Track speeds

[jjusb]

Hi, does anyone have any idea of the kind of track we will see in 2006? Is it just me, or there seems to be a tendency to make the tracks faster every year?

The 2004 and 2005 tracks weren´t as narrow and close as in competitions before 2003, or in competitions in UK and Australia.

I remember the Cadillac before endurance, he wasn´t going slow. (By the way does anyone have video footage of it?)

[Jeff The Pyro]

i hope they only get faster.

driving slow is boring, and they're already way slower than any real scca autocross course i've seen

[karsten]

ive never been on an us-comp yet. is
it really faster in fase than fs?
whats max/min speed in enduro at the us-comp?


karsten
lionsracing,germany

[Cement Legs]

Wouldnt average speed be a better indicator? Allthough I would be interested in top speed as well. What were the faster lap times? And does anyone know the distance covered per lap?

[Denny Trimble]

64 second laps for the faster teams, 1km per lap, equals 35mph (56kph). Plus or minus 10% http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Brian Smith]

I filmed (vhsc) the cts going around the track. Not sure why though the formula cars are a lot more fun to watch.

[-]

The track layout at Formula Student looks to be a bit slower then what is at Detroit. Perhaps some of the schools who get to drive at both each year could chime in on this (ie. Toronto, RMIT, Dartmouth, Oxford Brookes)

[karsten]

avg speed is a good indicator, but
for drivetrain layout the min/max
speed would be interessting aswell.

any numbers for fsae05?

[ben]

Originally posted by -:
The track layout at Formula Student looks to be a bit slower then what is at Detroit. Perhaps some of the schools who get to drive at both each year could chime in on this (ie. Toronto, RMIT, Dartmouth, Oxford Brookes)

Couldn't come up with avergae speed values off the top of my head but the UK track is much slower and tighter than Detroit was (at least from my recollections of last year).

Ben

[vinHonda]

If I can recall correctly, our data acq picked up top speeds in detroit in 2004 at approx 110km/h. Avg was around 55km/h.

The same year at FStudent, our top speed was 92km/h and avg was around 45km/h.

I drove both endurances. We also finished both. But from what I can remember, Pontiac's surface was BUMPY! Pontiac had ZERO slaloms (former team mates tell me FSAE had some slaloms this year). I was usually in 4th gear and watched Michigan State lift inside wheels through some of the fastest turns I've ever driven an FSAE car.

FStudent is a slow, tight track. Two slaloms, 3 surface changes, and TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT on the concrete section. There is almost even a 1st gear turn. Out on the go kart section, it's smooth and fast, and begs the driver to understeer through all the turns (key to Fstudent enduro drivers: don't push thru the turns...tonnes of time wasted. Since the kart track is so smooth and has a clear line to take..it tempts drivers to go in hot...too hot).

My 2 cents.

[JPaolicchi]

Here is some measured auto-cross course info for the two years I have helped with the track design:

2004 Detroit Auto-X, length = 0.5 miles, top time = 46.4 secs (38.8 mph), ave time (dry) = 53.4 (33.7 mph)

2005 Detroit Auto-X, length = 0.515 miles, top time = 57 secs (33 mph ave), ave time = 64 (29 mph)

The rules say to expect a 30 to 25 mph average. In general, we will try to make an average team's speed be around 28 mph. Obviously, its impossible to dial in a specific lap time without actually running fsae cars, so there will always be some variation. I here that next year the event will not be at the Silver Dome, so there may be some safety concerns also.

Joe, Auto-X organizer

[jonno]

A while back I heard a rumor that Formula Student was moving to the Rockingham speedway possibly for 2006 (i think i've mentioned this in a post before)..... not sure how the track would be laid out though (if it were there). The IMechE are running a driver training session there in a few days though where teams are advised to bring their own cars.... Killing two birds with 1 stone????

[TomF]

Killing two birds with 1 stone????

just a little off topic, but in Dutch we have a similar expression: hitting two flies in one slap.... LOL

[syoung]

You guys going to have a working car for Rockingham, Jonno? It'll be touch and go for us...

[jonno]

we're on 16 hour days already to get a car in time for the comp, let alone Rockingham. We got badly stiched up with our chassis amongst other things. We'll take what we have though to get it provisionally scruitineered (should have a full rolling chassis and perhaps running under it's own power too)