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Denny Trimble
05-27-2004, 08:23 PM
Here are some of my good memories from the 2004 US event:

-A Real Autocross Track! Well, we didn't reach 80mph in 4th gear like we do here at home, but it was just about as bumpy as what we're used to. This is reality, folks. Take your car to an SCCA event (Nationals!) and you'll see what I mean. I'm slightly bummed my autocross runs got rained out, but hey, that's life in Pontiac in May.

-Finishing Endurance! I was able to let out a breath I'd been holding since last May.

-Meeting all the people I talk with on the forum, and new acquaintances too! Charlie from Auburn, Sam from Idaho, Eddie from Wollongong, Erick and the UTA crew, Matt (I think) from Cornell, Josh and the New Mexico guys (and gal), and more (sorry, the beer's gettin' to me after my delaaaayed flight home).

-Discovering that Wollongong had come up with the same spoke pattern as I had for our wheels... completely independently! We had a pretty good laugh about that one.

-One-on-one with Claude in the design semis, with my entire team hanging on every word, then the hushed "awwwwww" of a golf crowd after a missed putt... but I wasn't the only one to miss it, and it wasn't easy! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

-Hangin' out with the Western Washington guys for the Motec seminar, and learning where they get all that crazy creativity... "let's make every part on the car cooler than anything else that's been done..."

-Seeing the great ideas on every car out there, and watching every team put in an effort to be proud of, from the experienced teams (who ran smoothly or not), to the new ones who spent hours asking smart questions to the top teams.

-Sitting through 14 hours of the Motec seminar on Tuesday alone, asking a complicated question, having Claude say "if we run late, it's his fault", then promptly being hit in the back with a crumpled up piece of paper.

-Having 23 pages of notes from that seminar, with about 2 years' worth of testing and calculations to do, just to cover the big ideas.

-Being congratulated by Jay O'Connell for having "the most impressive design report" http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

-Learning that MoTeC supports Anti-Lag... but Cornell has it already on their custom ECU anyway...

-Oh yeah, and brining home our second 5th-place trophy!

I think Claude Rouelle said something really important at the end of his seminar. To paraphrase, "It's not about how you finished, it's about the process you went through. So remember everything you learned, all the hard work you put in this year, and focus on doing the best you can every day in the future." Or something like that. Because one year of effort for a single event is enough pressure to make anybody's head explode.

Denny Trimble
05-27-2004, 08:23 PM
Here are some of my good memories from the 2004 US event:

-A Real Autocross Track! Well, we didn't reach 80mph in 4th gear like we do here at home, but it was just about as bumpy as what we're used to. This is reality, folks. Take your car to an SCCA event (Nationals!) and you'll see what I mean. I'm slightly bummed my autocross runs got rained out, but hey, that's life in Pontiac in May.

-Finishing Endurance! I was able to let out a breath I'd been holding since last May.

-Meeting all the people I talk with on the forum, and new acquaintances too! Charlie from Auburn, Sam from Idaho, Eddie from Wollongong, Erick and the UTA crew, Matt (I think) from Cornell, Josh and the New Mexico guys (and gal), and more (sorry, the beer's gettin' to me after my delaaaayed flight home).

-Discovering that Wollongong had come up with the same spoke pattern as I had for our wheels... completely independently! We had a pretty good laugh about that one.

-One-on-one with Claude in the design semis, with my entire team hanging on every word, then the hushed "awwwwww" of a golf crowd after a missed putt... but I wasn't the only one to miss it, and it wasn't easy! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

-Hangin' out with the Western Washington guys for the Motec seminar, and learning where they get all that crazy creativity... "let's make every part on the car cooler than anything else that's been done..."

-Seeing the great ideas on every car out there, and watching every team put in an effort to be proud of, from the experienced teams (who ran smoothly or not), to the new ones who spent hours asking smart questions to the top teams.

-Sitting through 14 hours of the Motec seminar on Tuesday alone, asking a complicated question, having Claude say "if we run late, it's his fault", then promptly being hit in the back with a crumpled up piece of paper.

-Having 23 pages of notes from that seminar, with about 2 years' worth of testing and calculations to do, just to cover the big ideas.

-Being congratulated by Jay O'Connell for having "the most impressive design report" http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

-Learning that MoTeC supports Anti-Lag... but Cornell has it already on their custom ECU anyway...

-Oh yeah, and brining home our second 5th-place trophy!

I think Claude Rouelle said something really important at the end of his seminar. To paraphrase, "It's not about how you finished, it's about the process you went through. So remember everything you learned, all the hard work you put in this year, and focus on doing the best you can every day in the future." Or something like that. Because one year of effort for a single event is enough pressure to make anybody's head explode.

Wizard
05-27-2004, 08:47 PM
FYI- it was a sugar packet, the crumpled piece of paper didn't have the "magic number" we were looking for.

Charlie
05-27-2004, 08:57 PM
This was my fifth competition, and though I can't say that I've ever really followed the top scorers through the event before (never had reason to http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif ), it sure seemed like there were more schools in competition for the big prize this year.

When scores were posted late Friday night, they were SO close between many teams. And we knew that Cornell would be hard to beat, but as far as the rest went, I remember thinking, 'shit, we better show up tomorrow and make no mistakes'. And, mostly, we did. But that competition closeness really got the adrenaline flowing.

I liked the course changes, though I can feel for some teams that went for manuevarbility and found a course a lot less restrictive than in the past. I also liked change for change's sake, I think it helped us and other teams with little testing & driving time.

It was nice meeting people who've I've exchanged emails with and talked to on the board. It makes you feel better to know others are working as hard as you are, with the same insane hours and have some of the same crazy ideas. Of course, I know I am still crazy, but it does make me feel better. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

This might seem selfish but the best part for me this year is when we'd roll out the car and it would attract attention. For whatever reason we'd have the car sitting out and people would gather around it and take pictures, ask questions, etc. Like it was something worth looking at. This is really the first year I've felt like people wanted to look at our car. When I joined the team we had little to work with, no tools, not even a shop PC, and to think that our team is at a high level now (like UTA or RIT was when I got started) is mind blowing, and makes all these years seem a bit more worthwhile.

Its my last car, and I have no regrets! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif Well I still have a few loose ends to tie up for our 2005 Powertrain... http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Denny Trimble
05-27-2004, 09:17 PM
Oh yeah, another trend:
2002, UW ties for 6th in design
2003, UW ties for 5th in design
2004, UW ties for 4th in design

what next?

Charlie
05-27-2004, 09:37 PM
Well they've got to have at least 3 in the finals. Because they give design awards to the top 3. Maybe you'll make it next year? http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

We were in the 'not quite good enough for finals' group the last 2 years also. I heard a few judges say the cars were on average much better but less cars stood out this year.

jack
05-31-2004, 10:21 PM
LOL wizard...sugar packet's got 63%?

sweet...

Chase
06-01-2004, 08:48 AM
here's an interesting trend that i hope our majority new team can hold up to in 2005
5th at 2003 Detroit, 4th at 2003 Australia, 3rd at 2004 Detroit, hmmm time will tell...
2005 Brakes/Cooling Auburn
http://us.pixagogo.com/Tools/Thumbnails.aspx?thumb=S5CLnY1NL-yFwzlV0pyWyxJXIPG9AjgHTlkgywd4O3NlRcycakjxJACQe5jx PpRDUkPnK-tpQCzeaBqMCob6OIP0wM8wQKRqLJ

Chris Boyden
06-01-2004, 10:02 AM
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I think Claude Rouelle said something really important at the end of his seminar. To paraphrase, "It's not about how you finished, it's about the process you went through. So remember everything you learned, all the hard work you put in this year, and focus on doing the best you can every day in the future." Or something like that. Because one year of effort for a single event is enough pressure to make anybody's head explode <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Amen to that.

Chris

Chase
06-01-2004, 12:37 PM
you know I enjoyed the format of Claude's seminar and still wonder why more of the Thousands of FSAE students can't afford the, now measly 230 bucks to listen to him explain vehicle dynamics, learn about MoTeC, get this huge book full of information, listen to and take note on what he is looking for in the years to come, and listen to his funny jokes(videos,pictures,stories, etc.) We should be so lucky. The way he describes vehicle dynamics to you in the most detailed and understandable way I could ever imagine is worth it on it's own. I haven't taken any level of vehicle dynamics and yet I feel as if I have a better grasp on how things work and I know where to go searching for a better clarification if the need arises. Detroit was an excellent learning atmosphere for me.I have only been on the team for the majority of a year so this was my first experience there. I learned that teams vary greatly; as far as a teams drive to succeed, thier level of organization and preparation. Some teams showed me that enthusiasm was key to the amount of success they could have. I was dissapointed in some of the teams who knew they had things that had to be done, to pass tech or get to a certain event, but left early for some unknown or pitiful reason. A true fsae team, in my opinion will work on the car until they can't anymore. True there is down time when everyone needs a break, but that is usually in June. If your team was one of those who didn't seem to have a care in the world make a note to yourself to change that and work on improving moral. Yes i was lucky enough to join a team that has already experienced success, but even if i was on one of those teams that knew before they left that they probably wouldn't get far or was a first time team i would have still tried my best. Yes I am saying that the harder it is to get a top finish the better and more rewarding it is when you get it.
Maybe I rambled a bit please don't take offense to my posting. Detroit was by far the best experience I have EVER had anywhere.

Eric Wort
06-02-2004, 11:54 AM
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jack:
LOL wizard...sugar packet's got 63%?

sweet... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, a 63% drag to mass ratio, as opposed to the really high drag to mass ratio of the crumpled up paper.

Remember guys, the drag to mass ratio is so F important.

UTA racer rikki
06-02-2004, 12:56 PM
Hey Guys,

I thought it appropriate to post here. I don't know if I speak on behalf of UTA but certainly for myself. I also had a great time at the 2004 Detroit competition. I have several reasons, some similar to Denny, about why I liked competition this year.

- Believe it or not, UTA is going through a rebuild year. Only a couple of people were experienced enough to lead the team and returned for another year. So a number of new team members gained a lot of experience.

- I, like Denny, met more people than I can think to name here. Getting to know the judges on a more personal level was a great experience to. Design, semis, and finals were a new experience for me. I had never before been in the position where I could answer nearly every technical question asked of our car. And forever, I will remember David Gould handing me a business card during the semis! I like Denny had my experience with Claude Rouelle. I would compare it more closely to a boxing match where I was on the ropes the entire time. My team looking on for the moment when I would be down and out for the ten count.

- Despite our performance problems at competition, which oddly enough only show up in Detroit, we have the fastest car UTA has ever dreamed of to date. Talking to team alumn, professors, fellow (local) SCCA Autocrossers, and to a few at competition, they are blown away by the F04 car. No 30th place finish in Detroit will ever take that away from us.

- Seeing New Mexico's new car was incredible. Their team made a leap this year, and I assume another leap will follow next year. Congrats to you for getting into the semis for the first time ever in your school's history, and for building a beautiful car!

- I was ecstatic when I saw the autocross being set up. I am sure Aero cars were very happy to see that. Also, running quicker than half the cars that ran in the dry came as a testament to our car's performance, in my opinion. And while I am on the subject of Autocross, the problem we had with our car was real. It was not orchestrated so that we would run last. Anyone watching us fix our car could attest to that. We had just enough time to get the car ready before the organizers said, "You have to get to the line now, or we close the event." After scrambling to fix the car, then preparing to drive on track to the car's in less than 30 seconds was a test in itself. You can't practice that, except at nationals when a rod-end breaks on a pull-rod.

So, I am with Denny. This was the best event ever. And I look forward to the level of competition next year. At this point, I am not sure I will be there for sure. Not finishing Endurance, and not getting a chance to truly show the performance capabilities of the F04 car leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. It always makes me want to come back for more!

Hsoj
06-02-2004, 01:44 PM
In response to Erick's post, I know that all of us New Mexico boys wish to thank teams like UW for helping us in our design in 03 so that we could come back this year with a kick ass car. We especially want to thank UTA and Dr. Woods for taking us under their wing a little bit so we could learn how to really fly (and really drive!). Thanks guys for all your help and support. The best thing about FSAE, my opinion, is the overwhelming sportsmanship. Special thanx to Denny, Matt, and Chris Shen from U-dub, Charlie from Auburn and Erick, John, and my good buddy, Denver, from UTA. You guys are all one of a-kind. Thank-you.

It was a bummer that our car wasn't able to perform up in Michigan like we've seen it do time and time again here in New Mexico. The most heartbreaking moment was when they pulled us out of the driver's changing area and marked us with a DNF, a pain we've had to live with from last year as well. Our best driver, Cletus, spent 3 hours memorizing that damn course only to never get a shot at it, something that our team leader last year experienced too. I guess that's what the UTA autocross is for, huh? All I know is that in 2005, we're gonna finish, and we're gonna finish BIG. It's time to break the rut, and we're itching for it.

As Team Lead this year, I've learned why managers get paid so much friggin' money. But I feel that I am a better engineer and moreover, better person from it. I really want to thank my team for making me look good in the hot seat. I've never seen such a large group of people come together for such a great cause in such a great way. After two short years in FSAE, I'm off to grad school, and know that our 05 team is gonna pick up where we left off and make history for our school one more time.

Good luck everyone in their FSAE or non-FSAE endeavors. God Bless, and Go Lobos.

p.s. - Hey, Denny, which gal were you talking about from our team???

Denny Trimble
06-02-2004, 04:12 PM
Josh,
I think her name was Lisa, but I'm not sure- it was late and I was drunk. She was talking about the suspension parts she made, pretty cool.

Here's a picture of her with David:
http://students.washington.edu/dennyt/fsae/lobo-ette.jpg

And Erick, I still feel terrible for you and your team. UTA is a smaller team than most, and I know you guys worked your asses off, only to be screwed by luck again. I'm sure you'll be schoolin' many teams at the events this summer.

UTA racer rikki
06-02-2004, 05:16 PM
Hey Denny,

Maybe we can work something out for you if you happen to show up down here, if you remember what I am referring to! If you can make it down here to visit, then I'll find a place for ya to stay to make it a little cheaper. And there are certainly ways to make it worth the while!!

Well, my feeling on luck, racer's or otherwise, (which seems to hold especially true to Formula SAE)...

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

If we were prepared to run in the autocross early, we would have had better "luck" in our performance there. If we would have taken a little more time preparing our car for endurance, we wouldn't have had a diff leak, thus not getting screwed by "luck" in the driver change. Our performance is directly related to the choices we made in preperation.

As far as schoolin' teams this summer, that isn't our goal. We're setting our eyes upon the A-mods. We want to get ever closer to those quick devils. If you haven't seen an A-mod go as an autocrosser, you haven't lived in my opinion.

And lastly, everyone works their asses off. Formula SAE wouldn't be what it is if people didn't. I guess what I am saying is it doesn't matter what the size of your team is, only what you can do with it. That seems to work in other areas of life as well http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif. It is also obvious that teams choose to focus their efforts in different areas. No one is right in where they choose to spend their manpower. The only time it becomes an issue is if you decide to do too much. I'll leave that as a lesson learned for me over the years.

Be sure, UTA has learned from this. This won't happen again. And over the past few years we have learned a lot from not finishing endurances. Next year, we won't have the same mis-hap.

Hsoj
06-03-2004, 12:16 PM
Denny,

Her name is A-lisa, Alisa Lopez. She's definitely one of the girls I'm most proud of on our team. Not only did she help Carl build the suspension and learn extensively how to set it up (damper tuning, toe, caster, camber, ride height, etc), she's also the best female driver UNM has ever had. She's definitely a friendly go-getter. I'm glad you guys got to know her a bit. She's a doll.

She'll be hopefully coming to UTA again this year, but this time to drive. This year we'll actually have cars that run, lol. For those of you who've never gone, it's worth the effort. So much less stress than comp, all you need to do is show up and race. Make sure you're cars are in perfect running order, though. Teams like us and Ohio State last year had nothing but problems keeping our cars on the racetracks, but UTA is nothing but helpful and supportive in helping keep your cars running.

Hey, Erick, is Oliver still around? I didn't see him at comp. Hope the new guy is still with you. Oh, and by the way, what ever happened to Barbara? Is she still spying for us? http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

UTA racer rikki
06-03-2004, 02:34 PM
Hsoj (mirror) josH,

Oliver is still around for sure. He decided to take the year off. I don't know if it is a permanent retiring, or just a hiatus, but whatever the case, he still helps out from time to time.

As for Barb. Yeah, she helped out quite a bit with all the carbon parts. She did a few side projects for Dr. Woods as well that kept us from doing them. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif As far as spying goes, I guess she does a pretty good job! So that's how UNM turned it 'round so quickly!!! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif Only kidding. It'll be great to see you guys again. Maybe your friend at J. Gilligan's will show up again. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Hsoj
06-03-2004, 03:11 PM
You never know, friends are for life if you treat them right, know what I'm sayin'! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Glad to hear that you had Barb busy workin on the carbon stuff, that's good work for her. Did she get both sides done, or did she think the car needed only one sidepod...jk. If you guys see her, tell I her I said hey.

Definitely looking forward to the UTA meet. Did we tell you about Babydolls last time we were out there? http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_eek.gif Man, oh, MAN was that a crazy night! Let's just say strip club + open bar = lots of memories...lol. We definitely should all go out for a beer or two while were there. Let Denver know he's more than welcome to come along and drink his diet coke. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_cool.gif

Eddie Martin
06-03-2004, 04:57 PM
It was a really good competition and i'd like to thank a lot of people who helped us and who we meet at the comp.

Carly, Crazy Greg, Dave and Courtney from Oakland Uni, who let us have space at their workshop to get our car prepared and helped us with anything else we needed including renting a moving truck, thanks for all your help.

Dave, Kev and all the guys from Western Australia it was really cool to stay at Oakland. I'm sure you guys will have another really good car this year, although after that Sunday afternoon will it be a short wheel base, steel tube frame car. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Drew and Bryan and the guys from Kettering who let us use their testing carpark before the competition it really helped.

Brooks, Andy and all the guys who organised the SVSU Grand Prix it was a lot of fun. I hope more teams go next year as there is so much less pressure.

Thanks to the organisers who did a really good job in difficult circumstances, it must have been a huge headache to have that many cars and to put up with a tornado warning was a bit out of the ordinary.

Thanks to the many teams we meet. Erick and the guys from UTA, a really cool car that I really would have liked to see run in the second half of the enduro. It would have been doing 59s easy.
So many other teams we meet UMC, Washington, Wisconsin – Madison, Akron, Rutgers, GT, Auburn, OSU, New Foundland, Guelph, Carelton, Waterloo, RIT, Cal Poly Pomona and so many more. Hopefully a lot of you guys can make it down to OZ this year. If you get a group together and send by sea it will be a lot cheaper and I'm sure you will have a really good time. Ask Charlie and the guys from Auburn and Scott and the guys from GT, I'm sure they enjoyed the comp at Tailem Bend.

One thing I didn't understand was the fast course. They have always had slow courses with slalom's and then suddenly they change. I don't care whether it is fast or slow as long as they give us some indication beforehand.

D@UTA
06-03-2004, 06:39 PM
To everyone,

First off I would like to thank everyone at competition that offered help to us, I cant thank you enough. Its funny, the car was running great here, no problems at all and then all of a sudden, it just got pissed off and said "screw you guys, I'm going home" (for all you south park fans). So thank you for all the help!

Josh,

It was great getting to hang out with you guys, and I can't believe the car, total turn around. And for those of you that didn't get to see the lobos' car, you can expect great things from this team!! As for this summer, man it's going to be great!!! And you know it never rains in Texas, except these last three days when we are getting attacked by tornados and what not. As for Baby Dolls, you're in luck, the just re-opened yesterday! They closed for a while b/c the city said the where tooooo close to houses for that kind of business to be running, but as of today they are re-opened! Ill totally go have my self a Dr. Pepper just don't tell the lady.


All and all this competition was great, sure we where plagued with diff leaks and a car that got upset, but we learned a lot, and over all the cars we awesome. And we are getting closer and closer to a real Autocross track!! Over all great year, and can't wait till next year!!!


Denver

UTA racer rikki
06-03-2004, 06:40 PM
Eddie,

Well, as a somewhat avid SCCA Autocross participant the change in the course at competition reflected a more traditional course layout at a weekend autocross. The courses are generally more open to accomodate cars with doors. The only reason I can think of for why they didn't have a traditional slalom in the endurance is for course worker reasons. Slaloms, generally speaking, seem to be the cones that will get knocked over the most (or moved). Lots of cars, slaloms, and course workers don't make for good safety. The course workers would have 15 seconds, provided the next car wasn't catching up, to get to the cone, reset it, and get out of the way.

My say is, coming from the Autocrossing background, that you will never know the layout of the course until the day you show up to compete. If your car requires a major setup change from high speed course to low speed course then how does that fit the object of the weekend autocrosser??? I do wish, however, we had more than ten minutes to attempt to memorize the track. I saw posted somewhere about 12 hours to setup the car, prepare drivers, etc. but that is excessive. I would ask for about an hour tops to walk the track, but given the schedule that SAE has to keep, I understand the decision there.

If you read the rules, it never says that there will be a tight track. It defines the minimums of turn radius and things of that nature, but never any maximums.

Another benefit of the course layout might be, because I didn't get to drive it, is that it was less exhausting. In my opinion, tight tracks require a lot of work on the driver's part and can really wear you out. What was everyone's feelings getting out of the car at the driver change??? Were the enduro drivers as exhausted as courses past???

All in all, I think change is good. And uninformed change is a challenge. Lots of teams in Formula SAE are in a rut. This course change requires teams to think about the what if they change the course scenario. More options on designs, setups, and tuning are going to require new ideas and designs.

I say thanks for the change, and not just because we have an aero car. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

drivetrainUW-Platt
06-03-2004, 07:47 PM
have to mention how cool UTA's carbon fiber rims were, soooo light and so sweet for being made in house. so when will you be taking orders for our next years car???? http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
Mike Duwe
UW-P Drivetrain leader

UTA racer rikki
06-04-2004, 12:16 PM
Mike,

Feel free to order. But as far as I know, the guaranteed delivery date will be at least a week after the 2005 event. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Thanks for the compliment Mike. A couple of years in the making, the carbon wheels seemed to be a big hit. Darn things detracted from all the work I did for the Aero package this year. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif Who knows, maybe that's a good thing.

We actually planned to have them last year for 2003. Scheduling and lack of manpower unfortunately kept the project from becoming a reality. One of the things we got hit for in the design event in 2003 for not actually having on the car. It all worked out in the end though and gave us some extra time to work out all the bugs in the manufacturing process (essentially took a full year in itself).

After we finished the first wheel and mounted a tire on it, I think we spent an hour drooling over it and around the car. We put it in place of one of the front wheels and just stopped to think about what everyone else would think of it.

Anyways, I am beginning to think I talk too much. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif