Formula Student Germany then:

A fantastic event! The new benchmark as far as venue, facilities, organization and entertainment go... Hats off to those pulling the strings to make it happen, putting in the hours to make it run flawlessly and full marks to Mahle for the afterparty. Apparently some teams won some events – though from where we were the sponsors and competitors were all far too battered to give a damn! :-) (the impression our lot left with was that come to it it mattered not one jot who came away with the first prize - and congratulations are due to all those who made it there and made it what it was!)

Mostly the organisers seem to have listened to students and industry then executed it to perfection – with a sense of humour added as icing on the cake. (where else would you find the organisers crowd-surfing at an after-party; paid-for soft-drinks but free beer; pedal-cars in the welding bay or donuts on the enduro track all viewed as perfectly normal) We know which event we’re trying for next year that’s for sure!

Special thanks to Brookes, Cardiff, Graz, Loughborough, Queensland and Strathclyde for campsite/mahle entertainment – you’d better be there next year so we can repay the hospitality! (might even make it around a few more tents if we can resist the lure of the first 20 cent beers and hot BBQ we come across!) :-)

Usual collection of car photos, pi$$ing rain, filth from the loughboro’ lot and big Frank R with beer in one hand and cigar in other whilst being thrown around by the students busy uploading here:

http://www.cosic.org.uk/galleryv2/main.php?g2_itemId=9356

If any registered teams hear of the DVD of photos and video the organisers mentioned I’ve love a copy please (I’m happy to send a disc and self-addressed envelope to you or do the whole if I receive one I forward a copy to the next person who asks free of charge type affair)

Cheers!

Hey everybody!

Concerning the FSG event, I have to say it was very well-organized, probably at one of the best FSAE / Formula Student event locations ever, the Hockenheimring, one week after the F1 race. It was an amazing event, and although things did not really work out well for us (engine busted during noise test, had to replace engine, missed accelleration and skid pad, and on sunday starter failed after our car spun and ceased), we as a team had much fun and it was a great experience, with a great final on the MAHLE party.

Congrats to Graz for their well-deserved success, a great team and a great car, to Stuttgart for their great start into the Formula Student community, grats to all other winners and especially to Queensland for their Enduro and AutoX win. Greetings also to the teams from Deakin, Monash and New South Wales. We really enjoyed the two weeks with all you Aussi guys (and girl) in Aachen as well as during FSG very much.

Moreover, I want to thank all other teams who helped us, especially the guys from Offenburg.

I am very much looking forward to FSG 2007, although, by then, I will only be a visitor.

Marco Lange
Electronics
Ecurie Aix
Formula Student Team RWTH Aachen

Ok, I have now uploaded some videos from Saturdays events, enjoy. I hope I tagged the videos right.

/henrik

TU Graz
Oxford Brookes
Loughborough
Deakin
Helsinki
FH Johanneum

quote:

Originally posted by Craig Dawson:
just switched to Goodyears from the Avons, and were chasing set up, both mechanical and electronic all day.

I think you used Avon at FS06 and GY at FSG.
What do you think about GY?
Where did you buy them?
We bought (in USA) and tested them last year, but we are back to Avon, because are softer and quite always produced later.

Daniele Rosti

Hi Daniele,

We switched to the Goodyears 2962's because our Avons A40's totally fell apart when we won the Enduro at Formula Student UK. They went off on they 10th lap.

We didnt have chance to do any proper running on the Goodyears before FSG, only the simple bedding procedure that Goodyear gave us. As a result we made a huge gamble.

Our performance in Accel and Skid was fairly terrible, mainly because we had slightly less traction on the Goodyears than we had on the Avons, and we had problems reconfiguring the Launch Control, and the general balance had moved to a lot of understeer which messed up our Skid Pad. Once we had changed the set up the car was mega again, but we only managed this in time for the last AutoX run. I made a mistake, and hence our time wasnt good.

In the Enduro the tyres were unbelievable. They were perfectly constistant, and gave a level of grip that was fantastic. The major change was the feeling the tyres had. At the end of the enduro the tyres were like new.

I am sure that had we had a second set and been able to test prior to the event they would have been better than the Avon's throughout the event.

They came from the States.

What prompted the change though, was it a supply issue that you leave you with GY or was it something intentional(if you don't want to elaborate on the latter that would be fine as well...)

quote:

Originally posted by Craig Dawson:
We switched to the Goodyears 2962's because our Avons A40's totally fell apart when we won the Enduro at Formula Student UK. They went off on they 10th lap...
In the Enduro the tyres were unbelievable. They were perfectly constistant, and gave a level of grip that was fantastic. The major change was the feeling the tyres had. At the end of the enduro the tyres were like new....
They came from the States.

Hi Craig,

We never tested the 2962, but we used the R-065 D-1385 bought in Florida.
I saw a pic of your car at FS06 at the end of endurance, and the tires were not so good...
I understand the setup problem you suffered using GY from Avon, because we had the same problem.

Nice to hear that the grip level was so good, and I hope the price was lower..

Daniele

The fronts at Bruntingthorpe were nearly to the canvas!

The reason for the change was partially down to supply, and partially down to finance. We knew what we wanted in terms of the Avon but they couldnt make it for some time. Goodyear were fantastic all round. Thats not to say Avon aren't, but in the timescales we were working with I think we made the right decision.

The D2692 is a new tire that was recently developed with FSAE conditions in mind. In comparison to the D1385 or D2509, both R065 compound tires, the D2692 is stiffer, therefore responds quicker and feels more stable. The compound on the D2692 is a new dry tire compound where the R065 is a wet compound, which is easier to overheat in warm dry conditions. Typically, the treadwear on the D2692 tire is better. As with any tire, vehicle setup, and kinematics & compliance are important and your particular situation may minimize the gains seen until your car is setup well. We are working on a volume build of the tires, but it will probably not happen for another month or two. They will be priced a little higher than the D2509 and D1385, at about $150/tire (due to the rising cost of raw materials). You may think that I am biased since I work at Goodyear, so ask any of the several teams have competed on these tires their opinion. The list now includes, Texas A&M (#1 FSAE West), Wollongong, Kansas, Oxford Brookes, Western Australia, NC State, Wisconsin Madison, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Toledo, Missouri Columbia, & Akron.

http://fsae.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/125607348/m/58310898...10223431#91010223431

Congratulation to TU Graz. With surmounting the difficulties you had, you really deserved to win!

We didn't win the competition but we won almost as valuable thing instead. Matti Parpola Racing Team vs. Brookes: 3-2. Though I think this rivalry will continue til it's 87-85..

Here's all the "publishable" photos from Helsinki:

http://www.formula.stadia.fi/

For bigger versions->private message

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kimmo Hirvonen,

Congratulations to all teams, how makes FSG 2006 to a great competition.

FSG was a great competition. It was a lot of work for the teams and for use. And see finish guys smiling was the best feedback. Ok nearly everybody smiled that evening.

We had a lot of teams who had bad luck, for example FH Graz, TU Munich, UNSW (broken Fuse after 20 m) and so on, but i´m sure all teams enjoyed that competition. I hope all of you had a save trip home and already started with their new car.

Hope to see you next year.

Thanks for that stage diving, we should make that again next year.

And also thanks to all teams, all volunteers and all other people how makes that event so great.

I promise we will make it better next year!!!

Frank Ruska Roeske

Hi All,

I just wanted to say how great this event was organised by Frank and the rest of his team. Although this was only my second competition, the other being FS UK, I can't see too many areas where improvements could be made. I am sure many teams from this year will spread the word...

Well Done.

For me this event was quite special as I was competing against my younger brother, Jilbruke (some of you may know?), in his last ever event for the Uni of New South Wales. I had heard many stories of designing, building, testing and racing over the last five years from him and now this year have seen many of them first hand in my team - Oxford Brookes.

As Craig had mentioned earlier, we had had a few problems with setup on Saturday so was going to be difficult for us to challenge for an outright win. However UNSW were about 20 points behind before the enduro and had a serius challenger. I was gutted to see them not make it very far...I guess the donuts made up for it somewhat!

Finally a big hello to all the other teams out there from me and thank you for the good competition you have provided along with the friendships I have made.

Will no doubt see you all soon!

Jenner Collins
Oxford Brookes Uni
jennerabc@yahoo.com.au

I figured I'd share some of my thoughts about FSG before I forget something.

As pointed out here and at the event, FSG was a great event, as Pat said, probably the best in the world so far! I must agree!

We (Royal Institue of Tech. Stockholm) had some arguments with the judges about the rules, something that is quite tricky. One thing that I think will improve to next year is the judges rules knowledge. I don't say that they have to have the same knowledge as us students who spend a year building a car according to the rules. Furthermore, the insecurity that some judges showed resulted in some weird interpretations of the rules and the intent of the rules got lost. But as I said, I think this will be much better next year when the judges have some more experience.

I also believe that some of the more practical parts of the rules such as "moving the car outside the pits" parts of the rules, weren't reinforced although some judges admitted that they've seen teams running with cars etc. FSG was a "strict" event, something I don't mind, but I believe it then has to be strict in every single way. Otherwise we'll get some parts of the rules that will be more of recommendations.

Finally, if the rules has to be fair, same rules should apply to all, during the endurance we got 2 technical flags because our front wing was touching the ground. As we all know, the track was quite bumpy, so we had raised our car with 20 mm in the front in order to aviod the wing touching the ground. In the slower sprint track we had no problems with it, but with the faster endurance track in combination with warm tires, our front wing touched the ground in some turn/brake/bump situations around the track. Sure, I know it's at the judges discretion, but several other cars touched the ground as well... But got away with it, to conclude, if you want keep FSG a strict event, which I believe you guys should, make sure the same rules apply for all. No hard feelings, but without the technical flags we could've been top 5 in the endurance... "could've been"

It was sad to see some top-notch cars that also "could've been" but all sorts of failures that you really can't prepare for didn't finish the endurance, Loughborugh, FH Graz, Redback Racing etc. Some highly competitive cars that put up a great show but fell on the finish line.

One other good thing with FSG event, the weighing after the endurance. One of the top team actual weighed 10 kg more after the endurance compared to the weighing for design...

To summarize, a great competition, great people, great cars, not so great campsite.

See you next year!

Henning Olsson
Technical Director KTH Racing
Royal Insitute of Technology
Stockholm, Sweden

[QUOTE]Originally posted by HenningO:

We ... had some arguments with the judges about the rules, something that is quite tricky. One thing that I think will improve to next year is the judges rules knowledge.

Finally, if the rules has to be fair, same rules should apply to all, during the endurance we got 2 technical flags because our front wing was touching the ground. As we all know, the track was quite bumpy, so we had raised our car with 20 mm in the front in order to aviod the wing touching the ground. In the slower sprint track we had no problems with it, but with the faster endurance track in combination with warm tires, our front wing touched the ground in some turn/brake/bump situations around the track. Sure, I know it's at the judges discretion, but several other cars touched the ground as well... But got away with it, to conclude, if you want keep FSG a strict event, which I believe you guys should, make sure the same rules apply for all. No hard feelings, but without the technical flags we could've been top 5 in the endurance... "could've been"

Henning, we flagged your car out, because it not only hits the ground on the bump, it also touched th ground during normal cornering. It would suggest your wing wasn´t high enough for your rollstiffness you choose. Before we flagged you out, your car had at least 4-5 ground contacts each lap, and that is just to much!

Frank

And the rear wing isn´t a proper push bar, which fullfills the rules. And i will be the bad guy with the alkohol tester again next year.

quote:

Originally posted by Frank "Ruska" Roeske:
Henning, we flagged your car out, because it not only hits the ground on the bump, it also touched th ground during normal cornering. It would suggest your wing wasn´t high enough for your rollstiffness you choose. Before we flagged you out, your car had at least 4-5 ground contacts each lap, and that is just to much!

Frank

Yeah, you could be right

While on the subject of drugs (alcohol), I'd really like to see FSG as a completly smoke-free event. I see no reason why smoking should be allowed near cars or at the grand stands.

Henning, personal i´m agree to you and we will find another way to handle the smoking next year.

I would agree on the smoking comment, I was feeling a bit annoyed by some people smoking in the pit area, while there were smoking areas specified. But I could agree, that as a student, you would not want to tell an event sponsor, that he should smoke somewhere else. On the other hand, if it is near fueled up cars, the safety question starts popping up....

That was the probably the most fun i've ever had.

Frank- You the man!!! Thanks for dragging us half way round the world.

Aachen- Thanks for hosting us, you were so much help, Especially Neals, who prevented us from starving.

Cardiff- Without you guys i probably would have been lost in the forest somewhere.

TUG- Congratulations on a great win, and on having the forsite to bring several kegs with you, (and thanks for sharing it around )

Thanks to All the FSG crew, for an awesome, well run event, and a wicked party on Sunday night.

Ross,
UNSW.... I was the guy in glad wrap on sunday night. :P

Can anyone with pics of the event get in touch with me.

Sam_collins@ipcmedia.com