For all you F1/engineer guys...

[CorvallisBMW]

Another thing that really helped our weight was the Aluminum MMC rotors. Four of them weighed the same as one of the steel ones.

What was your weight this year, along with engine/wheel size ?

For our next redesign my team is looking at a hybrid setup, probably F4i, and 10in wheel assemblies.

We were 294 I think with 10" wheels and a Honda CRF450

[KennyT]

We were 294 I think with 10" wheels and a Honda CRF450

Nice. Next new car is aiming for sub 400. Trying to be the lightest 4cyl car. In the next couple years we might be going KTM for engine.

[hoseklamp]

Two years ago (when I was on the OSU team, before the GFR team existed) we were at 401 in California with tube frame and a 4-cylinder. Sub 400 is definitely doable. Though by then, that might not be enough to be the lightest 4-cylinder. We also tried for the KTM but it just wasn't feasible for us.

[CorvallisBMW]

Two years ago (when I was on the OSU team, before the GFR team existed) we were at 401 in California with tube frame and a 4-cylinder. Sub 400 is definitely doable. Though by then, that might not be enough to be the lightest 4-cylinder. We also tried for the KTM but it just wasn't feasible for us.

Was is 401? huh, for some reason I was thinking 301. Then the '10 car is most definitely NOT 296 or whatever, must be 396. We dropped a few pounds going to full monocoque.

[hoseklamp]

No, I think 300 is right about where the car is now. I went down and visited last fall and that seems to be what I remember Trevor saying. It's gone from a 4-cylinder, full tube frame to a single cylinder, carbon monocoque. It should definitely be right down there around 300.

[TwoJ's]

This kind of stuff, I like it.

[KennyT]

FSAE is awesome, but if your teams are anything like mine, there is a shit ton of bureaucracy.

[CorvallisBMW]

FSAE is awesome, but if your teams are anything like mine, there is a shit ton of bureaucracy.

Mine is not like yours then

[KennyT]

To put it into few words there are lots of big egos who want to play with the car. Last year the senior members felt they owned the car and could race it/drive it when they please without keeping the team in the loop. Hopefully that doesn't continue this year...

[hoseklamp]

Gotta have good team management with strong leaders. Many of the guys never even get a chance to drive the newest car and only get chances to drive the older cars when there is time. We give as much testing and tuning time as possible to the people who will actually be driving in competition. It worked pretty good... of course... I was one of the drivers...

[LivingLegend06]

I'm pretty sure the 2010 OSU car weighed in around 309lbs in a nearly complete state before the first competition. I think the under-tray was supposed to add around 7lbs to that number.

I think the full monocoque actually ended up being a few pounds heavier than the 09 chassis. Something about using shittier carbon that wasn't as strong as they were hoping. I expect that will all be remedied for next year though.

I was on Baja BTW so I'm not 100% sure on the formula stuff but I did spend a lot of time with those guys.

[TwoJ's]

Hey Darin (I think that's your name; please confirm), can I bother you to get the full article? This type of shit is right up my alley.

[NC325iC]

CF monocoques are the future of SAE. All the top teams in the world run them. The learning curve can be steep but the payoffs are huge. My team (http://www.global-formula-racing.com/en/home) got 1st at Michigan, Austria and Italy this year. We would have had 1st at LA, Silverstone and Germany too had we not had some problems during endurance.

we ran them for about 6 years i think, we went back to steel tube. in order to meet the rules steel tube is not much heavier and much less time consuming, not to mention the fact that our budget is whatever we can raise and its shared between formula and baja. and as far as the weight affecting performance over the past 2 years our team has come 2nd and 6th in acceleration. that being said these new cars are hideous while our old ones are fantasticly beautiful.

2007

compared to

2010

edit: after checking the website the 2007 car got 1st in accel.

our formula team (im on baja) did alright this year, they didnt get enough driver training and noone knew how to turn. all in all they placed fairly well. we're lucky to have guys that are on top of their game when it comes to engine tuning and weve been able to make good power from our f4i. next year should be interesting if they get the headwork done the way they want to.

[KennyT]

Can't see images.

With the progress and weight we have achieved on the Hybrid chassis we will probably keep the same sort of design.

My team's main problem is that all the new members want to "go fast" and don't know a whole lot about the engineering and design process. Most have no idea what Toe is at the start. We end up having a large number of members (50 or more) with maybe 15 that actually build the car and do work.

Michigan Tech 2010 Competition vehicle



We have a lot of really awesome engineering in the car, but the jank, last minute fixes really killed us. For example:
Pneumatic shifting never worked, so we had to rig up a mechanical system.
Dry Sump pan continuously leaked, earning the car the nickname of Deep Horizon.
Chain tensioner wore fast (never use a slide tensioner) and the chief engineer over tensioned the system. The extra stress on the system broke a CF Differential mount (should have been steel or aluminum, but the adding lightness approach is what got us down to 430).

[CorvallisBMW]

Hey Darin (I think that's your name; please confirm), can I bother you to get the full article? This type of shit is right up my alley.

Yep, that's my name. I'll email the team captain and ask for the full version.