Teams from India

[Chittad]

Hi guys,

After having started this thread I had made a google group - FSAE teams India.

Membership is open. Join the group. Lets have a little forum for ourselves and spare the others who are not interested.

Here is the link:
http://groups.google.com/group/fsae-teams-india

[Chittad]

Originally posted by PatClarke:
Last year Steve Fox and I had a discussion over dinner about how we would enter the competition as a first year team in India. We concluded that we could build a car that would pass all the requirements, would finish all events and would not finish last for $2,000! Yes $2,000! It wouldnt be pretty and there would not be any unoptainium or unavailabillium on it. It would roll on street wheels and tyres....But it would roll!

Hi Pat,

I was a bit curious about how you reached that figure. I agree we might have a cost advantage than to others but 2000 dollars is far too less.

Chittad
Raftar@IIT Madras

[PatClarke]

Chittad,
I have already told you the car wouldn't be pretty but that it would be driveable.
The view is a little hazy through the bottle or two of red we had shared.
I seem to recall a twin tube chassis made from exhaust tubing with enough superstructure to pass the rules (Roll hoops, side impact structure etc), No suspension as such, but the chassis hinged in the middle and sprung with rubber bands made from inner tubes (to pass the 2 inch wheel travel rule). Gokart steering, roadcar wheels and tyres, hubs and brakes etc and an Enfield 500cc single on a carburettor.
The bits would be sourced second hand from wreckers. Everything adapted, nothing made from scratch. Even the restrictor could simply be made from a 20mm gasket.
Bodywork would be simple riveted on sheet metal (from old oil drums?)
I still think $2000 is possible. Of course labour is not factored into the cost =]

Not that it matters, no-one would do it anyway, not when there is expensive carbon fibre, racing wheels and tyres, 12,000rpm engines with bespoke ECUs to be had.

Pat

[screwdriver]

You obviously were inspired by the Peugeot ad from a few years back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGQf9dn0pDk

I can't see it passing tech without proper suspension though (see rules section 3.2.1).

You certainly wouldn't come in last if you'd build that car. You'd have to be excellent in the boring stuff aka the statics though. If you can make it through the endurance then, I think you could even get into the top half of the field.

How far up you get pretty much depends on how bad the other teams are doing though.

[PatClarke]

Okay then Screwdriver...Put swing axles on it....won't change much :-)

Should clean their clock in Cost :-)



Pat

[vandit]

Originally posted by dopa:
i wanted to know what material does other Indian
Fsae teams use to make Uprights ...initially i thought of using 7075 T6 Al but this is not available here (chennai).

how about other alloys like Al 6351 , 6061
or make the uprights using mild stee.

as a first year team we used, mild steel sections to make uprights....we used rectangular sections and according to design machined them and welded.....some team use pipes also to make uprights....

but we switched to aluminium 6351 T6 (as u mentioned) next year ...and the weight was seriously reduced...

7 series is available in bangalore....but it's expensive .

[exFSAE]

I seem to recall a twin tube chassis made from exhaust tubing

Oh lord.

[vandit]

my idea of cheap car with all rules cleared and endurance possible to clear...

chassis - MS tubes (available everywhere in india)
engine - as pat said enfield 500
suspension - kinetic (we ran them on our first car)
brakes - front disc brakes of any bike in india(we used TVS victor disc and caliper....but beware dont use master cylinder of these bikes)

steering - manufacture normal rack and pinion, with basic calculation(u should do atleast this much to be called as designing race car)

brake pedal assembly - take some aluminium or MS pieces and weld them for normal ABC ..

air intake - hmmm, do some research on net and u will surely do decent intake....

and i think all above things within 1.5 lakh or not more than 1.75 lakh is possible ...thats like approx $4000.....i know it's more than PAT's estimate, but again it's very comfortable to generate this much amount of money....

the major cost is to transport the car and Team tickets...

[PatClarke]

ExFSAE,
I never claimed for a second that it would do well in Design :-)
Pat

[dopa]

thanks shanky for the information....did u machine the 6351 T6 using CNC ...or welded it ...i am a bit confused as i have read somewhere in this forum that people have made uprights by welding 6061 Al or is it that 6061 is available in rectangular tubes which can be welded like that of mild steel....i would appreciate if someone could clarify on this