Bangalore students develop a racing car

Bangalore, Feb 17 (ANI): The mechanical engineering students in Bangalore have taken their passion a step ahead by developing a racing car.

Team HAYA, a group of automobile enthusiasts from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of People's Education Society Institute of Technology (PESIT), built the Formula car named PM408.

The car became the first-ever racing car to be displayed in the recently held Aero India-2009.

The People's Education Society Institute of Technology (PESIT) funded the car, after the management of the college was sure about the feasibility of the whole project.

"First of all we did research and built a wooden prototype of the car and showed it to the college. Thereafter they (the college student) asked us to build a prototype to show them that we are capable of doing something like this. They later decided that they will let us do this project and also funded the whole project," said Abhishek Fernandes, one of the students who developed the car.

This high technology car has semi-automatic gear shifting mechanism besides having a horizontal geometry, inspired from the Formula one car. Honda City engine is the only thing which has been fitted in from outside while rest of the parts have been made in-house by the college students.

Mohith Bafna, another mechanical engineering student claims that the PM408 is technologically a level above any other car in the country as of now.

Bafna also informed that the racing car is going to Italy to race with cars from forty other universities.

The car has a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour and has the capacity to accelerate from 0-100 kilometers in little less than 3.5 seconds.

Meanwhile, team HAYA is all set to take part in Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE) Italy 2009.

Narain Karthikeyan became India's first Formula One driver in 2005 when he raced for the now defunct Jordan team. His win gave a boost to the interest in motor racing in the country.

India will host its first Formula One grand prix in 2010. By Shweta DC(ANI)