Anyone heard of Formula SAE?

[suba]

Yep, ME. Is wsu doing an FSAE car still?

[Apex3]

Yep, ME. Is wsu doing an FSAE car still?

Yea, but as I mentioned earlier they're douche bags(sorry if any of them are your friends ) hopefully I can make myself do it next semester.

[suba]

Its a common problem with groups...of people...with cars. But the good news is your car is designed a bit better than the one that MSU used to have, they used a solid axle in the back. Needless to say it didn't have stellar performance.

[93forestpearl]

Steve, the rules are extremely comprehensive and encompass over 120 pages as of five years ago.


The testing wouldn't really let a 3 wheeler do well. One of the tests us a tilt table that checks how much of an angle it takes for the car to roll. There is a skidpad test. An autoX type test, along with the endurance which is on the same track.


Suspension travel must be at least 2", which is what a lot of teams do.

[Apex3]

Steve, the rules are extremely comprehensive and encompass over 120 pages as of five years ago.


The testing wouldn't really let a 3 wheeler do well. One of the tests us a tilt table that checks how much of an angle it takes for the car to roll. There is a skidpad test. An autoX type test, along with the endurance which is on the same track.


Suspension travel must be at least 2", which is what a lot of teams do.

He's probably thinking more of something like this, at least I was.

[evolutionmovement]

Exactly. A proper 3-wheeler would be more efficient, lighter, much easier to engineer (torsional chassis loads? Complex interactions between the front and rear suspension? Nope.), especially if fwd, and cheaper to build. Would also own on an autocross. 70%+ of the weight would go over the front and you'd want to keep the cg low, of course, and you'd maybe need a wider track than a comparable 4-wheeler, but I guess it's a moot point. Sounds like FSAE is all about polishing incremental improvements to a given system. Not as interesting as I thought. As a concept guy, that would make me feel stifled and frustrated. I'm the kind of guy who would have done something like Chaparral in Can-Am (few rules FTW). Glad I went to design school instead. But that hybrid contest sounds good. I've been thinking up serial hybrid ideas on my long drives to and from work lately and would love to explore that for Tigershark, had I better resources.

[suba]

Do you mean series hybrid? Unrelated to FSAE but I've always wanted to get a justy with the cvt and convert it to electric, maybe with a tiny generator onboard.

[evolutionmovement]

Yeah, brain-hand miscommunication typo—SERIES hybrid with a small Euro diesel as a generator and I can't decide if I would make it awd with 3 hub motors or rwd only as it wouldn't affect ride since the rear suspension design has no unsprung weight. The awd would make it much better for everyday use, but hurt steering communication and I'm not sure how great the vehicle would be capable of being in snow with a single rear wheel riding between the ruts and light weight.

[93forestpearl]

FSAE is more about what kind of funding you can get. Many teams bend the rules, or don't follow them at all, and they are not punished for it. There is supposed to be a $20k limit, and you have to include donated parts, materials, machine time, etc. Teams building carbon fiber monocoques and other exotic stuff are not adhering to the price cap. One team even machined their own 600cc V8. Western Washington, I think.

[Legacy777]

...was on the lathe one day about to crank some parts out when I noticed the tool wasn't square. I looked all over for a wrench or something to loosen the nut and straighten thigns out and couldn't find anything. I walk over the the station next to mine and ask if they've seen a wrench for the lather or a Crescent wrench or something. Nobody says anything for about three minutes and I'm about to say ATF. Finally someone walks over, what what do they say? "What is a Crescent wrench?"

It was all I could do to not bust out laughing in his face. My GF at the time knew what that tool was. Just think, these people are out there right now designing cars, and all sorts of mechanical equipment.

That's too funny! I seriously laughed when I just read that. It's very true though. Out of all the kids I went to school with, there's only a small handful that I would want to work with, because all the others had little common sense, and/or just hadn't done shit.


Penn State did participate in the FSAE car. I never really got involved because I had too much other shit to deal with. I think one year they had a hybrid explorer or something. It's been a while so I could be making that shit up

[93forestpearl]

That's too funny! I seriously laughed when I just read that. It's very true though. Out of all the kids I went to school with, there's only a small handful that I would want to work with, because all the others had little common sense, and/or just hadn't done shit.


Penn State did participate in the FSAE car. I never really got involved because I had too much other shit to deal with. I think one year they had a hybrid explorer or something. It's been a while so I could be making that shit up

Damn. My spelling wasn't with me when I posted that, lol.



I can't dog people for being ignorant and willing to learn though. And that is why projects like these exist. It is the people that think they already know everything, or are not willing to do the research. Same goes for hotrodding and my growing distaste for the culture. A few people want to do things and know why what they are doing does what it does. The rest, like Phil said in a PM a while back, just what to know what part to buy, so they can get it and tell their friends.






I think a lot of entry level engineers realize they know jack shit when they get out there. If they don't, that will ultimately hold them back.

[Legacy777]

That is very true....in both regards to hotrodding and entry level engineers.