That car actually has a long wheelbase compaired to most. This years is going to be 2 inches shorter. It helps alot on the tight autox course.

Thanks ZX-Tex!!

 

Yeah, our car has to get bigger in every dimension this year. I believe we are going to be 3 inches longer and 6 inches wider, but not much taller.

Also as of now we have talked the aero guy into not having any forms of a wing on the car, but he still wants to do a diffuser, so that is good.

 

Short wheel base FTW!

 

SHITTY VIDEO!!!!

YAYYY

Here is a short and crappy video of last yuears car, just listin to the sound...

BTW the muffler on the car was fully created by a guy in the team.


http://s53.photobucket.com/albums/g4...t=MOV00099.flv

 

sounds like a bike

 

uhh yeah?

 

So me and two others spend 3 hours today making this.....

 

Thought id update! We have the chassis mostly together, and are working on the engine.

We just got the intake mani in, its sick! We used some sort of rapid prototypeing procedure, and its made of a composite. It literally weighs a pound! And the body is going to be sick this year, much better than last.

 

I would like to know what that is since I get rapid prototype parts made from time to time. Is it glass-reinforced ABS made by selective laser sintering (SLS), or is it something else? The surface finish looks SLA smooth from the pictures (good for the nozzle/diffuser), but I have not heard of SLA based composite structures.

 

I forget, ill get you the answer next week. Its slightly rough to the touch on the outside, It feels different than most plastics ive touched, so light yet stiff.

 

more pictures... we actually have a rolling car!

 

Sticking with a 4 cylinder, huh? What sprockets are you running? Also looks like you're moving away from inboard shocks/springs?

 

Yeah, what is up with not using inboard shocks? I'm all for the move, but many guys on the team are into the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" attitude.

Looks like we are just a little behind you guys. We caught a snag when some guys were going to outsource the machining of the uprights and they didn't come through on there promise. We are done with quite a few other projects though, and everything is going to just fly on the car here soon.

I'm surprised with all the rules, and both of us using similar plans, how different our two cars are going to look.

 

Typically the driving factors for/against inboard shocks are, in order of importance, space and weight/complexity. They obviously add more parts to design and fab up, and add (albeit minimal) weight, but the big thing is usually just whether there's space for them, particularly by the driver's legs. That doesn't seem to be a concern in the car in the photos, looks like there's plenty of space there, although looks can be deceiving. I'm much more surprised to see a four-cylinder motor in there, really.

Hanging pedals or floor-mounted?

 

This is a whole new chassis for us this year, and im pretty sure the shocks are for complexity's sake.

There is a ton of room with this chassis, its going to be much more confortable than lasts.

Pedals are floor mounted.

The engine is a honda cbr 600rr engine. Sure it weighs more, but the power is too fun

 

What sprockets are you running? The single cylinders have the advantages in weight and packaging, as well as torque- the 4-cylinders get the advantage when you can actually get them wound out, which is often difficult on tight FSAE courses.

Makes sense to stick with outboard shocks for now if it's a new chassis, you've got enough crap to deal with, and they can always be evolved on later. Or not. Or whatever.

 

Yeah we did the same thing on our car with outboard shocks for the same reason. We were a first year team (no one at our university had completed a car before) so we kept it simple wherever we could. The speeds at the FSAE courses are slow enough to where you are not going to have a noticeable penalty on drag. Plus they are easy to get to if you want to make adjustments.

 

Hey, sorry to get back to you late, but it is a nylon based (or reinforced?) plastic that was made using the laser method.

 

We made (well, "we" is loose here- when the car with inboard shocks came to be last year, I'd already graduated, but still a fairly active alum) adjustable rocker arms so that even more adjustability of the suspension was available. It was a really, really sweet design.

 

I cant edit my title anymore =(. Well here are some new badass pics. Just just about ready to run, I was so happy to get it on the ground today! We wrapped the intake in alum plates, kevlar, then carbon fiber. Woo this is gonna be so awesome.





NEW PICS