In this four-part series we'll take a look at a unique racing class that's just been launched in Australia. It's something out of the ordinary in that the cars are scratch-built, and they compete against each other in both on and off track events
In this first instalment, we'll outline the competition and the teams involved. In Part Two we'll look at the cars that competed in last year's event and how they stacked up in the design competition. In Part Three we join a member of the University of New South Wales team for a full report of all the action. And finally, we'll take an in-depth look at the winning car to see just how a scratch-built racecar is put together.
The Concept
On the 9th and 10th of December last year, Formula SAE made its debut in Australia. The class is open to teams made up of engineering students from participating universities. In the US, the American Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) launched the event in 1986. The Society had long heard complaints from industry that engineering graduates, although being well-trained in theoretical subjects, generally lacked practical experience and a good feel for what it takes to see a project through from start to finish. An equivalent category, Formula Student, started in the UK in 1998 and the concept was introduced into Australia by the Society of Automotive Engineers, Australasia (SAE-A) in 1999. The inaugural Australasian competition was held in December, 2000, at Ford's You Yangs proving ground near Geelong.
The Competition
The object of Formula SAE is for each of the participating teams to design, build and compete in an open-wheeled racing car with an engine capacity of up to 600cc. Each university team is treated as a small firm which has been called on by a larger racing car manufacturing company (in this case the SAE) to tender a prototype racing car. The design that wins the tender is to be used, hypothetically, as the prototype for a production run of 1,000 units per year. The car is to be designed for the "amateur autocross driver". (To readers familiar with Australian club racing, the vehicles resemble small, "Formula Libre" type hillclimb cars.)
The cars are firstly judged in "static" events where the soundness of their design is evaluated. If the car passes scrutineering and meets the minimum safety requirements, it is then eligible to compete in the "dynamic" events where its on-track performance is evaluated. Each team is awarded a final score out of a possible 1,000 points. The cars race against the clock and do not actually run head to head on the track. This doesn't detract from the atmosphere at the event: each team's pride is on the line and there is as much effort and emotion put into Formula SAE by the entry-level engineers and drivers as in any other category of motorsport.
Static Events
In the first event, each of the "tendering firms" must make a sales presentation to the "manufacturer". Each team has ten minutes to 'sell' their car after which there is a five-minute question and answer period. Three judges grade each team on their presentation, paying particular to how they handle the Q&A session.
Each team prepares an accurate engineering cost estimate which details all costs involved in producing 1,000 units per year. The winner is the car with the best combination of the lowest corrected (by the judges!) cost and most comprehensive report. Since the car is to be built for the weekend racer, any car costing more than A$60,000 receives heavy penalties.
This is where the engineering skill of the teams really shows. Each team submits a pre-event design summary. Judges then physically inspect, tyre-kick and sit in their respective vehicles while questioning team members about particular aspects of the design and how it is described in the design summary. It is extremely important that each team member has a good overall understanding of how each part of the car was made, how it works and that they don't contradict what other team members have said!
On completion of the static events - but before any car is allowed on the track - each must pass some basic safety checks. First is the "tilt table" test. The car is placed on a table which is first inclined to an angle of 45 degrees to check that no fluids leak from the vehicle. The angle is then increased to 57 degrees which simulates a cornering load of 1.5g. The two upper wheels must remain on the table for the car to pass.
Each car must then pass a noise test. If the engine's noise level at three-quarters of the maximum engine speed exceeds 113dB(A), the team needs to quieten the car before it may take any further part in the competition.
Finally, the car is accelerated over a short distance before the driver stands on the brakes. All four wheels must lock for the car to pass the test.
Dynamic Events
The skidpan event is designed to test the cornering ability of each car. The car is driven twice in a clockwise circle and then doubles back for two laps of an anti-clockwise circle. The best time for one lap in each direction is recorded.
In this, the most straight-forward event (no pun intended), the cars are timed over a standing 100 yards.
The autocross course consists of 1.1km of short straights separated by slaloms, hairpins and a combination of fast and slow chicanes. The autocross event is an excellent test of each car's high and low speed handling, braking and acceleration as well as the driver's ability to learn a track quickly.
The endurance event is held on the autocross track. One driver must complete 10 laps of the track before pitting for a driver change. During the driver change, the scrutineers have a quick look at the car to check that it's safe to return to the track for the second driver's 10 laps.
The fuel economy event is incorporated into the Endurance run. At the end of each endurance heat, the amount of fuel that the car has consumed is measured. The most miserly car wins this event.
The Teams
The competition was launched in November last year and six Australian universities managed to field cars for the inaugural Australasian event.
Five of the six teams were from Victoria, the heartland of Australia's automotive industry. Four were from Melbourne itself: the University of Melbourne, Monash University, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and Swinburne University of Technology. Deakin University's main campus is in Geelong. Only one interstate team dared to challenge the Victorians on their home turf: The University of New South Wales (UNSW) from Sydney, a team of which the author was a part! To ensure that adequate manufacturing resources were available to build the cars, most university teams took advantage of partnerships with TAFE colleges. Melbourne teamed with their local Kangan Batman TAFE and Deakin with the Gordon Institute of TAFE. UNSW paired with Sydney's South-West Institute of Technology. Swiburne Uni is affiliated with the Swinburne TAFE.
Three US teams made the long journey south and while they competed in all the events, their results were not counted in the final pointscore. (Had it been, they would have murdered us!) This allowed the Australian teams to gain an idea of what they should hope to achieve with their future designs while still being able to compete against each other on a "level playing field". The Rochester Institute of Technology's team (RIT) consists of members from 11 US states. The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) includes not only engineers but students from any discipline who wish to gain experience in a competition such as Formula SAE. The North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCA&T) also fielded a team which is keen to return for the Australian competition next year, if their budget permits.
The competition was sponsored jointly by Ford, Holden and Toyota. Last year's event was held at the Ford proving ground, this year's is planned for Holden's (Lang Lang) as part of the co-operative sponsorship effort between the three manufacturers.
Next week things get more intimate as we check out the technology behind each car that participated in Australia's inaugural running of Formula SAE.
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