UC Davis engineering students will defend their national championship next week in the FutureCar National Challenge. This year's UC Davis entry is a hybrid similar to last year's winner, a Ford Taurus redesigned to run on reformulated gasoline and electricity. New features include an aluminum body and a variable-speed automatic transmission that should improve performance, fuel efficiency and emissions, said mechanical and aeronautical engineering professor Andy Frank. On the freeway, the car is expected to get 65 miles per gallon, accelerate to 60 mph in nine seconds and travel 1,000 miles before the battery needs to be recharged, he said. While the car may not win the competition this year, Frank predicted UC Davis will have a top contender after the engine is redesigned in 1998-1999. "We look at this project as a two-year cycle. Next year, we're going to show the industry we can come awfully close to 80 miles per gallon." The car leaves sometime after noon, Monday, June 1, for the June 4-10 competition in Detroit.