WAR EAGLE MOTORSPORTS
FORMULA SAE TEAM
Race Report
Formula SAE, 18-22 May 2005, Pontiac, Michigan
The Auburn University Formula SAE team suffered all the bumps and shocks of a rebuilding year, placing 47th overall (entries limited to 140) in the Formula SAE Competition (the “World Series of Intercollegiate Engineering”) near Detroit. What was building towards a highly creditable finish was dashed when the car would not start after driver change during the Endurance Race, automatically goose-egging 40% of the available points (a bad sensor in the engine management system is the probable cause, but on-event repairs are not allowed in Formula SAE). Nevertheless, the team came home with a thorough education in life on the competitive razor’s edge and bright prospects for 2006.
Almost every major North American engineering college fields a Formula SAE Team. The field is capped at 140, and entries this year sold out within a fantastic 73 minutes. The 2005 Competition included entries from 37 U.S. States, as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and Venezuela. Each college starts every year from a blank sheet of paper to design and build a single-seat, open-wheel road racing car, the best ones getting into the low 400’s of pounds (without driver, ready to race but unfueled). The Teams are subject only to a 610 cc displacement limit, a 20 mm diameter intake restrictor, and absolute adherence to the letter and spirit of a thick set of safety rules. The goal of the Competition is to design and build a prototype for the weekend autocross enthusiast, and so the Teams must demonstrate their prototype cost and manufacturability, and sell their design on its merits, before proving their machine’s abilities on the racetrack. Designs are judged by a who’s who of race engineering professionals, with strong support from top engineers at Ford, GM, and DaimlerChrysler. FSAE has been running since 1981. Auburn has competed since 1996, placing 3rd in 2004 and 5th in 2003. Team members tend to be mechanical engineers, though a spectrum of other engineering disciplines are also represented. Team alumni are widely sought after, with the automotive industry working hard to retain first dibs.
Often-champion Cornell returned to first place in 2005, leading comfortably over Western Australia, Wisconsin, Waterloo, and Washington. The top ten were rounded out by Penn State (with a 380 pound car), North Carolina State, Saginaw Valley State University, Missouri-Rolla, and Ryerson. Five of last year’s top ten managed to return to that status.
Auburn’s old guard has finally graduated, leaving Captain Matt Zorn (building his 6th FSAE car) as the sole link to the past, leading a team of eager learners. Group Leaders on the team include: Joel Baldridge (Composites); Jeff Cobb (Cooling); Clay Coleman (Electronics); Jason Pennington (Powertrain); Brent Percival (Public Relations); Joseph Piros (Drivetrain); Ben Steele (Frame); Chris Smith (Finance); and Rob Wilmot (Vehicle Dynamics).
Our 05 car is truly innovative. Key features include: new differential technology; extensively researched ergonomics; an engine modified to run with a dry sump; vertical brake cylinders (the only team known to have made this work); and a superior job of packaging masses towards the center of the car (for yaw responsiveness). The build quality is a long step ahead of previous Auburn cars, and the electronics packaging is so good that Clay was offered a summer internship with one of NASCAR’s top teams. But all that refinement took time, more CNC machining support than could be organized, and a much more desperate final-weeks fabrication panic than usual. The car was released for initial full power testing only 7 days before the start of Competition, and that just wasn’t long enough to make it through the inevitable teething problems, find the right tune, and train the drivers.
At least the car got finished. The dry sump engine and Salisbury-style differential were steps off into the unknown (both of these are unique applications of mechanical analysis, design, and fabrication), and a great cloud lifted when these worked as advertised. The team headed north a day early (the gates now open first thing Wednesday morning, instead of at noon as in years past) with a fleet of minivans, old 6797 on her last voyage, and Chris Smith’s mighty ¾-ton crew towing the race trailer. Arriving the night before to get a good sleep before battle, the team managed to find enough details to worry over to stay busy until 3 a.m. No one comes to Formula SAE to sleep.
Technical Inspection (safety) went fine on Wednesday, Rob Wilmot performing the required 5 second egress maneuver in a line-leading 2.7 seconds (thanks to Talley Holman and his motion-capture research). There were a couple of catch points (there always are) – bolt wires and such – but these were easily fixed and rechecked, and we were on track for a busy next day.
Thursday opened with weigh-in (482 pounds) and Design judging. The team learned that teams that have been good in the past are guilty of copying until proven innocent, and that proof of innocence requires a main struggle to get those golden words in edgewise through the Judges questions. Life in the fast lane at Formula SAE. The important thing is not so much to show a magnificent design as it is to show that a magnificent design has followed from well-understood theory and a professional design process. Key on ‘show’. We wound up in a tie for 14th place in Design, out of the semi-finals, but with 100 points out of 150. Western Australia’s innovative arrangement, executed in carbon composite, won Design with the full 150 in a finalists group that included Cornell, RMIT with a carbon tub, small wheels, and a small displacement twin cylinder engine, and Waterloo’s very clean, light, and well-documented effort.
Cost judging was next on the schedule. Cost is covered both in an advance written report, and on-site grilling on report accuracy and production techniques. Points are given for the prototype cost itself (more points for lower cost), report completeness and presentation, and the results of the grilling. A carefully prepared report and well-drilled team pulled out an Auburn best in this event – 82.356 points out of 100 to rank 33rd (Michigan-Dearborn’ minimum cost machine won the event with 94.600).
The final static event was Presentation, featuring a determined effort by Talley Holman, Brent Percival, and Matt Zorn to break new ground in demonstrating the salability and manufacturability of our new design to a mythical production company. The approach shows promise, and should evolve into a high-scoring formula. Final score was 59.820 points out of 75 for 25th place (RMIT from Australia won the event with the full 75).
By now the car was running for the dynamic safety checks: Tilt, Noise, and Brake. Rob Wilmot flew the Tilt machine through the 63º static check. Pierre Gourmelon debuted in the car to demonstrate noise compliance (right at the 110 dB limit), and after a few tries and a little coaching, demonstrated the required ability to lock all four wheels. The combination of Tech, Tilt, Noise, and Brake yields the Safety Sticker, and we were ready to race.
Friday dawned with final car prep before heading off to Acceleration. Jeff Cobb and Jason Pennington took two runs each, besting at 4.235 seconds for 75 meters (that’s roughly 0 to 60 mph in 3.21 s, or 0.85 g’s of acceleration, if you prefer), which was good enough for 64.598 points out of 75 and 5th place. Winner Texas A&M, with a car that looked a little unrefined and unfinished, but must have been admirably designed to meet its functional purpose, ran 4.049 s to win the event.
On to the Skid Pad, where Joseph Piros and Ben Steele each took two runs. Both had a bit of trouble staying inside the cones, but there was one good, clean run of 5.526 s for two 17.1 meter diameter loops in one direction and two in the other, with the time averaged to one loop. 5.526 s corresponds to 21.75 mph and 1.13 g’s in steady cornering, and this year was worth 30.639 points (out of 50) and 31st place. Oxford Brookes won the event with great consistency between runs and a best time of 5.178 s (1.26 g’s).
In the afternoon, Autocross saw a more open course than usual, made up of hairpins, sweepers, chicanes, and slaloms over 1 km. Clay Coleman and Rob Wilmot each got two runs. Both spent the first run getting familiar with the course (and the immediate just-off-the-course), before ripping out good second runs. Clay turned in a burner, but just barely tagged the last cone on the course as he skittered across the finish line on the edge of control, picking up a ‘down or out’ cone penalty, and the appreciation of the crowd. Rob finished with a clean run, and between them the best adjusted time was 61.577 s (37.55 mph average on the tight course), good for 83.654 points out of 150 and 29th place. Texas A&M’s top driver brought their very spare car back to win this event in 55.843 s on a clean run.
Saturday brought the final Events: Endurance and Fuel Economy. Endurance is also on a tight 1 km course, though different from Autocross. Endurance runs 11 laps, changes drivers, and runs 11 more. Cars are individually timed, and slower cars are waved into a passing lane if they appear to hold up a car behind. The score (maximum 350 points) is based on the time to complete the entire course without breakdown or being pulled from the course for leaks or other safety infractions. Fuel Economy (maximum 50 points) is measured by the fuel consumed during the entire Endurance run. Cars that do not complete Endurance gets goose eggs for both Endurance and Fuel Economy. Since typically only about 40% of the cars finish Endurance, the race holds the potential for a lot of scrambling in the overall places. At this point, after static events and short dynamic events, Auburn sat 18th overall – 115 points out of the lead but only 38 points out of that magical top-ten finish. The car was good, and the team knew it – Auburn’s best. And two of our better drivers were coming up, so it was with special care that the car was prepared one more time Friday night, and there was a special tingle in the air when we entered the paddock the next morning.
Matt Zorn started the Endurance Race in a grouping seeded for Autocross finish. Matt started with care, as there had been lots of off course and cone penalties in the early starters, but soon found his groove and turned in some very creditable lap times. Very few cones, and the team felt relief as the car came in for driver change. It never came back out. With cleanup driver Matt Heffernan all strapped in, the car refused to start for the second half of the Endurance Race. The driver change time passed, we were unable to start, and so game over.
Cornell finally won the Endurance Race with a 22 km time of 1447.44 s (34 mph average, 65.79 seconds per lap average) – a bit slower than last year, reflecting possibly a slight tightening of the course from last year’s wide-open surprise. 40% of 04’s top ten did not finish the Endurance Race in 05. Fuel economy was won by Michigan–Dearborn, powered by a twin cylinder utility motor and driven by CVT, who used only 0.539 gallons (25.36 mpg) in race-style driving. Among more competitive speedsters, Texas used only 0.860 gal. In their reasonably standard sportbike powertrain (15.90 mpg), and Cornell’s M85 consumption, in a turbocharged engine, was judged equivalent to 0.888 gal. of high test. Auburn rolled back to the paddock, where a faulty wheel speed sensor was identified as the most probably proximate cause (investigation is continuing), and the car started just fine on first crank from power-off. Expressions were expressed, eyes were dried, equipment packed, and the team headed off to Big Bucks for the obligatory post-race briefing.
And the whole team is coming back for 06. Except for Matt Zorn, Captain, veteran of Auburn FSAE 2000 through 2005, who has used up his eligibility and, by the way, graduated. Matt, Auburn FSAE wishes you a fond farewell, smooth seas, following breezes, and best of luck in all your future endeavors. Complete FSAE05 results may be seen at www.sae.org/students/fsaeresu.htm. Pictures from the Competition will soon be available at www.eng.auburn.edu/organizations/SAE/AUFSAE.