Hey everyone. I'm a junior at SJSU, and currently we have no FSAE team (we do have a baja team). I have about a dozen ME's who want to get the team going for 09.

The last SJSU team was in 1992, so obviosly we have nothing to start from. We are currently designing the chassis and getting sponsorship packets together to send out in order to get funding.

The school's shop services are less than ideal, but we're going to do our best to get something going for next year, so we're starting early. This is especially important because we have litteraly nothing right now except for a few sketches and a lot of determination.

Please wish us luck and I will keep you all updated on how our project is going.

-Joey

Hello Joey,

You and your peers are beginning a process that will change your lives.

I highly suggest you personally visit with other teams, and perhaps come down to Fontana in June.

Hope to see you there.
Aaron

Welcome abourt Joey et al., ditto on what Aaron said. We were in a similar situation to where you are as well last year. Your lack of shop equipment/access is shared among many teams here, so you will just have to show how creative you guys are in your build as in your design!

Best,
Drew

Good luck. You'll have a lot of fun, learn a hell of a lot..

.. and say goodbye to regular eating and sleeping schedules. Class too..

Also, see second line in my sig. About the only way to make everyone happy, unless anyone else has a better idea?

Best,
Drew

Quit now while you still have a chance!

Already I find that FSAE is much more interesting than my usual studies. Vector loop analysis (yuck), or race car suspension design (fun)..hmmmm

Still trying to make adjustments to the overall chassis design. Not sure how wide the foot compartment will have to be to house gas, brake and clutch pedals. I'm thinking no less than 14" wide.

wooden mock ups for driver position and ergonomics should help clear things up

you might want to look in the appendix of the 2008 rules. there are new cockpit rules that are being considered for 2009. there are some templates that must be passed through the cockpit and they might give you an idea of how big the frame will need to be to pass tech

quote:

Not sure how wide the foot compartment will have to be to house gas, brake and clutch pedals. I'm thinking no less than 14" wide.

Just a word of advice: very rarely will you see a clutch pedal on an FSAE car, most teams opt for a hand-operated mechanism. Reason being you can make the front end narrower. However, I don't know what the new template requirements are for 2009 (never looked into it because I graduate in May), and if they require a wider front end then you may have room to fit a clutch pedal after all. That's just one of the many decisions you'll have to make.

And if you're not already planning on it, I would strongly consider attending the FSAE West event in June. Before you go, make sure you have a camera with plenty of memory and take as many pictures of different cars as you can. It won't give you a blue print for how to build your car, but when you get stuck on how to design something, it really helps to go back and look at what other people have done in the past. Last year was our rookie year, and that helped us get a car on the ground. And in your first year, that's what you should be worried about the most. You need a base prototype before you can really start to optimize the car. About 12 months from now you'll really appreciate what that means.

Best of luck to your team...

I'll be looking over the rulebook nearly every day most likely. Should be geat reading

I am planning on coming down to FSAE West. Should be a whoe lot of fun. I'll upload a pic of our preliminary chassis design soon.

I'm the team lead across the highway over at Santa Clara University. This year's car is our school's first. You guys are more than welcome to come check out our progress so far, and we'd LOVE to get some help building the thing.

Seriously, think of helping us as practice for next year. We need the help... I've done about 90% of the work so far while my teammates have slacked off. *I* need the help.

I'd love to stop by sometime! It's so close it would be foolish not to. I'm really busy with classwork, but for sure I'd like to come out there when I have some free time. I'll talk it over with a couple other members and see what they think.

You guys are trying to make it to Fontana in June of this year?

BTW, I'm gonna need some advice in getting sponsorship too.

If either of the new Bay Area teams have time, get a hold on Chris Ohanian up in Berkeley and figure out a time to check out their garage (and the new car and the old cars). It'll be an eye opener to see what kind of infastructre you're going to need to build in order to get this thing off the ground.

Welcome, and kiss the rest of your former life goodbye!

-Kirk

well now that kirk has mentioned by name, i suppose i should say a word or two.

setting up/maintaining any sort of infrastructure entails doing all of the stuff you never signed up to do, but have to do in order for the club to stay alive (so that you and others can enjoy the fsae experience). just be organized and keep in mind what you need to get done this week, in two weeks, a month from now and a year from now.

regarding sponsorship - you don't need a car to get stuff at a discount or for free. if you just call up most of the suppliers, you will usually get a positive answer. if you don't, try another place - we rarely find ourselves stuck with buying from a place at retail because they are the only supplier.

learn to do things with no money, as it will make you more useful in the future when you do have money.

finally, don't kid yourself about finding a huge cash sponsor right away (unless your school is really generous). we built two cars almost entirely out of our pockets before we had any sort of reasonable budget. you'll find that the companies that will listen to you don't have money and the ones that do have money won't listen to you. that's not to say that you shouldn't try - just don't wait for a big check before building the team up.

Hey, it was cool having you guys come over. Shoot me an email with your email addresses and I'll add you guys to the mailing list.

PM sent.

Yeah, It was really nice to see a FSAE chassis in person.

I'm still jotting ideas down in Pro/E, tryng to get several different chassis designs taken care of.

Here's a preliminary design. I'm wondering about the front end, I think it'll pass tech but if anyone sees something that doesn't fly, please tell me. The front end looks similar to one of the helsinki 2007 vehichles, but just looking for some input.

Our team would also like to warn you before you´ve sacrificed everything..

But hey, welcome aboard!

Have you already figured out your desired suspension geometry? That will definitely change your chassis design from what it is now.

Which engine you´ll be running?

Sure looks like our front end from our 2007 car with slight modifications on it. Have to admit though, it was not the best . I´ll bet there is a lot to improve, especially with the new 2009 rules

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Teemu Ristelä,

Pennyman,
It looks as though your Front Hoop Bracing is too far below the top of your Front Hoop. It cannot be more than 2 inches. Front Bulkhead Support looks OK.