Formula SAE (student formula)

Just starting my first year with the team at California State University of Los Angeles. This will be our second year building a car, and our first (hopefully) competing.

Haven't researched the info on the international competitions yet, but just from looking at the cars, I'm assuming the rules are a LOT different from country to country. Lots of interesting stuff for sure :D
 
Slightly reviving this thread...

Anyone done any radiator/heat exchanger/cooling work/analysis on their car, and would be willing to share the procedure/tips on how they did it?

Just been with the UCSD team for a few months, and have been tasked with a mini-project of sorts.

Basically, we are trying to quantify whether our current radiator size is a bit too large for the type of engine we are running, but would like a rough (but qualified) estimate for the heat rejection of the radiator vs. the heat transferred from engine to coolant.

Engine: 1-cyc, 450cc w/ force induction
Radiator: 2x, a larger water-cooled in one side pod and a smaller oil-cooled in the other, both I believe off of a 675cc Honda ATV, which is why it might be slightly larger than what we currently need (but can't know for sure w/o analysis)

Thanks a bunch.
 
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All the other threads are stale so Im re-upping this (mods do what you want).
I just joined the Formula SAE team for the University of Central Florida. Anyone else on here part of an FSAE or Formula student team? If so, what school and where?

I know Travis and Miles on your team at UCF, we all lived close to each other back home. I am the on the FSAE team at FSU :)
 
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I've just joined the RMIT Racing team and will probably be working on the engine this year, and maybe driving in the acceleration event because I'm light. Anyone else involved with FSAE this year?
 
Well i was involved with the QUT team, but have decided to concentrate on passing my subjects this year :)
 
^I'm seriously considering dropping SAE to focus on my final year project. Unlike some of the other guys, I'm not exactly uber-smart and can learn everything in a subject during the last 2 weeks before an exam.

I had a pretty cool time last year even though my involvement was limited by a number of things, but with 2010 being my final year and accounting for a large chunk of my marks I really, really do not want to fuck things up.
 
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^I'm seriously considering dropping SAE to focus on my final year project. Unlike some of the other guys, I'm not exactly uber-smart and can learn everything in a subject during the last 2 weeks before an exam.

I had a pretty cool time last year even though my involvement was limited by a number of things, but with 2010 being my final year and accounting for a large chunk of my marks I really, really do not want to fuck things up.

That's quite understandable. I can totally see how FSAE could take over your whole life. We went to the pub last night with some of the team and some of the guys didn't get torn away from the windtunnel until nearly 11pm.
 
That's quite understandable. I can totally see how FSAE could take over your whole life. We went to the pub last night with some of the team and some of the guys didn't get torn away from the windtunnel until nearly 11pm.

Hm, I guess that's what you get with the bigger, more established teams. Our group is still pretty small, and green to formula. X( (Most of the guys have experience with the longer-running CSULA Supermileage and Baja teams)

I'm engine lead for this year, and we're pretty much finishing designs up at this time. Gotta get to building for FSAE California in June.

Running a Honda Silverwing 598cc parallel twin. Haven't tweaked much from stock this year, but I'm working on getting a custom tuned exhaust figured out. Hopefully next year we can look into running E85, maybe a turbocharger :mrgreen:
 
We just did a round of specific dissipation testing to examine new radiators for the 2010 car. Turns out our sidepods were decreasing radiator efficiency by up to 20% and they produced a kilo of lift....each! So there you have it. Don't let Industrial Designers design the look of your car.
 
My roommate's was a part of the UofT SAE team for the past four years. He's not directly involved in the team anymore, but he helps out. If you've ever met "chief" in Michigan, UK, or Germany, you've met him :lol:.

Good friends of his, former team mates, whom I have been fortunate enough to meet regularly, are now with Lotus and Virgin F1 teams :).

SAE is great, I show up to the Mosport (Canadian) shoot out every now and then.
 
I've just joined the Adelaide Uni FSAE team as a year 3 student. Sadly we did terrible last year. Congratulations to Monash, by the way, for the victory. Your car looks absolutely fantastic. What Honda engine are you using?
 
^I'm seriously considering dropping SAE to focus on my final year project.

At our university (University it Windsor) FSAE is one of the options for your final project :D. I want to join our team and then hopefully get it as my final year project as well.

I went to the Michigan competition yesterday. It was a lot of fun and there were some really fast cars there. The Purdue car was AMAZING. Was anyone else there?
 
I wasn't there, but I got live updates. Most of the big guys falling flat in endurance, and TU Graz falling short into third place.

Congrats to Oregon, though.
 
Oh I just remembered. There are some pretty cool cars there as well. I saw a Nissan GT-R in the parking lot as well as (first for me) a MX-5 with an anti-gay bar.

Also, I didn't see this, but I heard there was an Indian team there that had a 700lb car 0_o... The lightest car was 260lb-ish if I remember correctly.
 
11 days until we leave for competition in California. Drove the car last night and it was a fucking blast. Still way too heavy but it grips like crazy.
 
I just got a team started at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, any1 have some advice for a first year team?
 
I've only been on a team for a few weeks but I keep hearing the same things over and over again. Don't get ahead of yourself, you're not making a Formula 1 car. Start simple, steel tube spaceframe ftw. START EARLY, hear this every meeting lol. Also spend less time designing and more time testing. For more technical info, have you read everything in Pat's corner?
 
I just got a team started at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, any1 have some advice for a first year team?

Apart from what Ferrari_Freak has said, the most important thing for you guys to remember is that you're not striving to make your car look like a Formula One car or an Indycar. Those cars are built to their own regulations, which is why they look the way they do. FSAE has it's own rules, and your car should be optimized for those rules, and those rules alone.

I know it seems like a forgone conclusion, this, but you would be surprised as to how quickly people can forget, and lose the plot.

Just make sure that the responsibilities you hand out are handed to people who have a passion for engineering and craftsmanship (and business and administration, that is an extremely important aspect of FSAE), rather than people who might just think it's "cool", and show faux enthusiasm.

Good Luck :)
 
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