Building Racecar Dreams from the Ground Up

There is a place where formula-style open-wheel racecars are designed, built and raced; a place where racing dreams meet engineering realities; a place where rubber meets the road to graduation.

This place is located in Engineering Shop # 1 on the campus of Auburn University. This is where the Auburn Formula SAE team builds formula-style open-wheel race cars.

The team is entirely student driven. The students are not allowed to receive any outside help from professors or engineering professionals. Matt Cromer, a senior in mechanical engineering, serves as the team captain.

“In the early fall we start to put down our design ideas, and various items that we want to have on the new car,” said Cromer. “We spend the rest of the fall designing components testing them, using computer simulation to validate our designs. At the very beginning of spring we start building the car.”

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The design of the car is broken down into different sections including the suspension, engine parts and break system.

“About 90% of the parts on the car are built in our shop,” said Cromer. “Students are responsible for building and manufacturing each component without any outside help from engineering professionals.”

Once the car is completed the students are responsible for testing the car in preparation for competitions. There are two competitions, one in California and one in Michigan, put on by the Society of Automotive Engineers.

The competitions not only include racing but other components as well. The cars take place in both static and dynamic events.

The static events consist of a design report explaining the engineering behind the car, a cost report showing the cost of creating the car and a presentation where competitors pitch their car to a fictional manufacturing firm.

The dynamic events consist of acceleration which measures the top speed that a car can reach in 75 meters, skidpad which measures the cars handing around corners, endurance which tests the cars durability and autocross which tests the cars handling and maneuverability.

In order to drive the car for Auburn Formula SAE, team members must be involved in the design and manufacturing process. To drive in competition the drivers who record the fastest times are chosen.

“Our team has very strong results in the past,” said Cromer. “Our highest finish in any competition was 3rd in Detroit in 2004 and 3rd in California in 2007. In 2009 our car we just finished, that car finished 15th out of 120 teams in Michigan. And then in a competition in June in California we finished 8th out of 81 teams.”