Acceleration times

[CMURacing - Prometheus]

IIRC, Ohio State had a 3.98 to win FSAE a number of years ago (late 90s?). Texas A&M has told us that they've run 3.5s in the College Station heat, on asphalt, with hot tires.

Sorry to ruin your day.

[repeatoffender]

Firstly before i start my rant id like to say congratulations to chalmers for their fast time.

Its not as easy as you think, and so far everyone has come out asking some fair questions but have neglected some things. What about tail wind or head wind, what about the launch you get. A good launch makes all the difference. And thats where most teams find repeatability an issue.

On a more serious note, it doesnt really count unless you set the time at comp. I know my team has run under 4 seconds, and recorded 3.6s on concrete, but because no one else (officials / other teams etc) was there to back it doesnt make it believable.

Fair enough if they did it, well done. But its not officially the fastest time.

[kwancho]

Uh... his post says they did it at the Baltic Open. There were 4 teams (Chalmers, Delft, Helsinki and KTH, an elite group for sure) and 7 cars.

[Jersey Tom]

Regardless.. the point being made is - you can be as quick as you like in testing and practice, but the competition numbers stick.

..wait, is there a point being made?

[Iloper]

Here is a clip of the 3.75s run:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLYHaQfOAlc

Enjoy it!

/Per

[murpia]

Originally posted by Iloper:
Here is a clip of the 3.75s run:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLYHaQfOAlc

Enjoy it!

/Per

Either that clip suffers from an optical illusion or that track slopes downhill towards the end...
Regards, Ian

[Jersey Tom]

I drank a beer in .02 seconds. Fastest in the world.

Thats how the CU FSAE/drinking team rolls.

[Kimmo Hirvonen]

I have to admit that in Baltic Open there was a small downhill which began in about half the way of 75m and lasted till the finish. Here's a video which contains the same run from a different angle and with speed radar reading:
http://www.formula.stadia.fi/videot/...lmers_acce.mpg

Here's also a video from our run in FSG, which might be one of the fastest in official competitions:
http://www.formula.stadia.fi/videot/...sinki_acce.mpg

Both of these runs' times were taken with photocell system and just out of curiosity, has anyone else measured how much does it affect on time if the transponder is mounted at the rear of the car or if the time is taken with photocell system. We have done some testing with this. We put the transponder to the front of the car and then to the rear and the time difference supprised me quite a bit. We got 0.15-0.25 second differences with this so it seems that it really affects the time a lot.

[murpia]

Originally posted by Kimmo Hirvonen:
I have to admit that in Baltic Open there was a small downhill which began in about half the way of 75m and lasted till the finish.

Both of these runs' times were taken with photocell system and just out of curiosity, has anyone else measured how much does it affect on time if the transponder is mounted at the rear of the car or if the time is taken with photocell system. We have done some testing with this. We put the transponder to the front of the car and then to the rear and the time difference supprised me quite a bit. We got 0.15-0.25 second differences with this so it seems that it really affects the time a lot.

Here's a few 75m times from a simulation of a 'generic' FSAE car:
0m staging 4.45s
0.3m staging (as competition) 4.20s
1.0m staging 4.00s
2.5m staging (roughly equivalent to rear transponder with 0.3m car staging) 3.75s
Getting the car rolling is key. That last car is already doing ~18kph when the timing starts...
Regards, Ian

[PatClarke]

[quote Iloper]As far as I know this is the best time in any event. Wich makes our car the fastest in the world...[/quote]
If your course went down a mineshaft rather than down a hill, you might go faster!
Acceleration times are only relevant when comparing one team against another on the same course. Claiming a 'World record' from an event that was gravity assisted is juvenile at best.
Pat