The first 4WD FSAE Car(s)

[Scott Wordley]

Well how's UQ travelling Sam?

Regards,

Scott Wordley

http://www-personal.monash.edu.au/~fsae

[Daves]

Something to think about:

Artic Cat makes a 500 cc ATV with a CVT and all wheel drive. However, it also weighs more than the usual FSAE car and has fewer horsepower.

[Sam]

Give a little get a little eh?
Not too bad mate,

Nothing too revolutionary, Just a weight-loss program, chrom-moly chassis, ally uprights,

We are hoping the Turkey Mk III will be substantially lighter than last years beast (304kg! heaviest car at the comp!!) W

Sam Graham
Engine Group Leader 2003
UQ Racing

[Sam]

Didn't finish my post...

Most of our design is done, our new chassis is getting there. engine hasn't been run yet. The boys are pretty much on an exams hiatus..

Sam Graham
Engine Group Leader 2003
UQ Racing

[clausen]

With some very rough calculations with weight transfer and traction circles, I estimated that you might not want any more than 25% of drive torque at the front to not get power understeer accelerating out of corners.

Just my 2 cents worth

Regards

Paul Clausen
Uni of Adelaide

[Barry]

From what I have looked at so far, you need 3 differentials to make this work well. I have been working on some concepts and designs myself. It would do very well in all events. Much better than RWD.

Barry Lenart
Lawerence Tech

[Charlie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dave_s:
I'm guessing 100% more traction. All the weight will be on all of the wheels, but I suspect the place where an all wheel drive car will really shine is _acceleration_. The problem with rear wheel drive is that you first must have a lot of weight transfer to the back for traction, and then you go forward. However, with all wheel drive, you already have all of the weight on all of the tires.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Too bad our acceleration event starts after the launch.

The highest HP cars are traction limited however, and seems like making the car 'hook' in acceleration is more important than power-to-weight ratio, so you might very well be right.

-Charlie Ping
Auburn University FSAE
5th Overall Detroit 2003
? Overall Aussie 2003.

[Denny Trimble]

Launch is still critical in the accel event, because the faster you're going when you enter the lights, the higher your average speed and the quicker your time, all else equal. When they didn't require the transponder to be on the nose, we would try to mount it on the rear of the car if possible, for this reason

You do need a very good engine before 4WD can even be considered. 55RWHP, which we had in '99, just won't produce massive wheelspin on the endurance course.

Best of luck to the 4WD teams, I'm excited to see what you come up with!

University of Washington Formula SAE ('98, '99, '03)

[JCMarshall]

Newcastle boys, do you know what you have got yourself in for. Most first year teams have trouble getting a working 2wd car to the comp let alone a 4wd. I hope it is half way built (rolling chassis at least) to save next semesters grades. Anyway good luck, I hope you do get there, I can't wait to see it.

BTW, you Monash boys do some good work, I'm looking foward to this years car.

We never got that 0.9mm exhaust tube so it's my fault our engine has not hit the dyno yet, how did you guys go.

Pat
UQ Racing

[Jon Prevost]

We figured 12% loss in power going through our drivetrain to the wheels. I'm figuring you'll be using 2 additional diff's which will result in a lot more heat and a lot less torque getting too those front wheels.

, Jon
"Success - it 's what
you do with what you've got." - Woody Hayes
Engine Team