for the previous one, despite stormy winds and uphill slope slowing all the competitors during the event’s second day. However, during the final day’s run from the South Australian desert mining town of Coober Pedy to Adelaide, the Dream cruised (以发动机效率最高的速度行驶) at 100 km/h, occasionally accelerating to 110 km/h. "We are very tired and very happy," the Dream team’s project leader, Masashi Kitagawa, told the crowd of reporters waiting at the finish line at Adelaid’s Technology Park.
The School of Biel team placed second, an hour and 28 minutes behind the Dream, having averaged 86 km/h. The Swiss engineering school is Honda’s perennial rival (竞争对手) in this event, having beaten Honda in 1990 to set a course record of 38.50 hours. However, they placed a distant second to the Honda Dream in the 1993 event. A full report, along with pictures, will appear in the next issue of Honda: The Magazine.

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