Team History
Do you like racecars? What about engineering? How about students practicing engineering outside of the classroom for pure enjoyment and applying that engineering to a race car? If the answer to any of those questions is ‘yes’, please read on…
University of New Hampshire is home to a young program called UNH Precision Racing. UNH Precision Racing is a non-profit Student Organization created by a small group of University of New Hampshire Mechanical Engineering students in 2003. The project originally started as a senior design project for 6 ambitious students.
The goal of UNH Precision Racing is to build a scaled open-wheel, formula-style race car to enter in the annual Formula SAE event held in Detroit, Michigan. As put forth by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) committee:
The Formula SAE® competition is for SAE student members to conceive, design, fabricate, and compete with small formula-style racing cars. The restrictions on the car frame and engine are limited so that the knowledge, creativity, and imagination of the students are challenged. The cars are built with a team effort over a period of about one year and are taken to the annual competition for judging and comparison with approximately 130 other vehicles from colleges and universities throughout the world. The end result is a great experience for young engineers in a meaningful engineering project as well as the opportunity of working in a dedicated team effort.
The vehicle is completely designed and constructed by students and, in addition, they do all of the fundraising and sponsorship to facilitate this. The annual working budget is roughly $30,000, and with a full course load, outside internships, and personal lives, this is quite the project.
The first season occurred from 2003 to 2004 in which Car 36 was born. The team struggled through financial and administrative battles yet managed to successfully complete building the car prior to completion. Being the first year for the team, development of designs was nearly non-existent due to team size, lack of money and support, and knowledge of Formula SAE design and fabrication. However, the car was able to begin every event at competition and finish all events, except the endurance race. Passing SAE’s intense technical safety inspection is a hurdle in itself for most 1st year teams!
The second season occurred from 2004 to 2005 in which Car 61 was created. An all new chassis was built under a new design philosophy that the suspension was the most important part of the vehicle and must be designed first. The driver's seating position was drastically changed to allow the driver to lean back and lower the center of gravity. The car's overall height was dropped significantly and the frame height was also dropped lower to the ground. Larger steps were taken in suspension and drivetrain design, something not seen on car 36.
Like the previous year, the team felt the pressure of time and took many short cuts to get the job done in which led to later controls failure. The clutch cable broke during the second to last acceleration run causing the last run to be DNF (Did Not Finish). The subsequent repair took to long and the skid pad was complete DNF, resulting in 0 points. During the Endurance race the first driver completed his 11 laps and the third driver lost fuel pressure on the eighth lap which was caused by a bad electrical connection to the fuel pump.
The third season occurred from 2005 to 2006 in which Car 49 was created. Backed by stronger faculty and student support, this was a revolutionary season for the team…
An all new chassis was built with an attempt to create a lightweight chassis. This was done through the use of FEA analysis to create a very mature frame concept. The engine and drive-train were also highly-emphasized and went through significant revisions when compared to car 61. Basic fuel, timing, and compensation maps were developed through the engine by utilizing an engine dynamometer. Advanced maps, eventually squeezing 80 wheel horsepower out of the motor, were developed using an all-wheel chassis dyno, courtesy of TDC Tuning. The drive-train also switched from a spool setup to a limited slip differential which utilized a Torsen limited slip center differential.
The car was completed earlier than the previous seasons, resulting in some valuable practice time for the student drivers. The car looked, and performed, wonderfully. Unfortunately, a collapsed lower left-front A-arm during a practice session and later the lower right-front A-arm would collapse, ending the team's endurance event prematurely (with only 3 laps remaining!). Despite these shortcomings, the team did place 10th overall in acceleration and 29th overall in the presentation event. These results helped push the team to a 66th place finish, out of over 100 teams. This was UNH Precision Racing's best result to date. Had the team completed the endurance event, a top 40 position was guaranteed.
Currently in the 4th season, UNH Precision Racing is a force to be reckoned with. As the largest engineering program at UNH, and one of the largest programs campus wide (59 active members), there is a lot of enthusiasm. Team members range in age from freshman to seniors. Their areas of study range from Mechanical Engineering (primarily), to Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, and even Business! The team even picked up 2 students which have 20, yes 20, years of professional racing under their belts!
The program is truly run like a small business; team captain’s run and manage the team, students are assigned jobs and delegate tasks, younger members are fostered into the program and taught the necessary skills. Some of these skills are taught before they get a chance to learn them in the classroom! Several students contacted team captains before deciding to attend UNH; UNH Precision Racing, and their opportunity to participate, was their deciding factor to attend the school.
The end results produced from the growing enthusiasm is staggering. Zero to sixty mph times are in the 3.6 second range; faster than most Porsches and Ferrari’s. Skid pad capabilities are reaching 1.1 to 1.2 g’s. UNH is now a worthy opponent to schools with research budgets approaching $50k.
This is going to be the most exciting season to date for UNH Precision Racing. With over 25 members returning to the team this year, the knowledge base and team structure is solid. The team is very enthusiastic for this season, and would like you to be a part of it! If you are interested in receiving a team newsletter, or interested in contributing to the teams progression and success, please email rbbell@unh.edu and be sure to check out our website: www.unh.edu/fsae
We would love your help and contributions, we hope to hear from you soon!!
Special Thanks to our top Sponsors:
Wilcox
Tucker Engineering
AMS Plastic Extrusions
RIC Racing
UNH Mechanical Engineering Department
TDC Tuning
Hutchinson
Capital Copy
May-Win Thein