Any news from FSAE A?

[Rallyboy990]

I was hoping that someone might have news from Fsae A. Half of the Auburn team is down there and the half here would like to know how they are doing. Thanks for your help. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[dB]

I've been out there as a spectator and I can give you a general idea of how its going. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the results of the events held so far. I know that Braunschweig from Germany won both the cost event and the presentation event. Wollongong came 3rd in cost, but I didn't catch where Auburn came sorry.

In the acceleration it was Chalmers uni from Sweden fastest (4.01sec roughly) with Wollongong second. Auburn were quick and were top 5 I think. Skidpan was won by Swinburne, or RMIT? But 2nd again was Wollongong and auburn would have been top 5 I'm guessing again.

In the autocross, the fastest was Monash, second RMIT, 3rd Wollongong, 4th Swinburne I think, 5th I'm not sure. I don't think Auburn did that great in the autocross - the car looked taily and made a mess of the cones.

Well I hope that gives you some idea...

The general feeling is that Wollongong are looking very good, but there are many teams in the running. I have no idea who made the design judging finals either.

[vinHonda]

Great update! I'm sure many of us look forward to another!

(Damn! Chalmers got it down to 4.01?! some fine tuning since Formula Student I guess!)

Vinh

University of Toronto Formula SAE Racing Team
www.fsae.utoronto.ca (http://www.fsae.utoronto.ca)

[vinHonda]

I saw GT's car in the 'testing day' gallery......

And I had no idea Chalmers and Braunschweig made it down there! What was the entry list? Is GT really down there....but not making an impact according to db's update.

Vinh

University of Toronto Formula SAE Racing Team
www.fsae.utoronto.ca (http://www.fsae.utoronto.ca)

[Mi_Ko]

Damn

4.01, thats realy good + chalmers has one of the best looking cars ever seen.


Vinh for fsae-a participants see this (http://www.sae-a.com.au/fsae/participation.htm) side

2002/03 University of MARIBOR - Team Member

[Rallyboy990]

Wow thanks for the update.

[vinHonda]

Agreed, I really liked the Chalmers car from the moment I saw it this year. They were a close second in Acceleration at FStudent.....but 4.01??!! That's really good!

So it doesn't look like GT or RIT are making waves??

Vinh

University of Toronto Formula SAE Racing Team
www.fsae.utoronto.ca (http://www.fsae.utoronto.ca)

[Alan]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by vinHonda:
I saw GT's car in the 'testing day' gallery......
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Where is this testing day gallery at?

Kettering University FSAE

[Mi_Ko]

Maybe they started with warm tyres and perfect wind conditions.

2002/03 University of MARIBOR - Team Member

[dB]

Okay, again I'm sketchy with the results, but guess what - Georgia Tech wins overall!

I didnt stay for the results, and this is what I've heard off a mate - not all of the results have been announced yet.

Well I'll give you my impression of the day again. Monash were first on the track for the enduro and looked really really quick - then broke a water pump. Wollongong looked consistent, then a water hose came off. RMIT and Swinburne both had problems. I can't remember if GT finished the first enduro, I think they did but not as quick as in the afternoon.

GT and Auburn were driving really hard though, and pushing their cars to the limit. Chalmers never looked a chance in the enduro - the car seemed to misfire and just not be able to carry any speed through the corners.

Queensland uni were quick with the solid rear axle, and Adelaide Uni were consistent in the first run.

In the afternoon, Monash had another spectacular engine fire and didn't finish. Auburn and GT were ripping it up, and wollongong looked alright. Hopefully the official results will be up soon, but until then it was:

1. Georgia Tech
2. Queensland
3. Chalmers (Sweden)

or maybe 2 and 3 were reversed. I don't know, I'm tired!

[imajerk]

I saw the Chalmers car at the Monash Campus. It's a really nice piece, with the students writing their own engine management and data acquisition software. Everything about it is beautiful, and I will be stealing their wheel design http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif Those kids have a very bright future.

[gug]

i think there will be several of Chalmers look-alike wheels next year, we are planning on doing something similar too. i hope they think imatation is a compliment! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

great guys tho. our carbon fibre guy asked them a question and they explained exactly how they made the whole wheel.

Auburn must have finished way up there tho. they were flying through the enduro, and i remember them overtaking GT. speaking of imatation, Auburn's push-button shifter was sweeeeet... http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

i feel sorry for Monash, it sucked seeing them catch on fire twice. especially when they were the fastest car in autocross, and looked to be right up there in enduro. at least they went out with a bang... ive got a good photo of the winged beast with a column of dust behind it being swept up off the track (of course, it could just be a gust of wind that i caught at the correct moment http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif ).

i saw Chalmers in acceleration. they used one gear until just before the end of the run, or possibly only changed gears after the run had finished (wasnt paying too much attention, didnt realise how fast they were!).

- the problem with the world is stupidity. i'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety lables off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

[vinHonda]

Any concrete results yet tho? Pictures anyone?

Vinh

University of Toronto Formula SAE Racing Team
www.fsae.utoronto.ca (http://www.fsae.utoronto.ca)

[Charlie]

Not much time here, but here are more results:

1. GT
2. Chalmers
3. Queensland
4. Wollongong
5. RIT
6. Auburn

Our car was fast, especially in endurance. We are still suprised we finished 2nd to Queensland in the enduro, we thought we had it wrapped up. They ran later and must have slipped under the radar. Congrats to them though. Competition level is high, the points have got to be very close as we were hopeful for a top 3 overall after endurance.

Great comp, more later

-Charlie Ping
Auburn University FSAE (http://eng.auburn.edu/organizations/SAE/AUFSAE)
5th Overall Detroit 2003
? Overall Aussie 2003. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Sam Zimmerman]

The University of Idaho extends it's congrats to all the teams who were able to compete. Maybe after we win in Detroit we will be able to get to FSAE-A next year. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Sam Zimmerman
Vandals Racing (http://www.uidaho.edu/~racing)

[Denny Trimble]

Congrats on the fast endurance Charlie! I can't wait to hear more.

University of Washington Formula SAE ('98, '99, '03, '04)

[gug]

oi! 7th was uni adelaide! just happened to leave that out Charlie???? http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

you had better change your signature... http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Vinh, i have 650mb of pictures from the event (ive got a bit of japanese tourist in me). ill post them up as i sort through them. theyll be in the gallery section of this forum until we get our new website up.

- the problem with the world is stupidity. i'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety lables off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

[This message was edited by gug on December 08, 2003 at 02:03 AM.]

[Daves]

Congratulations to Georgia Tech, Chalmers, Queensland, Wollongong, RIT, Auburn, uni adelaide, and the other three of the top 10!

Chalmers's wheels did not look carbon fiber at all in the photos I have seen. They were just 5-spoke alloy wheels. Have they changed wheels since then?

Chalmers sounds like they know what they are doing with the acceleration event -- just like University of Toronto.

Did Auburn's shifter use electric solenoid, CO2, or something else?

http://www.letu.edu/formula

Formula Photos & Links (http://what3542.5u.com/dave/fsae/formula_photos.html)

[gug]

Chalmer's wheels were carbon fibre rims with aluminium centres (not too sure if they are correct terms for 2 piece wheels, im not a wheel guy). but they were incredibly light, and looked soooo good.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wMjE0OTI3NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wMjE0OTI4NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg


Auburn's shifter was CO2. errr, i know a bit more about it, but not too sure if Auburn want it public. Charlie might tell you more. it sounded great with the ingnition cut.

- the problem with the world is stupidity. i'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety lables off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

[Kiwi FSAE]

so it looks like Wollongong's grip on fsae is ended for now. I'll been looking at everybodies cars (research) and I have too say that Chalmers have one sexy car.

Congrats to all the winners. And we'll see you next year.

[PatClarke]

Ill report more later, but the Aussie event maybe asked more questions than it answered.
Monash Aero was fast until it burnt!
RMIT 450 single was FASTER...Fastest of all by a second in Enduro!
Queensland ran a really tidy, small and FAST car without a diff...and it didnt understeer.
Chalmers car was fast on a long wheelbase, ran trick wheels and RADIAL BF Goodrich tyres!!
Wollongong overheated AGAIN.
Chalmers ran 4.02 in acceleration without changing gear! Started in second and revved it to 15,000rpm.
BUT, West Australia's car was absolutely magnificent!! won design going away along with a special award for design innovation. Look at their site for info on their 'Hubrights' and their magic materials program in their carbon chassis. A hot fuel handling problem slowed them in enduro, but watch out in May. If you thought UOW was good last year, wait til you see the UW car.
You have been warned by Pat D'Rat

PS, Congratulations to Gatech for a job well done in a very high class and closely contended competition.
More when I have time
PDR

Rudeness is a weak mans imitation of strength

[V2 - Italy]

Congratulations to all the Uni that took part in the 2004 last competition.

I'm waiting for the official results, and as many pics as possible.

Daniele

Firenze Race Team V2
http://www.firenzerace.too.it
DUCATI POWER at the UniversitÃ* di Firenze

[vinHonda]

Gug, the pics are fantastic!

Great job to all! I had a feeling GT would win..... they said last year, they wanted to focus on Pontiac and Australia.....seeing as they dominated FStudent.

Chalmers ran a nice 4.3 in the UK for acceleration....4.02 is very good. What were the temps like at Tailem?

Man....We really wish we coulda made it down there....considering it's exam time here and 10 degrees below zero!

.....the cold just means we're stuck inside....building a car!

On another note, the SAE Board of Directors consisting of Prez Jack E. Thompson, S.M. Shahed, Ray Morris, incoming prez Duane Tiede etc. flew myself and my technical director down to New Mexico for a few days to discuss Student Competitions. The response was promising as the Board is very aware of the concerns of the students and are constantly reviewing the situations concerning FSAE and all the other SAE Student Design competitions.

Once again, congrats to everyone who competed!

Vinh

University of Toronto Formula SAE Racing Team
www.fsae.utoronto.ca (http://www.fsae.utoronto.ca)

[Ben Beacock]

Anyone know what happened to newcastle? Did they run at all?

Ben Beacock
Co-Manager
2004 Gryphon Racing - University of Guelph (http://www.soe.uoguelph.ca/uogracing)

[Big Bird]

Hi Ben,

No, sorry to say that Newcastle didn't make it out there. Spoke to Dougy a bit and he was pretty disappointed. By the sounds of what he was saying, the 2004 team has abandoned the 4WD concept and are going more conventional. I'm sure some of their crew will be on the forums soon to give the full story.

Cheers, and congrats to all who competed - a very high class competition. Roll on 2004!

Geoff Pearson
RMIT FSAE 2003

Design it. Build it. Drive it into a tree.

[Michael Jones]

Official results are on the main SAE site.

http://www.sae.org/students/fsaeau-2003win.htm

Congrats to GT and all others. Love those carbon rims at Chalmers. Very juicy. And look forward to Wollongong and UWA showing up in Detroit...However good they are right this moment, I'm sure with a few more months of testing and refinement, the Aussies will once again be teams to pay attention to...

---
Michael Jones
Coordinator, Student Project Teams, College of Engineering

Cornell Racing
http://fsae.mae.cornell.edu

[andrewd]

i was amazed actually at what could be found at the event, i went for the chicks, but found cars instead, some of exceptional build quality (not mentioning any names; UWA, AUBURN and WOLLONGONG) and others that shocked me.

i believe preparation is the key. i believe some cars were over looked, or could it be restated: "ideas not pointed out"

nevertheless, it was about learning, not neccessarily competing. i look forward to the upcoming events in the us, and im sure both australian teams will show them how its done

YOU HAVE BEEN INFORMED

------------------------------

you came, you saw, but I kicked your ass

[DoItDoug]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kiwi FSAE:
so it looks like Wollongong's grip on fsae is ended for now. I'll been looking at everybodies cars (research) and I have too say that Chalmers have one sexy car.

Congrats to all the winners. And we'll see you next year.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't know if I'd say Wollongong has lost it's grip at all! 4th place without finishing endurance is sick...

Doug Temple
'01-'04 VT FSAE
www.vtmotorsports.com (http://www.vtmotorsports.com)

[Big Bird]

UOW did finish Endurance, it is just that they had to use half throttle all the way so their times weren't up to their usual standard. Overheating problems. The car looked remarkably well-sorted all weekend, they are by no means past it.

Stinking hot on Sunday, I think it got up to 35 degrees. Dunno what that is in US degrees, maybe 100??

Cheers

Geoff Pearson
RMIT FSAE 2003

Design it. Build it. Drive it into a tree.

[Max_camber_gain]

Hi all,

I would like to extend my congratulations to all the teams who competed at the competition. It was an extremely exciting competition, from the very first day. But by far, the most excitment came from the Sunday mornings Endurance running. With the first 3 or so cars failing to finish their first enduro, the pressure was then on to complete their second.

At this point, it was amazing to see the cooperation, friendship and willingness to help out other teams shine throughout the pits. I would like to send a big up to the boys from Monash, those who have not been so 'popular' in the past. You have really shown that you are decent guys after all http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif hehe... Congrats on showing the world that wings 'might' continue to feature in FSAE over the years to come. Although a single cylinder, winged car might just beat everything! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_razz.gif

I have to say, that the best presented car on the day, was UWA. Hands down. great job fellas. I hope you can get that engine tuned better for the US... but those flames were really spectacular!

Hopefully wollongong can get some of the heat from their engine to their tyres...

Lastly, thanks to the international teams for coming over here and kicking ass! It shows the importance of a car on the road early!

CHeers all

the camber gain guy http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_cool.gif

[Max_camber_gain]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Big Bird:
Cheers

Geoff Pearson
RMIT FSAE 2003

Design it. Build it. Drive it into a tree.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Shouldnt that be,
Design it. Build it. Drive it into a CURB. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif hehehe

[Scott Wordley]

Be warned, a big rant coming up.

Wow... I can't believe its all over, what an amazing competition.

Firstly congrats to the GT boys, a great bunch of guys and a wickedly fast car. Deserving winners. I want some of those radio head sets please hook me up with that guy from your school.

The Swedes, surely the prettiest car FSAE has seen to date, and it works really well. Fastest in Acceleration as I predicted weeks ago in these forums. Without a doubt these guys had THE best Formula SAE engine I have ever seen. 16,000RPM, something like 86hp and only 3.3L used in enduro(RMIT's single used about 3.1L, I think). Klaus you may be the fastest man in the world but I still want to see you cut a 3 second pass. It was a pleasure to hang out with the boys in Melbourne before comp and fantastic to see them bring home second place. Wish you could all be back next year, we'll miss your good humour, the gluog(spelling?), the aroma of snus and the cries of "Drool tel veter!". Expect several Aussie visitors soon...

Queensland what a stunning finish. I overheard Pat say to one of your team "Last year your car was an 'also ran', this year you have arrived". He couldn't be more right. Like us you've gone in a different design direction (locked diff) and you've made it work, in the face of some harsh criticism. Congratulations, we need to talk regarding potential travel to the US or the UK for Formula Student. Cheers for the free beer smiley stamps at the after party too, I'm still recovering.

For those who weren't in attendance let me just inform you that UWA have once again upped the ante in the design event. As we've discussed earlier on these boards they've taken a lot of inspiration from various sources and put together a landmark car. Their 'Hubrights' and the monocoque which uses a unique (and soon to be patented) rapid low temp curing process were stand outs to my mind.
We thought the car could have been slightly more sorted out on track but they have plenty of time for that now. You boys need to catch up with me soon so we can continue our discussion about wings for the US... it would be a shame to let all that space under the nose go to waste. PS Flav and crew... hope you enjoyed the after party http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

The Gong. The amount of pressure on you guys was daunting, I didn't envy you for one moment. Backing up your performance in the states was always going to be a big ask but you brought a great car that was surely capable of winning on its day. To Fergus and Eddie specially, you guys did it tough this year and should be proud of yourselves and your team. Those first years (big hello to girlingong) will be invaluable given a few more years. So a warning to US competitiors, I wouldn't write this team off yet.

Newcastle and the 4WD. I think I speak for everyone there when I say it was sad not to see that beast move. A gutsy effort none the less and a learning experience... however tough.

Adelaide 3rd in enduro. Illustrating the point once again about being solid, consistent, clean and relaible. I think you shocked more than a few people, myself included. Keep us in the loop about that possible test session.

Brunswick. What the hell do I have to do to win presentation? That was my third try and what do you know another second place. Arrrrggghh!!!

Auburn. Great car and some of the most entertaining driving I've ever seen. Your battle with GT in enduro was spectacular. Hope to see you guys back here next year.

RMIT.
This amazing car was to my mind, the revelation of the competition and has the potential to turn FSAE on its head. 450cc. Single cylinder. 190ish kg. 2nd in Autocross by 0.2 sec. Fastest lap (laps?) in enduro, by a significant margin against serious competition. The first team to demonstrate that a small capacity single can work and work well in this comp. Did I mention it was 190kg? It could be much lighter. The mitigating circumstances:
Yes times did get faster during the day for the enduro and RMIT ran last (out of order) with a clear track.
Yes, Mark Hester you did do most of the development testing and you are a freak driver as much as 10(?) seconds quicker than Geoff(waiting to see official times). It remains to be seen if mere mortals given a reasonable amount of testing can go as quick as Rotor. I think they can. Cant wait to see the next car.

Swinburne. After seeing your car at Calder (with soft springs) lifting inside rears on corner entry before !BANG! lifting inside fronts on corner exit we thought, of course those short narrow cars just don't work. The next time we tested with you, you were quicker than us by a second and demoralised our team for a week, until were sorted our spring problem and got our car turning in again. To Steve and crew, great car and great effort in design, its been a pleasure testing with you all and we look forward to seeing you at Calder next year (or in the next week or so?). Let us know if your going, we owe you a BBQ.

As for us (Monash), we came away with mixed feelings. We hope we proved that wings can work given the right car and the right track. The win in Autocross helped to relieve the pain of failing enduro twice with cooling problems, still trying to figure out what went wrong there. All we wanted to do was finish everything, and if we had we would have gone high in the final placings. Not to be.

As always this comp has taught us a lot and we are currently re-evaluating our plans for 2004 including the 4WD car which we have designed and the possibility of travel to an O/S comp.

Thanks to everyone who made it such a great comp and an enjoyable year. I hope I can hang around in FSAE for a bit longer... its the best.

Scott


PS: I have heaps of photos and video which I'll post asap.

PPS: If any of the international teams are coming back through melbourne on the way home we can coordinate the partying and provide expereinced tour guides. Call me on 0414852369.

Regards,

Scott Wordley

http://www-personal.monash.edu.au/~fsae

[Disco]

Firstly, great post scotty. I think everybody appreciates your kind words.
One thing I will add, I think it was the most friendly competition I've every seen. The amount of time I had to run up and down the pits to borrow something off another team was unbelievable.
Particularly Scotty, Al and the team at Monash, as well as Fergus and Eddie (you saved us with our restrictor hassles)
Cheers Guys

[Big Bird]

Thanks for the kind words Scott, we were sort of wondering if anyone actually noticed what Mr. Hester had done in that car. We sort of expected to do reasonably well, maybe within a second or two of the likes of UOW, but to see Mark knocking off those times at the end of the day almost had me in tears.

Yep, it is a bit of a porker, but our goal for this year was just to get it under 200kg. We want the thing to last for a while as we have a whole heap of testing to do as well as sponsor and supporter drive days and stuff. Never wanted a car that lasts only for race weekend.

As for my own rather lowly driving skills, I am no Hester but the 10 second (??) difference may be a little misleading. The officials tried to black flag us at the changover as the overflow had come off the oil tank again. If there were any signs of leakage or smoke then we were over for the weekend. There was no way I was going to risk a DNF for the sake of my own pride. I'll wear that one. And get Disco to show you what I did to my elbow in the second lap, might explain some more.

The car has a heap of potential. We designed it to rail through slaloms flat out as we felt that was the best way to make time on an FSAE track. I don't think many people understood what we were trying to achieve. Hopefully the results will open some minds a little.

On a similar note, you guys showed everyone that there is merit in the wing thing, well done. A true shame that Sunday didn't fulfil the promise that you were showing. I hope that next year you find design judges who want to ask some questions as to what those big wings actually do, rather than just read out questions from a standard form list.....

Looking forward to doing it all again next year!

Geoff Pearson
RMIT FSAE 2003

Design it. Build it. Drive it into a tree.

[Driver_chick]

Thanks Scotty... for the words of support and encouragement. SAE isn't just a program or a thing you rock up and do every now and again... Its a way of life and after being at the comp this first time (Even though most of my time was spent playing footy between cooking and cleaning for the UOW guys...) I have come to see EXACTLLY why it is that you blokes put sooooo much heart and soul into this event. It is more than something to go on your resume and just being there this year was enough to motivate me for the next 359 days to pull my finger out and do something more with it...

Thanks again Scotty and congrats to all you who put your blood sweat and tears (And lack of grades!) into making that competition worth my failing grade in maths! Even though it is worth a WHOLE lot more than that...

Congrats to all teams and especially GT... You got us back... See ya in Detroit...
Luv K
xxx
ooo

PS... What are we meant to think about when we wake up in the morning now??? hehehe...

[Disco]

Unfortunatley I'm still thinking about the bloody car!

[Driver_chick]

Yeah, I'm thinking the same... I failed maths this past semester, but it is a blessing in disguise now cos we can rock up to where our car is and help out till next year in prep for detroit in between tutorials...

As for other members of an un-named team, I heard that someone was doing some sleep talking the night after competiton... Screaming something about "We have to get it done for the competition! The ignition cut and traction control aren't ready! We won't be able to compete!!!" Poor guy got a bit hyseterical and had to be woken up and reasurred that he could get at least one night's decent sleep without having to worry...

Ya would have thought he would have simply passed out though with the amount of alcohol he consummed though...

How good was the comp though, eh???

[Denny Trimble]

I've been known to curse out drivetrain team members in my sleep (previous years; this year they're the furthest ahead).

University of Washington Formula SAE ('98, '99, '03, '04)

[Fergus Wilson]

Yes, Wollongong overheated "AGAIN", but Aren't engines meant to run at 149deg???

Seriously, Sergio tested well - faster and better set up than Stumpy. We didn't put it together on the day, which is a bit disappointing. We also didn't stress test our cooling as much as we should have!

Yes, there was a lot of pressure on us this time, but I think most of that came from ourselves. We never thought this would be easy, and congratulations to those teams that did well.

For the teams that we helped out over the weekend, you're welcome. And the teams that helped us out, it was very much appreciated.

And finally, for those still asking about the steering wheel - no, our drivers were not playing Mario Kart while driving....

Cheers!

Fergus Wilson
Project Manager
UOW Racing 2003

fw01@uow.edu.au
www.uow.edu.au/eng/racing/ (http://www.uow.edu.au/eng/racing/)

[andrewd]

i believe what fergus is trying to say is that if wollongong's coolant hose hadnt come loose, they would have most likely mopped the floor with many of you

[Dave Riley]

Hi all,

Only just found myself a computer after the comp...

Thanks for all your kind comments about our car, particularly Pat Clarke - your support is amazing!

Unfortunately we couldn't get the bloody thing started during the driver change - symptom of a lack of testing time. We were very happy with its performance on track - don't look at the Autocross results but our endurance times showed that the thing can be driven. Once we sort it out a bit more, and figure out our racecraft a bit better, we'll go OK I think. We would have lost the event on our fuel economy alone though... flames out the exhaust make a good show though. The car was always meant, ultimately, for Detroit in May, although a better showing in FSAE-A would have been nice.

Congrats to Georgia Tech - you guys showed the professionalism all weekend required to win a competition the standard of which I belive probably hasn't been seen before in FSAE - certainly not in FSAE-A.

And we must thank the SAE for their award of the Carroll Smith Award for Design Innovation - what an honour to win the inaugural prize.

Lastly RMIT - that car is special. We're looking at our engine package again let me assure you.

Cheers
Dave
UWA Motorsport

www.motorsport.uwa.edu.au (http://www.motorsport.uwa.edu.au)

[jT]

hi all,

just a quick thankyou to all the teams that made it down to the comp. What an event, no-one could have dreamed of the events that took place. Even a small willy willy (very small tornado to non-aussies) nearly picked up chalmers for a little ride.

The comp has hit full stride an it seems the teams who chose to do something different out there succeeded, well done.

A quick congrats to queensland to turn around that much in one year is amazing, a force of the future.

Thanks everyone for making it such an open learning, friendly environment. Everyone wants to see this comp grow, thanks for that fantastic attitude.

Just a quick apology as well, our tuning sucked and it was partially my fault I trusted industry experience too much ( a definate tip for new comers, the old guy aint always right. )Although cant wait to see the flaming banana photos. Hopefully get it sorted for the US.

Well done guys.

jT

[Charlie]

Sorry about stopping at our 6th finishing spot, that's all I knew at the time. In fact I still don't know any more.

We just arrived home, very tired and with lots to say about the comp. For now, thanks to everyone involved, we had a great time. Thanks for the compliments as well. I can't lie, we are a bit dissapointed with 6th, but the teams above us earned it. I felt like we were the most prepared team there, first in the pit area, many trips to the practice area to tune, one of the first in line for every event. Not a single failure of any kind the whole week. Car never got above 100 C in either endurance event. We had a fast car, setting the fastest time in the 1st enduro and 2nd fastest in the second (behind RMIT). Just goes to show you it takes a whole package to win an event like this. We learned a lot and are working on our weeknesses for Detroit.

I was impressed by a lot of cars, but for now I'll leave it at that.

-Charlie Ping
Auburn University FSAE (http://eng.auburn.edu/organizations/SAE/AUFSAE)
5th Overall Detroit 2003
? Overall Aussie 2003. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Charlie]

Official results are here.

http://www.sae-a.com.au/fsae/downloads/2003_Competition_Results.xls

-Charlie Ping
Auburn University FSAE (http://eng.auburn.edu/organizations/SAE/AUFSAE)
5th Overall Detroit 2003
? Overall Aussie 2003. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[RaID]

have to congratulate Georgia Tech for an excellent
performance at the competition, hope to see you guys next year.
An extra fact of which i learned today that you guys made an engine change between Enduro events, and finished the 2nd enduro with out testing the new setup pretty much shows the excellent organisation of your team well done.

Well done all the other teams for a very exciting and interesting competition

"Pain is an illusion"
TOOL

[Denny Trimble]

The sae.org story is here. (http://www.sae.org/students/fsaeau-2003win.htm)

University of Washington Formula SAE ('98, '99, '03, '04)

[Frank]

What a weekend!!

We had an absolute hell of a time on Saturday with a gearbox that gave up the ghost really quickly (gas shifter and too short a recovery time in ignition cut being the suspects)

We changed the engine Sat night and won the enduro points (great drive George and Mark)

Thanks again to Newcastle for lending us a solenoid and QUT and TICUNA for sorting us with a garage to change the engine Saturday night.

That was an excellent comp in every aspect ( except maybe the dodgy flag marshals ).

Congrats to all that participated.!!!!

Frank

3rd Overall Formula SAE-A http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
(1st Aussie)

www.uq.edu.au/fsae (http://www.uq.edu.au/fsae)
http://mechcam2.mech.uq.edu.au

[Charlie]

Some random thoughts:

I think I speak for our entire team when I say we had a great time in Australia. Everyone we met was very hospitable and we definitely leave with a very high opinion of you all.

On the Aussie competition:
Despite warnings, I was still suprised at the number of fast cars. The level of excellence is very high. Although I would still give the ultimate performance edge to the US teams (the 3 fastest endurance times were the 3 US teams), there are more excellent Aussie teams than US teams in my opinion. If all the cars competed, I would expect that there would be more Aussie teams in the top 20 than any others. Given the age of these teams, that is amazing and you all definitely earned our respect.

One reason that it is more difficult to place well in this competition is the fact that there are 2 endurance events. This gives the fast cars a better chance at finishing where they deserve to. They also get a shot at improving thier car for the 2nd enduro after seeing what thier weaknesses are. Imagine if in Detroit UW, Ohio State, UTA, UMC (who spun) etc got another shot at endurance. The top 5 would probably have changed. For all that we've worked for all year I think this is a good thing. (For those not at the comp, GT, UOW, RMIT, and more failed the first enduro and only 7 teams finished it).

The margin of the top 10 was insanely close. We finished 6th, 30 pts out of the top 3, and only about 100 away from GT.

GT deserved the win, after a demanding engine swap between endurance events, they earned it with the fastest endurance time overall. They pushed the car to the limit and passed the checkered boiling over, but they had just enough to get through and I am proud to see them bring the trophy to the US (don't forget we passed you guys though, and you'll never live it down. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif )

Monash was quick, and had an excellent design. The car was impressive, I only wish they could have clocked more endurance laps to see how those big wings stacked up. After watching UTA and Monash, I am beginning to think wings are bad for a cars digestive system. Once they figure out how to keep the cars from urping fluid we all better watch out. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

RMIT, great car, there will definitely be more singles in FSAE soon. Looking at the times, it looks like RMIT either had an ace driver or some of the others need more seat time. Either way, the car looked awesome and surprised nearly everyone with it's capabilites. Hell, fastest endurance lap in this company is a huge achievement.

Got a chance to meet several UOW guys, and they are a class act. Very well designed car, and very consistant in the dynamic events until endurance. Not sure if they were slower because they were trying to save the cooling system or not, but the car will be a force to reckon with in Detroit for sure.

Chalmers was very impressive, with a very unique design that really performed. And the team members were fantastic guys and great representatives from Europe.

So many good cars, not enough time to talk about them all. UWA, RIT of course, Queensland, Adelaide, Swinburne, are all world-class teams, and I'm sure I missed some.

The track was very fast, and unlike Detroit the auto-x was the same track as endurance (reversed). The area was very dusty and that made auto-x very very slippery. Endurance kept the track fairly clean of dust. The Auto-x conditions, IMO, favored narrow track-width cars because the low lateral grip levels made it a good thing to turn as little as possible. I blew my auto-x runs and spun twice, netting a 56s time with my spin. That event really shot down our chances to win the event.


Anyway, those are my long-winded thoughts, like I said we come back to the states pleased with the event, hoping we at least proved we had a fast car in the end, and wondering what direction FSAE will take from here-- Big wings, small singles, no more diffs, or what? http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

-Charlie Ping
Auburn University FSAE (http://eng.auburn.edu/organizations/SAE/AUFSAE)

[This message was edited by Charlie on December 11, 2003 at 01:11 AM.]

[Dave Riley]

For anyone interested, all the times clocked on the weekend are at www.racetime.com.au (http://www.racetime.com.au).
Sorry if this is posted elsewhere...

Cheers
Dave

www.motorsport.uwa.edu.au (http://www.motorsport.uwa.edu.au)

[All Wheeler]

Hey Geoff, congrats on your teams performance, and thanks for the use of your mini make-shift workshop. It is true that the all wheel drive will not be a feature of next years vehicle for Newcastle. However, it is encouraging that the all wheel drive concept will continue to be developed until it is at a point where a team in the future can concievably get it on the track doing what they want it to. Next years team already has more members than this years team, and there are two carry over members. They already have a concept system design, and hope to begin construction early in the new year. It looks as though they will continue to run the CBR 600 F4i to save money (although not my choice of engine), and see how much they can get out of it. They will still be using the 10in Al rims and fully adjustable Bilstein shocks. Wilwood brakes still look like a satisfactory option with the micro cast iron rotors. Heaps of the systems on the vehicle will be the same and alot of tools were purchased this year, so they should have alot more people, time, and money than we did.

LOOK OUT EVERYONE, BECAUSE NEWCASTLE LOOKS SHARP FOR 2004. I'm already talking them up- They're gunna kill me.
Doug :

[me]

Newcastle will a force next year - the lessons learnt this year should be enough to make them serious contenders... http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[me]

oh, just found some more pics - newcastles car just looks good (technically ambitious - they'll be good next year...).

but i just noticed somthing else. Why has chalmers got a funny round thing on the end of their muffler? Noise thing? or performance? Will be sending pic off to my engine boys asap!! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Brent Howard]

I think it's a resonance chamber on the exhaust. I think it's there for noise, as they didn't have it in the FS pics, but it might change the way that the waves are reflected, changing the performance.

Brent

www.ucalgary.ca/fsae (http://www.ucalgary.ca/fsae)

[andrewd]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by me:
oh, just found some more pics - newcastles car just looks good (technically ambitious - they'll be good next year...).

but i just noticed somthing else. Why has chalmers got a funny round thing on the end of their muffler? Noise thing? or performance? Will be sending pic off to my engine boys asap!! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

that would be WOLLONGONGS expandomax

reduced their noise from 114db to under 109db!!! so they could compete

and to brent; all pulse tuning effects can be assumed they finish at the beginning of the muffler... it was purely there for noise reasons

[Brent Howard]

Thanks dboi. I wasn't sure about the wave tuning thing. If that was before the muffler though I would expect to see some effect.

Brent

www.ucalgary.ca/fsae (http://www.ucalgary.ca/fsae)

[Andreas]

Hello!

Thank's everbody for the compliments about our swedish car. Music in our ears..

Yes, the extra muffler is wollongongs special they kindly borrowed us. Thank's! The noise may seem to be a foolish thing to fail but we passed in england with the same muffler so we thought it would in the oz too. Must be the southern hemissphere thing...

About the wheel copying thing, nobody would be more happy than me if somebody would, that's the real approval of a design. The whole fsae thing is about learning and i can't see the reason why some teams are secret about their design. Because, the year after you will develop your design further and the copy of the old design will be just an old copy. Share information and try new stuff, that's how we'll all become great engineers.

Andreas

Beanie University of Technology

[andrewd]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Andreas:
Hello!

Thank's everbody for the compliments about our swedish car. Music in our ears..

Yes, the extra muffler is wollongongs special they kindly borrowed us. Thank's! The noise may seem to be a foolish thing to fail but we passed in england with the same muffler so we thought it would in the oz too. Must be the southern hemissphere thing...

About the wheel copying thing, nobody would be more happy than me if somebody would, that's the real approval of a design. The whole fsae thing is about learning and i can't see the reason why some teams are secret about their design. Because, the year after you will develop your design further and the copy of the old design will be just an old copy. Share information and try new stuff, that's how we'll all become great engineers.

Andreas

Beanie University of Technology<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

you know i was just thinking the same thing http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif (sharing copying etc)

that muff problem of yours might be cause of altitude, it is also majorly affected by TEMPERATURE (oh its hot in here), and when it gets sticky i.e. humidity can cause all kinds of 'oh shit' here we go again type symptoms

did you guys notice a change in 'tune' to your engine with it on? i found it makes it deeper like a 1000cc suzuki http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

ramble ramble ramble ramble

merry christmas all

[vinHonda]

Is Beanie University of Technology the same thing as Chalmers?.....

Because UToronto, or Toronto Uni, University of Toronto, UofT.....usually all mean the same thing, and people tend to get it.

Vinh

University of Toronto Formula SAE Racing Team
www.fsae.utoronto.ca (http://www.fsae.utoronto.ca)

[Charlie]

As far as mufflers go, a freshly packed one makes a big difference. It can save you around 5 db.

-Team 109.7 http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

-Charlie Ping

I just need enough to tide me over until I need more.

[Andreas]

109,7, thats us in UK...
Funny thing, we repacked it for aus but something must gone wrong.

Beanie is the VERY unofficial name of chalmers, if you have seen team picture of our team in aus you'll understand.

Andreas

Beanie University of Technology

[andrewd]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Charlie:
As far as mufflers go, a freshly packed one makes a big difference. It can save you around 5 db.

-Team 109.7 http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

-Charlie Ping

I just need enough to tide me over until I need more.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

ahaha sames almost - 109.8 http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif