E85 Chevy Cobalt Sets Land Speed Records at Bonneville

Here’s a way to garner some attention for ethanol: use the alternative fuel to set top speed records. That’s exactly what General Motors did during the 58th Annual Speed Week event at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, Utah. Driven by GM Performance Division engineer Mark Dickens, the Student Project Cobalt SS broke the previous 19-year-old record of 152.626 mph set by Doc Jeffries in 1987 with a speed of 156.073 mph in the G/FCC class (G Class/Unblown Fuel Competition Coupe).

This is the first record ever set at Bonneville using E85 fuel – a mixture of 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent ethanol. The car went on to up the record twice during the week to a final mark of 172.680 mph by using nitrous oxide in combination with the E85 fuel.

The Student Project Cobalt SS, based on Chevrolet’s Cobalt compact car, was converted to run on the renewable fuel by three female engineering student interns – 19-year-old Heather Chemistruck from Virginia Tech University, 21-year-old Lauren Zimmer from Purdue University, and 21-year-old Sandra Saldivar of New Mexico State University. Powered by a naturally-aspirated 2.0-liter Ecotec LSJ engine, which altogether has now set Bonneville land speed records in eight different classes, the E85-fueled car beat more exotic race fuels including nitro-methane and methanol. According to GM’s Performance Division, E85 is a viable racing fuel because it burns cooler than gasoline and has a higher octane rating.