Students from Spain’s La Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV) do some final testing on “Urban Spirit,” the car they hope will help test new possibilities for fuel efficiency in Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2012. The Valencia team is one of 154 teams from some 20 countries gathered in Rotterdam this week for the student design, build, and drive competition.

The goal isn’t to be the fastest car, but to be the most efficient; still, the Urban Spirit UPV team has been inspired by the world of sports car driving. The students have integrated the same aluminum honeycomb glass fiber into their car as is used in the GTA Spano, the Spanish supercar built in their own city of Valencia by