Dilema (Baja or FSAE??)

[BMH]

Ok I am in a dilema here, This being my first year a a major university, I Joined Formula SAE and the Mini Baja clubs. Our Baja team has had a lot of success, whereas our Formula team hasnt had so much success. I love motorsports (except nascar....pretty darn boring if you ask me haha) and would love to get a job in motorsports as an engineer someday. So I was hoping to use one of these clubs to learn a lot and perhaps use towards in getting a job in motorsports. So tonight after the baja meeting I was told I would have to make a decision on one over the other, and I really don't know which to choose. Any input??

[JR @ CFS]

There are a few guys on here who have done both and they each have their individual challenges. Why not consider getting deeply involved with Baja, see what works and what doesn't and find out what makes it such a success. Then join the FSAE team and apply what you have learned to it and turn it around and make it a success. Most importantly, look at what you want to do in the future (this can change over time) and see which aligns best with your goals in life. I worked with a guy in FSAE this year who arrived after competing with Cal Poly SLO baja team for several years and had a 1 year unsuccessful stint in FSAE in '04. A fantastic engineer and contributed a lot!

[BMH]

Thanks for your opinion jonnierice! That was EXTREMELY helpful input!!

[js10coastr]

jonnie... who is this engineer that you speak of?

[D Collins Jr]

Bryan,
For reasons that are both complicated and outdated, our team was considering a group switch from FSAE to Baja this past summer. My initial excitement about getting to race wheel-to-wheel on dirt quickly dissapated when we looked up the rules for Baja. We knew that the cars are underpowered for our tastes, but we also found out that the frame is more of an "off-the-rack" affair than a designed frame. I was put over the edge when I read that Moto-cross helmets are required, and full face helmets are banned. I didn't want to have anything to do with an organization that disregarded my safety like that.
The choice for you lies between an international organization and a North American organization, one of which focuses on design and one of which focuses on, well, I don't know what Baja's focus is. jonnie has a good idea, just be aware going in of what a Baja team entails compared to an FSAE team.

[Steve Yao]

A lot of what you learn in SAE projects comes down to the people you work with. It sounds like the Baja group at your school may be of higher caliber...but some would debate that the bar is lower compared to FSAE.

As David alluded, a lot of the significant design decisions have been made for you in the Baja rules. FSAE is hands down the most open regulated motorsport in existence.

Either way you go, I highly recommend attending a competition in both projects. Talk to anyone and everyone about their teams, their cars, their designs. Seeing the hundreds of solutions to the same problem will open your eyes to what it possible in either discipline. I think you will find much more to challenge and interest you in FSAE.

But like i said, the most rewarding benefits will come from the people you work with. Intelligent, eager, and driven team members will make or break your SAE experience.

JonnieRice offered the path I would recommend. Join Baja, learn everything you can about how they manage the project...and jump ship (hopefully with a some choice Baja crew in tow) to FSAE.

[jsmooz]

Bryan - I know first hand that your baja team really knows what they are doing. I do both baja and formula and the UM-D team has become good friends with the TTU baja guys. They really have good practices that can translate over to formula. I know Justin also talked about building a formula car a few years ago and you might be able to talk him into trying that again.

David - I agree with you about the limited frame design, however if you've ever been to a baja event and seen how stupid some people design you'd see why things are the way they are....for the record I don't agree with these rules either as I've designed frames that were much more 'safe' then the current cookie cutter style frames and weight 50lbs less.
The motocross helmet rule is however much better. The reason is vision. Goggles are easily changed and have tearoffs where full-face street bike helmet tearoff systems don't work well in mud.

[drivetrainUW-Platt]

Being unsuccessful doesnt mean you wont learn anything. Sometimes the teams that have tons of problems and dont get everything handed to them on a silver platter learn tons more then the others.

It took our formula team 3 years before we had a car that ran and drove before it was unloaded from the trailer at competition...that was quite the learning experience.