111 What is Formula SAE ?
Description
This article is from the Motorsport FAQ, by A H Henry bspahh@midge.bath.ac.uk with numerous contributions by others.
111 What is Formula SAE ?
Formula SAE is a collegiate competition organised by the Society of
Automotive Engineers. Seventy-five universities will compete this year.
These are mostly from the US, but there are a handful of Canadian
entries as well as one from Puerto Rica. This year the competition is
jointly sponsored by General Motors, Ford and Chrysler and was held in
Pontiac, MI from May 19th-21st.
Each team must take an engine with a maximum displacement of 600cc
and build a single-seat Formula style car with a 60 inch minimum
wheelbase. Typical cars weigh around 500lbs, although there is no
minimum weight. Some engines are turbocharged, others are supercharged
or run on Methanol. Any supercharging must be downstream of the
mandatory restrictor 20mm for gas and 18mm for methanol.
The cars then are judged on design, cost analysis, a sales
presentation. They also compete in an acceleration run, a skid pad run
where cars reach 1.4 g's, a slalom run, and an `endurance' run over
about 10 miles. The courses are tight and designed to keep the average
speed down to 30-40mph. Speeds on the straights can reach 60-70mph and
the cars consistently corner at over 1 g.
You can get more details from SAE International, 400 Commonwealth
Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001, USA.
Argonne National Laboratories has a FSAE BBS which is also available
on the Internet at newton.dep.anl.gov. Login as bbs. From the menu,
pick # 1 (signon), and type new. It asks for some info about you when
your do you've got own account. Once your logged on at the main menu,
pick # 3 (group), Group menu pick # 3 (discussion), Group discussion
main menu pick # 1 (ALL discussions), pick (researchcomp, student
engineering research competitions), pick # 4 (Formula SAE). If you have
any questions e-mail John Burford (burford@umr.edu).
See section 4.10 for details of the Formula SAE mailing list.
Continue to:
My Books
