Editing Formula SAE (section)

===Weight===
There is no weight restriction. The weight of the average competitive Formula SAE car is usually less than {{convert|440|lb|abbr=on}} in race trim. However, the lack of weight regulation combined with the somewhat fixed power ceiling encourages teams to adopt innovative weight-saving strategies, such as the use of composite materials, elaborate and expensive machining projects, and [[rapid prototyping]]. In 2009 the fuel economy portion of the endurance event was assigned 100 of the 400 endurance points, up from 50. This rules change has marked a trend in [[engine downsizing]] in an attempt to save weight and increase fuel economy. Several top-running teams have switched from high-powered four-cylinder cars to smaller, one- or two-cylinder engines which, though they usually make much less power, allow weight savings of {{convert|75|lb|abbr=on}} or more, and also provide much better fuel economy. If a lightweight single-cylinder car can keep a reasonable pace in the endurance race, it can often make up the points lost in overall time to the heavier, high-powered cars by an exceptional fuel economy score. 
:'''Example:''' At the 2009 Formula SAE West endurance event, third-place finishers [[Rochester Institute of Technology]] completed the endurance course in 22 minutes, 45 seconds with their four-cylinder car, while fourth-place finishers [[Oregon State University]] finished in 22 minutes, 47 seconds with their single-cylinder car; this gave RIT 290.6 of 300 points for the race portion of the event and OSU 289.2 points. However, OSU used the least fuel of any car ({{convert|.671|USgal|L|abbr=on}}, or {{convert|20.3|mpgus|L/km|abbr=on}} over the entire endurance race) and received the full 100 points for fuel economy, while RIT used {{convert|1.163|USgal|L|abbr=on}} ({{convert|11.75|mpgus|L/km|abbr=on}}) and was thus only awarded 23.9 of the available points. RIT went on to win the overall competition by only 8.9 points over OSU, having scored slightly better in all of the other dynamic events.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sae.org/students/fsaew2009results.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605035925/http://www.sae.org/students/fsaew2009results.pdf |archive-date=2011-06-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref>