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FSAE - the best college experience for a student gearhead


Nate1647545505

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hQ5xvVwXO-c

 

One of the best places to learn anything and everything related to automotive engineering. I miss the days of zinging our 600cc on the dyno and collapsing the intake manifolds like a boss. :fuckyeah:

 

Seriously, if you are attending a university, check into their FSAE team. I've met some incredibly talented people that I still talk cars to this day.

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I agree! I was on OSU's team for 1 year, and it was a very good experience. I will say though, that if you get really involved it takes up A LOT of your time. It seemed like more than a few guys had issues keeping their grades up and still contributing, myself included. I remember the first time I drove the car up at Honda, my thighs were bruised from bracing myself against the frame for 5 minutes of lapping cones. Ridiculous g-forces - I probably won't drive a car that handles better ever again.
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Another former FSAE guy, 4 years.... including our 4th place finish at FSAE in MI (2nd US team), 4th place again at Silverstone (top US team), and 4th at VIR.... I had a LOT of job opportunities that came directly from my involvement with FSAE. So if you want to go into the auto industry as an engineer, it is really helpful...

 

Me at Silverstone: (That's an F1 track in England for you noobs)

 

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c318/Juicedh22/FSAE/DSC02959.jpg

 

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c318/Juicedh22/FSAE/DSC02346.jpg

 

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c318/Juicedh22/FSAE/100_2716.jpg

 

BTW, University of Cincinnati was one of hte orginal 4 FSAE teams. As a matter of fact, we still have most cars, a group of us alumni got together and purchased a bunch of hte older cars (and continue to do so) which is a win-win... we get to keep racing at local autox events, and on local carting tracks, and the current teams get the funding to build hte next car....

 

 

BTW for the OSU guys, if you get a chance to see your 2005 car, you will find it has a C-Paw on it (we helped the OSU guys a lot that year at competition, and they honored us by putting on a c-paw. I think we put a block O on our car as well, just for fun.

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Racecar Engineering had a great FSAE article. The amount of variation and downright MacGuyverism is pretty awesome. I also found it interesting how different regions of the world do things differently. For instance, US teams tend to develop aero and use wings more than Euro teams. One team used a De Dion rear axle to cut costs, while another used a 1/2 monocoque design to shave weight. So much cool stuff. I wish there had been a FSAE team when I went to college. I probably wouldn't have left.
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If I recall, osu's car used the rear diff out of an AWD Honda CR-V, the majority of the suspension arms were titanium, many parts/bodywork was formed out of carbon fiber, and the engine guys were able to make ~100hp out of a 600cc engine, pulling air through a dime-sized restrictor.

 

Pretty awesome shit indeed.

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Juiced, are you jockey sized? I took the car around a test track once and said the hell with this.

 

Nope, I am 6'4" we actually sized the car you see pictured for me. If I had not been on the team, the car would have been even shorter....

 

A car's comfort is only as good as you design it. I tried to drive the 2011 car that the team built, and it was horrible. The recline angle was waaaay back, but hte steering wheel was angled to high the other way, making it tough to drive. They didnt design bolsters into the seat, so you slid aroud like crazy. They didnt put anything 'grippy' below the peddle cluster so in high g turns it was hard to keep your feet on teh gas/brake.

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