Have you ever wondered how fast a steam car can go? You are not the only one.  The U.S. Land Steam Record (USLSR) Team is seeking to become the fastest steam-powered vehicle on earth at the famous Bonneville Salt Flats in early August 2011. The current record speed of 148 mph was set in 2009 by a British steam car, Inspiration, which broke the previous record of 129 mph which had stood since 1906.

The goal of the USLSR team is to blow the current record out of the water by creating a car that will travel at more then 200 mph.  The engine invented byHarry Schoell is called the Cyclone.  The Cyclone is "a compact, heat regenerative, external combustion engine that has been developed to achieve high thermal efficiencies and power-to-weight ratio. The engine operates on a Rankine cycle, and uses multiple heat recapturing processes off its cylinders, exhaust manifold and condenser to achieve thermal efficiencies reported at over 30%."  While the body of the car was designed by Chuck Williams the leader of the team and is extremely aerodynamic.  This will be Chuck's third steam car project. I wish him and his team the best of luck!

PS: The team is also looking for sponsorship.

Intro: Hello all, this is Brian Rowe, a Seattle based Hacker / Maker and member of Jigsaw Renaissance (JR) a non-profit maker space here in Seattle. JR is an collaborative community space that is open to the public that runs educational events several nights a week. 

When not blogging here or at JR's Blog I teach Information Privacy Law at Seattle University Law and run a volunteer organization that focus on Copyright & Patent Reform.  If you have interesting things you would like to see covered on the blog feel free to ping me at Brian <at> BrianRowe.org.

Image: The frame of the US Land Speed Record Teams Car, photographer unknown