Formula Student Germany 2006 Competition: -Updates, Pictures, Stories and More

[olsen5]

I also wanted to post up on here how great the event was. Thanks to Frank Roeske for helping us work out all of our shipping details for our car.

Unfortunately our team had a bad luck weekend, but the teams from Stralsund and Cardiff really came through for us. Thanks to Stralsund for the spare engine and thanks to Cardiff for offering anything in your pits that we could have needed. Unfortunately staying up all night every night doing engine swaps and such does not guarantee a finish but our team pushed back every time the car threw something at us. Overall it was a great experience, and being able to visit with the rest of the competitors in a relaxed setting at the Mahle party was a great time.

I felt really bad for Belfast as they stayed up all night with us on Saturday night fixing their rear diff and ended up with the same fate as our car, I think the same happened for Deakin as well. Congrats to Graz and Helsinki, only something like 7 points separating them in the end, a good battle right down to the wire.

Bret
Windsor Lancers FSAE

[markocosic]

Formula Student Germany then:

A fantastic event! The new benchmark as far as venue, facilities, organization and entertainment go... Hats off to those pulling the strings to make it happen, putting in the hours to make it run flawlessly and full marks to Mahle for the afterparty. Apparently some teams won some events – though from where we were the sponsors and competitors were all far too battered to give a damn! :-) (the impression our lot left with was that come to it it mattered not one jot who came away with the first prize - and congratulations are due to all those who made it there and made it what it was!)

Mostly the organisers seem to have listened to students and industry then executed it to perfection – with a sense of humour added as icing on the cake. (where else would you find the organisers crowd-surfing at an after-party; paid-for soft-drinks but free beer; pedal-cars in the welding bay or donuts on the enduro track all viewed as perfectly normal) We know which event we're trying for next year that's for sure!

Special thanks to Brookes, Cardiff, Graz, Loughborough, Queensland and Strathclyde for campsite/mahle entertainment – you'd better be there next year so we can repay the hospitality! (might even make it around a few more tents if we can resist the lure of the first 20 cent beers and hot BBQ we come across!) :-)

Usual collection of car photos, pi$$ing rain, filth from the loughboro' lot and big Frank R with beer in one hand and cigar in other whilst being thrown around by the students busy uploading here:

http://www.cosic.org.uk/galleryv2/main.php?g2_itemId=9356

If any registered teams hear of the DVD of photos and video the organisers mentioned I've love a copy please (I'm happy to send a disc and self-addressed envelope to you or do the whole if I receive one I forward a copy to the next person who asks free of charge type affair)

Cheers!

[MarcoLange]

Hey everybody!

Concerning the FSG event, I have to say it was very well-organized, probably at one of the best FSAE / Formula Student event locations ever, the Hockenheimring, one week after the F1 race. It was an amazing event, and although things did not really work out well for us (engine busted during noise test, had to replace engine, missed accelleration and skid pad, and on sunday starter failed after our car spun and ceased), we as a team had much fun and it was a great experience, with a great final on the MAHLE party.

Congrats to Graz for their well-deserved success, a great team and a great car, to Stuttgart for their great start into the Formula Student community, grats to all other winners and especially to Queensland for their Enduro and AutoX win. Greetings also to the teams from Deakin, Monash and New South Wales. We really enjoyed the two weeks with all you Aussi guys (and girl) in Aachen as well as during FSG very much.

Moreover, I want to thank all other teams who helped us, especially the guys from Offenburg.

I am very much looking forward to FSG 2007, although, by then, I will only be a visitor.

Marco Lange
Electronics
Ecurie Aix
Formula Student Team RWTH Aachen

[Henrik Andersson]

Ok, I have now uploaded some videos from Saturdays events, enjoy. I hope I tagged the videos right.

/henrik

TU Graz
Oxford Brookes
Loughborough
Deakin
Helsinki
FH Johanneum

[V2 - Italy]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Craig Dawson:
just switched to Goodyears from the Avons, and were chasing set up, both mechanical and electronic all day. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think you used Avon at FS06 and GY at FSG.
What do you think about GY?
Where did you buy them?
We bought (in USA) and tested them last year, but we are back to Avon, because are softer and quite always produced later.

Daniele Rosti

[Craig Dawson]

Hi Daniele,

We switched to the Goodyears 2962's because our Avons A40's totally fell apart when we won the Enduro at Formula Student UK. They went off on they 10th lap.

We didnt have chance to do any proper running on the Goodyears before FSG, only the simple bedding procedure that Goodyear gave us. As a result we made a huge gamble.

Our performance in Accel and Skid was fairly terrible, mainly because we had slightly less traction on the Goodyears than we had on the Avons, and we had problems reconfiguring the Launch Control, and the general balance had moved to a lot of understeer which messed up our Skid Pad. Once we had changed the set up the car was mega again, but we only managed this in time for the last AutoX run. I made a mistake, and hence our time wasnt good.

In the Enduro the tyres were unbelievable. They were perfectly constistant, and gave a level of grip that was fantastic. The major change was the feeling the tyres had. At the end of the enduro the tyres were like new.

I am sure that had we had a second set and been able to test prior to the event they would have been better than the Avon's throughout the event.

They came from the States.

[RacingManiac]

What prompted the change though, was it a supply issue that you leave you with GY or was it something intentional(if you don't want to elaborate on the latter that would be fine as well...)

[V2 - Italy]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Craig Dawson:
We switched to the Goodyears 2962's because our Avons A40's totally fell apart when we won the Enduro at Formula Student UK. They went off on they 10th lap...
In the Enduro the tyres were unbelievable. They were perfectly constistant, and gave a level of grip that was fantastic. The major change was the feeling the tyres had. At the end of the enduro the tyres were like new....
They came from the States. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi Craig,

We never tested the 2962, but we used the R-065 D-1385 bought in Florida.
I saw a pic of your car at FS06 at the end of endurance, and the tires were not so good...
I understand the setup problem you suffered using GY from Avon, because we had the same problem.

Nice to hear that the grip level was so good, and I hope the price was lower..

Daniele

[Craig Dawson]

The fronts at Bruntingthorpe were nearly to the canvas!

The reason for the change was partially down to supply, and partially down to finance. We knew what we wanted in terms of the Avon but they couldnt make it for some time. Goodyear were fantastic all round. Thats not to say Avon aren't, but in the timescales we were working with I think we made the right decision.

[GoodyearFSAE]

The D2692 is a new tire that was recently developed with FSAE conditions in mind. In comparison to the D1385 or D2509, both R065 compound tires, the D2692 is stiffer, therefore responds quicker and feels more stable. The compound on the D2692 is a new dry tire compound where the R065 is a wet compound, which is easier to overheat in warm dry conditions. Typically, the treadwear on the D2692 tire is better. As with any tire, vehicle setup, and kinematics & compliance are important and your particular situation may minimize the gains seen until your car is setup well. We are working on a volume build of the tires, but it will probably not happen for another month or two. They will be priced a little higher than the D2509 and D1385, at about $150/tire (due to the rising cost of raw materials). You may think that I am biased since I work at Goodyear, so ask any of the several teams have competed on these tires their opinion. The list now includes, Texas A&M (#1 FSAE West), Wollongong, Kansas, Oxford Brookes, Western Australia, NC State, Wisconsin Madison, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Toledo, Missouri Columbia, & Akron.

http://fsae.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/125607348/m/58310898...10223431#91010223431