Your 2012 UVic Formula SAE Team
The successful closing of the 2011 competition in Fontana, California signalled the beginning of a brand new season for the UVic Formula SAE Race Team. Last season's success was due in large part to the vast experience of our graduating members, and the hard work and dedication from the entire team. Building on the momentum from Formula SAE West, where the team finished 33rd out of 81 teams and 16th in the endurance event, the team is expecting to be very competitive in next year's competition in Michigan during the month of May.
With the experience and knowledge gained from this competition, the team has decided to focus on creating a simple, reliable car with high performance. Our team leads have been challenged to maximize reliability while minimizing system weight. The Engine team has been tasked with getting the most horsepower possible out of our Honda 600 F4i.
Our new prototype, UV12 is expected to see a number of improvements in various areas including driver ergonomics and controls with specifics on shifting, pedal actuation, and steering geometry. Additionally, a new iteration of our custom relay PCB board with integrated MegaSquirt engine management hardware is being designed to control both fuel and ignition.
The upcoming months will see the completion of designs, starting of the fabrication process, and testing and tuning the car and engine. In addition to this, the team will be continuing our community involvement through motorsports, technological, and educational events at UVic and around the city.
As a student led and managed team we look to represent UVic and engineering in the best possible way. If you are interested in learning more about us, please feel free to contact team management here. If you are interested in supporting our team's practical engineering endeavours you can find more information on our sponsorship page. And if you wish to track our team's progress as they work to prepare for Formula SAE Michigan, stay tuned to our News section!
What is UVic Formula SAE
The UVic Formula SAE team is a group of students consisting of Engineers, Business, and Computer Science students from the University of Victoria that come together to design, fabricate and build an open wheel race car for the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Formula SAE colligate design competition every year. With competitions all over the world and with almost every major University manning a team, Formula SAE is one of the World's largest Engineering Colligate competitions, that is proudly supported by Ford, General Motors, Daimler-Chrysler, and many other large corporations.
With a few hundred page rule book, it can be difficult to come up with some original designs, but that is all part of the challenge. With the rules specifying the engine displacement maximum at 610 cc, and power being limited by a restrictor, the field is kept quite fair; however, turbo and super-charged engines are allowed to make things very exciting!
With several design forms and costs reports, the competition starts before the team even arrives, so staying organized is key to competing and can cost teams many points if they are not. The competition consists of both static and dynamic events to measure the overall "best" car at the competition. With the static events consisting of: the design, cost analysis, and marketing competitions, proper preparation and organization is a must to perform well in these events. The car is then tested in four dynamic events that are designed to test all aspects of the car's performance.
- Acceleration: A 75 meter straight course where shifting wins the competition.
- Skid Pad: Performance through a "figure 8" as quickly as possible to test lateral G-forces.
- Autocross: A single, timed lap around a coned course consisting of many tight corners and slaloms to test the overall mobility of the car.
- Endurance: A 22 km race in which drivers switch half way through. Taking place on an autocross type course, this race is pure torture on the car! And for those that survive, a fuel economy test is administered at the end of the race.
