MRacingFSAE

FSG 2011 - Official Photos

2011-08-17T19:52:00.001-04:00

The official event photos can be found here:

http://media.formulastudent.de/FSG11/Hockenheim2011

There are thousands of ultra-hires photos!

FSG 2011 - Another Top Ten Finish for MRacing!

2011-08-08T02:56:00.003-04:00

MRacing came in 8th place, our 6th consecutive top ten finish!

After a few disappointments early on, we managed a strong comeback with a 4th place endurance finish and 9th place in design, keeping us up in the top ten.

Results are available at:

http://www.formulastudent.de/events/event-2011/results/

(overall results, acceleration results, and endurance results not yet available at the time of this posting).

A big thanks to our sponsors for making all of this possible, and to UAS RheinMain, Opel, and the town of Russelheim, for graciously hosting us prior to competition! Thank you!

The team is about to depart for Frankfurt Intl airport for our flight home where we will resume design work on next season's car.

FSG 2011 - Day 12 Update 1

2011-08-07T04:01:00.003-04:00

Autocross scores are out. We finished 12th with 66.33 points out of the possible 100.

http://www.formulastudent.de/uploads/media/2011_FSC_Competition_Results_Autocross_without_TOP_5.pdf

This means we are the 12th-to-last team to run in Endurance. The endurance event has already begun and will be running until late this afternoon. A live stream with commentary is available at

http://formulastudent.tv/livestream

The complete endurance running order can be found here:

http://www.formulastudent.de/uploads/media/2011_FSC_Competition_Results_Running_Order.pdf

We are still waiting to hear the final scores for acceleration.

FSG 2011 - Day 11 Update 2

2011-08-06T18:19:00.003-04:00

Cost scores are up. We placed 36th receiving 67.05 points out of a possible 100.

http://www.formulastudent.de/uploads/media/2011_FSC_Competition_Results_Cost_without_TOP_5.pdf

Endurance tomorrow; we will likely go in the afternoon as we believe we are in the faster group (based on autocross times) and it's supposed to rain in the morning.

More updates tomorrow.

FSG 2011 - Day 11 Update 1

2011-08-06T09:25:00.004-04:00

We've completed acceleration and are heading out to autocross. Our best acceleration time was a 4.02, and we know that at least 5 or 6 other teams have set faster times.

In other news, we made design finals!

Scores have been been posted for business as well as skidpad, you can find the results here:

http://www.formulastudent.de/events/event-2011/results/

In business we scored 53.52 out of a possible 75, finishing 32nd.

In skidpad we scored 40.64 out of a possible 75, finising 37th.

FSG 2011 - Day 10 Update 2

2011-08-05T16:27:00.003-04:00

This morning we competed in skidpad and gave our business presentation. Skidpad did not go as well as we had hoped it would. We set a fast time of 6.31, while many other competitive teams were in the upper 5's. We will post the official results when they are posted tomorrow.

After skidpad we cleaned the car up for design which everyone felt went pretty well. The officials tried something new by pitting us against 9 judges instead of the usual 5 or 6. This worked very well for us as it gave us a much greater opportunity to demonstrate our knowledge and we hope to see this happen at FSAE Michigan as well.

Cost took place immediately following design, after which we took a team photo in the marquee and headed back to the pits. A full bolt check was performed along with a suspension setup in preparation for the weekend's events.

Tomorrow we will be competing in acceleration and autocross. Final scores and results will be posted as they are revealed.

FSG 2011 - Day 10 Update 1

2011-08-05T04:06:00.002-04:00

Today we compete in all of the static events (Business Presentation, Cost Analysis, and Engineering Design) as well as our first dynamic event, skidpad. We will keep you posted on our progress.

Also, a big thanks to Mick Sachse for bringing us some of his "Brain Octane" home-made honey!

FSG 2011 - Day 9 Update 2

2011-08-04T08:07:00.002-04:00

Quick update: Heading out to scrub in tires. Afterwards a suspension setup and design preparation.

Also, the official event photos can be found here:

http://media.formulastudent.de/FSG11/Hockenheim2011

FSG 2011 - Day 9 Update 1

2011-08-04T05:57:00.005-04:00

We've completed tilt, noise, and brake! The car is ready for dynamic competition. The rest of today will be spent preparing the team for design and the car for competition.

Locked up all four wheels on the first go

FSG 2011 - Day 8 Update 3

2011-08-03T15:42:00.003-04:00

We passed Tech! They stayed open late to accommodate some of the teams in line, including us. That leaves us with noise, brake, and tilt to complete tomorrow before scrubbing in tires and performing setup.

Pic of the car being worked on after our first scrutineering/tech attempt:

FSG 2011 - Day 8 Update 2

2011-08-03T13:39:00.004-04:00

We went through tech early on in the day, but didn't pass due to a few minor issues (fire extinguisher mount on the pushbar, brake light not big enough). These problems were quickly remedied, however due to the long line which has formed around tech, we will likely not be able to make it back through before they close down at 7pm. A few team members are out getting food for the team while the rest are going to put the car away once tech shuts down. There is a welcome ceremony at 8pm which we will try to attend.

Tomorrow we have to arrive early to get through tech as well as the brake, noise, and tilt tests. Afterwards we will likely do a suspension setup and prepare ourselves for the design event on Friday.

FSG 2011 - Photos! Days 2-7

2011-08-03T06:39:00.008-04:00

Here's a selection of photos from the past few days of our trip.

Day 2

Loading the car into the trailer for testing at Opel

Have to make sure the oil pan doesn't scrape on the ramp.

Day 3

Day 4

Day 6

UAS/HS RheinMain and MRacing with the Russelheim Mayor

Day 7

The car in the pits, ready for tech

FSG 2011 - Day 8 Update 1

2011-08-03T06:04:00.002-04:00

This morning the team performed some final preparation for scrutineering/tech inspection before heading over to the scrutineering site. Unfortunately as they were preparing to inspect our car, we were sent off to the panoramic photo (a panoramic photo taken of every team and car). We'll be going back over to scrutineering immediately after the photo is taken.

FSG 2011 - Days 6 & 7

2011-08-02T18:39:00.002-04:00

On Monday the team started off by packing up our equipment for transport to Hockenheim. At noon we transported our car, along with HS RheinMain's, to the city center, where we met with the Mayor of Russelheim for a photo shoot with our teams.

We then spent most of the afternoon with Opel, who took us on a tour of their museum and gave us a presentation on their vehicle dynamics simulation work.

We'd like to give a huge thanks to the city of Russelheim, the HS/UAS RheinMain team, and Opel, for being such generous hosts and providing invaluable testing time. Thank you!

Today, Tuesday, we spent a majority of the day at the track registering and unpacking the car/setting up our pit. Some of the team went for lunch in Heidelberg whilst others stayed at the track to watch motorcycles lap the 'ring on an open track day.

From this point on the frequency of blog posts will be increasing as we keep you up to date with the progress of the team throughout competition. Assuming we have adequate internet access at the track, we hope to update at least 3 or 4 times a day. We will also start uploading photos to Picasa and post the link when they are available.

FSG 2011 - Day 5

2011-07-31T11:53:00.003-04:00

Today we finished up testing with mock endurance and autocross runs followed by some last minute launch control tuning and acceleration practice. The car is running well and is ready for competition.

The team will be taking Monday off to relax before competition starts on Tuesday. The event schedule for FSG can be found here:

http://www.formulastudent.de/events/event-2011/schedule/

There will be a live feed of the endurance race available online; we'll post a link when we have more information.

FSG 2011 - Days 3 & 4

2011-07-30T13:43:00.004-04:00

On Friday testing continued at the airfield with no issues. Drivers practiced on autocross, endurance and skidpad.

Today, Saturday, we tested at Opel's main proving grounds. Our autocross/endurance drivers performed a mock endurance which ended in a small failure. Several teeth were ripped off of the sprocket, possibly due to the sprocket having been bent during shipping. After a few hours of work a new sprocket and chain were on, with time to spare for some skidpad practice. This year the skidpad event at FSG will take place on a watered down surface, guaranteeing wet conditions. Luckily, the testing area provided by Opel had a built in irrigation system and could be flooded on demand, which we took full advantage of to better prepare our skidpad drivers.

The team is headed out for dinner, after which the car will be set up for tomorrow, our final day of testing.

FSG 2011 - End of Day 2

2011-07-28T19:51:00.003-04:00

The rest of the day's testing went well and the car suffered no failures. The team went out for dinner in Frankfurt to unwind and are getting ready for another day of testing tomorrow.

FSG 2011 - Day 2 Morning

2011-07-28T10:43:00.006-04:00

This morning we transported the car to one of RheinMain's testing spaces: a retired airfield which now functions as a testing ground for Opel. Opel has been kind enough to allow us to use a small section of the runway to shake down our car. We've been running fairly successfully all morning and will post another update later in the day.

(Unfortunately we are not allowed to take any photos on the test track as there are prototype vehicles performing tests.)

FSG 2011 - End of Day 1

2011-07-27T15:05:00.004-04:00

After the engine team finished their checklists the motor was fired up successfully. Suspension setup remains the last task to be completed before the team heads back to the hotel. Attached are a couple photos of the unpacking of the car.

MRacing Arrives in Germany for FSG 2011!

2011-07-27T10:46:00.006-04:00

The team arrived in Germany today to begin preparation for the Formula Student Germany event next week.

After a long redeye from Detroit to Frankfurt, the team picked up rental vans and dropped of our gear at our first hotel in nearby Russelsheim. HS RheinMain, a local university, has been very gracious by sharing their testing and workshop space with us for the next few days as we prepare for competition. With our luggage dropped off at the hotel, we walked down the street to unpack our crates in the HS RheinMain shop. Unfortunately one of our three crates was lightly damaged during shipping and it appears we've lost some hand tools as a result.

Otherwise everything has gone smoothly so far. The team ate lunch at a nearby hotel-restaurant and is currently performing "bolt checks" to make sure the car is ready to run for testing tomorrow. If time/noise-restrictions permit, we plan to run the motor tonight to make sure all engine systems are functioning properly.

This blog will be continually updated (at least once a day, if not more) from now till the end of FSG 2011, so check back for updates on the team's activity! Photos coming soon.

MIS 2011 - Results

2011-05-15T13:58:00.006-04:00

The [unofficial] results are in!

We finished 6th overall, with the top 10 teams being:

1st place Oregon State University

2nd place Technical University of Munich

3rd place Universitat Stuttgart

4th place Graz University of Technology

5th place University of Wisconsin Madison

6th place University of Michigan Ann Arbor

7th place UAS Zwickau

8th place University of Akron

9th place University of Kansas

10th place University of Applied Sciences Graz

As for the individual events, we placed as follows:

Design: 7th

Acceleration: 3rd

Skidpad: 13th

Autocross 15th

Endurance: 4th

Cost: 13th

Presentation: 27th

Thanks to extensive engine simulation work we were also awarded an FEV Spirit of Innovation Award.

We would like to thank the alumni association for the delicious dinner provided on Friday night as well as all of the alumni and sponsors who showed up to support us.

And a big thank you to all of our sponsors who made this season possible. It is only with your continued support that we are able to carry on a winning tradition as a top 10 Formula SAE team.

For the next couple months the team will be preparing the 2011 car for competition at Formula Student Germany in August, while beginning design on the 2012 MRacing Wolverine.

2011-05-13T22:28:00.003-04:00

We apologize for the lack of updates; the blogging service we use has been down for the past day.

After design we fueled the car up and performed the required tilt test (to ensure that fluids don't leak during cornering) and noise test (to ensure that we don't deafen anybody). Although we passed both, we sprung a small leak in the cooling system during the noise test.

Once this was repaired we headed over to the cost event. Immediately after cost we performed the brake test, completing the full tech-in process and qualifying the car for dynamic competition.

At about 6:30pm we found out that we were one of 14 teams (listed below) to make design semi-finals which ran from 7-10pm. After design semi-finals, and with the sun set, we packed the car into the trailer and headed home for the night.

Semi-Finalists:
Global Formula Racing (Oregon State)
University of Michigan
Rochester Institute of Technology
TU Munich
University of Stuttgart
Cornell University
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
UAS Amberg Weiden
TU Graz
TU Zwichau
UAS Graz
University of Wisconsin
Universidad Simon Bolivar
Virginia Tech

Today, Thursday, we arrived at 8am to prep the car for the first two dynamic events: acceleration and skidpad. After a brief lunch break, and refueling of the car, we got in line for the autocross event.

While no scores have been officially released, we placed an unofficial third in acceleration with a time of 4.000 seconds.

Further updates will be provided in the morning. We apologize again for the lack of updates.

MIS 2011 - Preparing for day 2

2011-05-12T09:47:00.004-04:00

We weighed-in this morning with a 417 lb weigh-in. The team is checking every system on the car in preparation for the days's events. Many of the team members are reviewing the final details for each of their systems to make sure we can do as well as possible. We will be heading to design at 10:30 in the morning. Today is also jam packed with the business presentation, tilt, noise and the brake test to round out the day.

2011-05-11T23:58:00.000-04:00

MIS 2011 - Finished first part of tech inpection

2011-05-11T23:54:00.001-04:00

After a long day at the speedway, we finished the first part of tech in one try. Thankfully, the weather was great and fingers crossed everything goes as smoothly tomorrow for the second part of testing.

Arrived at MIS

2011-05-11T12:59:00.000-04:00

We have arrived at MIS registered and ready to go. We are currently waiting for tech inpection but that may not happen this afternoon. After walking around, we've talked to some great people and see some great cars so it should be a good competition this year

Competition Starts Tomorrow!!

2011-05-10T17:52:00.003-04:00

We're getting the finial tasks done for the car and we'll be packing up and heading to MIS bright and early tomorrow. Tech and registration will be tomorrow with hopefully great weather.

2nd place overall at FSG 2010!!

2010-08-09T08:07:00.003-04:00

MRacing made the run up to the stage twice at last night's awards ceremony, once for winning the acceleration event and again for placing 2nd in the competition!! Both times we were jumping up and down singing "It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine!"

Business: 40th (54.44 points)
Cost: 48th (63.92 points)
Design: 5th (125 points)
Skidpad: 6th (59.96 points)
Acceleration: 1st (75 points)
Autocross: 3rd (96.78 points)
Endurance: 2nd (287.6 points)
Fuel Efficiency: 20th (55.18 points)
Overall: 2nd (814.89 points)

TU Delft took 1st place (866.56 points), and UAS Zwickau took 3rd (776.87 points)

The team will be returning to the States tomorrow.

Damage assessment: Our rear anti-roll bar broke during the endurance race and our .100" thick oil pan had all its material scraped off from bottoming out. The track had two sections where cars were being thrown into the air. Before the race we added a layer of JB-weld to the bottom of the oil pan for some added safety and that seems to have saved us. One more hit and the pan would have broke, and we would not have finished endurance!

The team would like to send a giant thank you to all our sponsors, family, and supporters for helping us get this far! Our success would not be possible without you!!

Endurance completed!!!

2010-08-08T12:46:00.003-04:00

The final four of endurance was a fantastic race. Michael Mosburger drove for us first, consistently hitting times in the 49 second range. For the first half of the race we were the 2nd fastest car on the track behind TU Delft, laying down consistent 48 second laps. Global Formula Racing's car did not finish the race due to a brakes failure. Garrett drove the 2nd half, consistently turning 51 second laps. TU Delft's second driver continued to be in the 49's and they were very hard to catch. There were no problems at the driver change, and no problems with the car on track. The car is currently being measured for fuel consumption.

The entire day was taken up by the endurance racing and there are many spectacular highlights from today. Regensberg's car burst into flames while out on the course, and forunately the driver got out of the car quickly and the fire was extinguished. TU Graz suffered a suspension failure and did not finish. Stuttgart also did not finish due to a powertrain problem. 41 out of 76 teams finished the endurance race today.

TU Berlin's endurance came to a gut-wrenching end when their car repeatedly lost power and came to a stop in the middle of the track. They restarted it every time and would drive another lap before losing power again. Their driver limped the car like this for the last few laps until on the final turn, the car lost power again and they had to roll the last 20 feet at a snail's pace to cross the finish line. If the finish line had been 5 feet further they would not have made it.

The team is overwhelmingly happy and relieved with the completion of endurance. We are packing up our crates before the awards ceremony begins tonight. We still have no idea what the top 5 results are for each event, so we have to wait until the awards ceremony to find out the overall winner.

Skidpad and acceleration results released

2010-08-08T05:03:00.003-04:00

6th in skidpad for 56.96 points

We believe we finished 1st in acceleration for 75 points, but the event officials are intentionally witholding the results of the top 5 in each event in order to make it a mystery who will win the competition overall.

Full results are posted at http://www.formulastudent.de/events/event-2010/results/

5 cars have completed endurance so far.

Many design judges have come by to look at our car today, as well as members from other teams. Engineers from Audisport are visiting our pit this morning as well so we are getting a lot of positive attention.

Competition Day 5: Endurance Race

2010-08-08T02:30:00.005-04:00

The autocross scores are posted and MRacing is in the top 4 along with Global Formula Racing, TU Purin, and TU Delft. Today's endurance race will be run in the order of autocross times from slowest to fastest, so we will be one of the last cars on the course. We will likely be running around 4:30pm Germany time, but it depends on how quickly the event goes. Times for yesterday's skidpad and acceleration have not been posted yet.

The entire endurance race will be streamed live at http://formulastudent.tv

Our two endurance drivers, Garrett Huff and Michael Mosburger, are walking the course right now. It rained this morning and the track is still damp, but drying. Right now it is partly cloudy above the track and a chance of scattered showers is in the forecast so tire selection will be crucial today.

A brief summnary of how endurance works: The race is 22km long, 11km for each driver. No parts are allowed to fall off the car or drag on the ground and no fluids can leak. At the mid-race driver change, the car will be checked over by officials before being allowed to continue. There will be 4 cars on the track at a time, and passing can only occur at designated passing lanes. The 4 fastest cars from autocross will run together after all the other cars have finished. We are in this "fast four" group. Our fuel economy score will be calculated based on our fuel consumption during the race. The race is worth 325 points, and fuel economy is worth another 100 points.

48th in cost, currenly 2nd in autocross

2010-08-07T12:04:00.005-04:00

We scored 63.92 out of 100 points in cost. This puts us at roughly a 20 point disadvantage to many of the other stronger teams, so we need to rely heavily on our dynamic event and engineering design scores.

Garrett Huff started off autocross with two runs in the 54 second range, putting us right in the middle of the quickest teams. Michael Mosburger was able to post a 53.043 and then a 52.539, both times fast enough for first place. However, Global Formula Racing has just answered back with a 52.453 so we are currently in 2nd place for autocross. TU Delft just ran a 52.561 with their first driver. TU Munich is right behind them with a 53.095. Both our drivers have taken their runs so now we are just waiting to see how quick everybody else is. ETS is having problems with shifting, not being able to hit 3rd gear. They can only drive in 2nd and 4th gear. Stuttgart has yet to run. Autocross is far from over so we are hoping to hold on to 2nd place.

The team ran autocross early so that we have adequate time to prepare for design finals which begin at 8pm.

Remember that you can watch the action live at http://formulastudent.tv/

Skidpad complete, sitting 1st in acceleration

2010-08-07T06:55:00.005-04:00

Skidpad did not go as smoothly as planned. Katie Lapham's first run did not count, and her second run was in the 5.2s range. Sam Fowle's runs were in the 5.3's. This puts us in the middle of the pack for the skidpad event.

Sam drove first for acceleration, posting times in the 4.2's because of bogged launches. We made some changes to the launch control settings, and Katie was able to run a 4.004 and then a 3.975. This puts us in first place for acceleration with half an hour left before skidpad and acceleration close. TU Munich, TU Graz, and Global Formula Racing are the closest competitors, running in the mid 4.0's

After Katie's fastest run, members of MRacing who were spread out in the crowd of spectators cheered "Go Blue!" in unison.

The official times will be released later today.

Live streaming of dynamic events

2010-08-07T04:35:00.001-04:00

To watch today and tomorrow's dynamic events live, go to http://formulastudent.tv/

Competition Day 4: Skidpad, Acceleration, Autocross

2010-08-07T02:56:00.003-04:00

Dynamic events begin today with skidpad and acceleration open from 8:30AM - 1:00PM. Each event is worth 75 points.

The skidpad event tests the lateral (turning) speed of the car. The course is comprised of two tangent circles (like a figure-8) in which the car goes around one circle twice, and then switches to the other circle to turn the other direction twice. The average of the times it takes to go around each circle is taken. The acceleration event consists of a straight line track 75m long.

The team just finished up preparing the car. We will be heading to skidpad first, then acceleration. Today's acceleration event should be very exciting. We won the event at MIS with a 3.766s time a few months ago but TU Munich posted a 3.751s time at FS Silverstone. The surface at Silverstone is notoriously fast, so it should be a neck and neck race between MRacing and TU Munich now that we are on the same surface.

Autocross will be from 3:00PM - 8:00PM. The course is a one-lap sprint containing turns in both directions ranging from high speed sweepers, slaloms, to tight hairpins. The result of this event is very important because it is worth 100 points, and it determines the running order for tomorrow's endurance race. We need to place very high in this event so that we will not be blocked by slower cars during endurance.

An update on other teams: Wisconsin suffered a turbocharger failure in the test drive area yesterday and had to swap their spare on. The nut holding the compressor wheel loosened, allowing the wheel to crash into the housing. TU Graz was at the engine test area all yesterday afternoon due to engine difficulties. As of this morning they are still trying to solve the problem.

Photos taken by event photographers can be found at http://www.formulastudent.de/events/event-2010/gallery/

Competition Day 3: Business Presentation, Cost Analysis, Engineering Design

2010-08-07T01:19:00.004-04:00

Today we completed the Business Presentation in the morning followed by the Cost Analysis and Engineering Design events in the afternoon.

We scored 54.44 points out of 75 points for our Business Presentation.

We are still waiting for the result of the Cost Analysis.

After Engineering Design, we were selected for Engineering Design finals along with Stuttgart, TU Munich,TU Graz, Ravensburg DHBW, Karlsruhe IT, UAS Wiesbaden, and UAS Zwickau. The design final is going to be held on Saturday night,and all group leaders are doing their best to prepare themselves for it. This is very promising for our overall outcome because Engineering Design is worth 150 points, and we have secured ourselves a spot among the top 8 in the event!

Competition Day 2: Scrutineering

2010-08-05T12:06:00.007-04:00

We completed scrutineering this afternoon on our third attempt. The car was sent back to the pits for modifications to the firewall and driver positioning. It was a very frustrating ordeal to pass scrutineering and the general consensus among other teams is that the inspectors are being very nit picky this year. Regardless, our team is cleared to drive.

Noise went very smoothly, with our exhaust coming in at only 103dB. The forward-facing muffler mounted inside the sidepod seems to contribute a lot in noise reduction.

Tilt table went smoothly as well.

Passing the braking test took a few attempts, but that is normal. The event officials enacted a new rule that speeds must be kept between 30-40 kph after our car reached 80 kph before the braking zone last year.

All 4 inspection stickers necessary to drive are present on the nose of our car.

The team is currently hosting some executives from Bosch. They are getting a tour of our car and an introduction to the team members. The importance of this visit is huge because it could open the doors to many new opportunities both technically and financially.

Tomorrow we have the engineering design (150 points), cost analysis (100 points), and business presentation (75 points) events.

Competition Day 1: Registration and Scrutineering

2010-08-04T12:00:00.003-04:00

The team completed registration this afternoon and we have already unpacked both our crates into our pit area. We are 39th in line for scrutineering which is going on today and continuing tomorrow. Final preparations are being made to the car so that we can pass through smoothly.

The motorsports atmosphere is in the air here. All day there is the sound of screeching tires and full throttle exhaust notes from cars making laps around the track. Notable cars on the track today were a Mercedes SLS and a Lexus LF-A. Just a week ago our pit area was occupied by Formula 1 teams.

We are sharing our garage with RIT, TU Cottbus, Global Formula Racing, Loughborough, and Stuttgart DHBW. There are posters in the area describing the World FSAE Rankings, in which MRacing is pictured along with 4 of the best teams in the world: TU Graz, Helsinki, Stuttgart, and TU Delft. It's very apparent that we are recognized as one of the best at the competition.

This year, the Formula Student Electric competition is being held alongside ours. They have a separate paddock to house the 15 registered teams. Interestingly, their endurance race will be held at night after ours.

Auto&Technik Museum and some friendly competition

2010-08-03T19:38:00.004-04:00

Yesterday the team visited the Auto and Technik Museum in Sinsheim. The showrooms were filled with cars, planes, machinery, and weapons of all sorts. The museum had many unique and sometimes unusual items on display such as a history of chainsaws, wedding gowns, and vacuum cleaners. In the evening, we checked in to our hotel in Bammental followed by dinner in the beautiful city of Heidelberg.

Today we went kart racing at a track near Karlsruhe. We happened to run into the Fast Forest (Deggendorf) FSAE team. They were there making last minute preprations to their car, as well as their Formula Electric car. They are a 2nd-year team, and it's quite impressive that they were able to build two cars, one gasoline, one electric, with such a small group. Today was the first day they've driven the electric car (just one day before competition begins!) and everything seemed to work properly.

The whole team had a great time karting this afternoon. Competition at the Hockenheimring begins tomorrow with registration and tech inspection. We will be unpacking our crates as well.

New photos at http://community.webshots.com/user/mracingfsae

Testing complete: MR-10 ships to Hockenheim

2010-08-01T13:02:00.004-04:00

Today was another successful test day. No mechanical failures hampered the skidpad and autocross runs. Michael, Sam, and Garrett had ample time in the car to practice their events.

Oklahoma and RIT had plenty of time to drive today as well. ETS was only able to get some skidpad testing done before encountering shifting problems. By the time we left the air base, they were still working on their car.

At the end of the day, we packed up our crates again and loaded them onto a flatbed to be taken to the Hockenheimring. A small group of team members will accompany the race car to Hockenheim tomorrow. The team will be moving to the next hotel tomorrow and have two days off.

Overcoming small obstacles

2010-07-30T18:58:00.002-04:00

The team encountered some small issues trying to get the car out on track today. During engine warm up, the water pump sprung a leak. After installing a new pump and driving the car for a quick shakedown, we discovered that an aluminum insert had pulled out of a rear lower control arm. The rest of the afternoon was spent switching the suspension back to steel components and setting the suspension up again. The car will be ready to run tomorrow morning.

ETS suffered a transmission failure today and had to perform an engine swap in the afternoon. They should be ready to go tomorrow. Oklahoma’s car ran reliably today and they were able to get skidpad and slalom practice done today. RIT arrived with their crate this afternoon, but did not make it out onto the track.

Day 1 at Rammstein Air Force Base

2010-07-29T20:10:00.004-04:00

The team begun competition preparation at 10AM this morning. Unpacking of our two crates went smoothly. We spent the majority of the day getting the car ready for tomorrow’s shakedown. The carbon fiber control arms were installed along with one-piece forged aluminum wheels. System checklists were performed as well. Finding fuel for our car was quite an adventure, as most German gas stations do not have the E85 (ethanol) that our team uses. We did not have the opportunity to fire up the engine today due to the lack of fuel.

Oklahoma University begun their preparation alongside us. They were able to unpack their crates and start their car up. ETS had a late start on their preparation because their crate did not arrive until the afternoon. There was no sign of RIT or their crates today.

We are beginning suspension setup early tomorrow morning and plan to have our car ready for testing by noon. It should be an interesting day having all these teams working side by side and sharing a test track.

Photos are now available at: http://community.webshots.com/user/mracingfsae

MRacing arrives in Germany to begin preparation

2010-07-28T19:26:00.002-04:00

The team arrived in Germany early Tuesday morning at Frankfurt Airport. After checking in at our hotel, we spent the afternoon in Kaiserslautern. The city is nearby the U.S. Air Force Base in Rammstein.

On Wednesday, we drove through Strasbourg, France on our way to the Schlumpf Collection in Mulhouse, France. The museum had several enormous showrooms filled with automobiles from every point in the history of the industry. The vehicles on display were all of French, Italian, and German origin.

Tomorrow the team is heading to the air force base to begin preparation for Formula Student Germany. RIT, Oklahoma, and ETS (Montreal) will be joining us as well.

Photo updates will begin tomorrow, as it very late and the team needs sleep for tomorrow. Goodnight from Europe!

MR-10 en route to Germany for Formula Student

2010-07-16T01:47:00.003-04:00

The 2010 Formula Student Germany competition will be held August 4-8 at the Hockenhimring in Hockenheim, Germany. The venue is a historic racetrack that Formula 1 and other high-caliber racing series have competed at in the past and present.

The MRacing team is nearing completion with preparation for FSG. We will be taking on the best teams in the world at this event. MRacing will be 1 of 5 American teams competing. At last year's event, we were the highest placing American team, at 5th overall. This year we are shooting for 1st place.

The MR-10 has undergone a rigorous summer testing regiment to maximize speed and reliability in Germany. The car is sporting several upgraded components. Most notable is a new lightweight carbon fiber suspension.

After an arduous week of organization and packing, the MR-10 and all the team's supporting supplies and tools were packed into two crates to be shipped to Germany. The crates will be arriving at the U.S. Air Force Base in Rammstien, Germany for a few days of testing prior to the competition.

The team will be arriving in Germany on July 27.

MRACING FINISHES 2ND OVERALL

2010-05-15T22:54:00.002-04:00

The podium results are as follows:

1st - Oregon State
2nd - University of Michigan Ann Arbor
3rd - TU Graz

The awards ceremony tonight was a long and decorated one for the Maize and Blue. MRacing received trophies and prize money for placing 2nd in endurance, 1st in acceleration, and 2nd in all dynamic events. The team also received trophies and money for winning the FEV Powertrain Development award (for outstanding fuel economy and acceleration performance) and the Joe Gibbs Simulation award (for Sumeet's hard years of work on his suspension simulation code). The prize money amounted to over $8000.

We would like to thank all our sponsors, family, friends, and alumni for the wonderful support you've given us. Your contributions directly contribute to our success. We are thrilled with our results and we are aiming for 1st place this August at Formula Student Germany.

GO BLUE!

Fuel consumption looks promising

2010-05-15T15:04:00.002-04:00

The MR-10 used 3.097L of fuel during today's endurance race. Compared to other competitive 4-cylinder cars similar to ours, this number looks pretty good. We are still waiting for other cars to finish endurance and have their fuel consumption measured.

Finished endurance!

2010-05-15T14:39:00.002-04:00

We have just completed endurance with no reliability problems. The car is at the fuel station for a fuel consumption measurement and will be impounded for a standard technical inspection. Michael drove the first half of the race, posting competitive times among Stuttgart, TU Graz, Maryland, and Oregon State. Stuttgart was easily the fastest car on course until a drivetrain failure took them off the track. Missouri S&T was also unable to finish the race after a cone broke their front wing. ETS was not allowed to finish the race due to an oil leak.

No problems were found with our car at the mid-race driver change. Garret found himself in a heated battle with RIT for his half of the race. The RIT driver caught up to Garret shortly after entering the track and Garret was flagged to allow RIT to pass. Garret fought right back and was able to pass RIT a few laps later. RIT stayed right on Garret's tail until he completed the 22 kilometers.

The team is very proud of continuing our string of three successful competitions in a row. There are still many cars waiting to do their endurance race, as well as design finals tonight. The overall placement of MRacing at this competition is highly dependent on the endurance, fuel economy, and design final scores. We will post the results as soon as we find out.

Lunchtime preparation for the endurance race

2010-05-15T12:30:00.003-04:00

The team is currently having lunch courtesy of our parents. We really appreciate the contribution they make every year to keeping our team members running strong during competition.

The first run group of endurance has just finished, and the second group is beginning to line up outside the dynamic area. The MR-10 is making stops at the Kaz Technologies tent and the fuel station before heading out to the track.

MRacing ready for a strong finish

2010-05-15T09:21:00.008-04:00

Good morning everyone, MRacing has reached the last day of the MIS competition. Today is the endurance race, which is worth the most points of all the events in the competition. The result is crucial to the overall result of every team competing. The race spans 22 km which is shared between 2 drivers for each team. At the mid-race driver change, the car is inspected by officials for any leaking fluids and broken components before being allowed to continue. The fuel economy score will also be determined from today's race based on how much fuel each car takes to finish the race.

We are currently setting up the car for the endurance race to ensure the car is fast and reliable. The MR-10 will be running in the faster of the two run groups, scheduled to begin at 1:30 PM.

Unofficial scoring can be found at :
http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/

MRacing finishes top 10 in autocross

2010-05-14T23:16:00.004-04:00

Garret was the first of our drivers to take the course this afternoon, laying down a competitive 68.814 and 65.424. His times were enough to hold on to 6th spot through the first round of drivers. They were bested by TU Graz, Maryland, and Stuttgart's second set of drivers, but Michael charged right back with a 64.670 and 64.111. This landed us a top 10 spot in the autocross event and a spot in the faster of the two heats in tomorrow's endurance race.

The MRacing team was presented with a trophy and $750 at tonight's award ceremony for taking first place in the acceleration event.

The University of Michigan Alumni association came out to support us during the autocross event today. The team shared their experiences with the alumni as we all watched the cars take to the track. The dean of the engineering college, David Munson, was in attendance and was thrilled with the success of our team. Thank you all for showing such strong support for us today!

Tomorrow will be the endurance race. The team is excited for a 22km battle between Europe and America's fastest cars. MRacing showed its potential this summer to be the fastest on track when we scored 2nd in dynamic events at Formula Student Germany, with Stuttgart coming in first. We hope to finish out the strong showing we have had so far at this competition.

MRacing first in acceleration

2010-05-14T11:36:00.004-04:00

Ryan Kraft laid down a blazing 3.882 second run, followed by a 3.888. The crowd erupted after seeing the times. Katie Lapham bested those with a smoking fast 3.766 and a 3.771. The closest teams are Cornell and TU Graz, both in the 3.9's.

After dominating the acceleration event, we moved over to skidpad. Katie put down a 5.15 average skidpad time between her two runs. Ryan ran an average time of 5.25. These times put us among the most competitive teams for the event.

We placed 5th in Cost Analysis, and 20th in Business presentation.

Garett and Michael are preparing for this afternoon's autocross. Our times in this event will determine which run group we are placed in for tomorrow's endurance race.

Static events complete

2010-05-14T00:40:00.003-04:00

MRacing did not advance to design semi-finals. We were shocked to find out that only one team from our design queue was selected, while three were selected from another. Many other high-caliber teams did not advance, adding to the surprise of the judges' decisions.

Although everyone on the team is upset about the unfortunate design result, we are all very excited for the two days of dynamic events ahead. Tomorrow will be skidpad and acceleration in the morning followed by autocross in the afternoon. The autocross result will determine our starting position for Saturday's big endurance race. Please come out to MIS and support us if you are in the area!

Remember to check back for new photos at http://community.webshots.com/user/mracingfsae

Well done in business presentation

2010-05-13T16:29:00.004-04:00

Technical Director John Hooff did an excellent job in the business presentation; the judges were pleased with John's understanding of Lean Manufacturing.

We are anticipating the design event semi-finalist list coming out in the next couple hours. The team has high hopes of being on that list.

Rain tire scrubbing and a quick suspension setup was just completed in preparation for tomorrow's events. The thunderstorms have parted for some very welcome sunshine as many people are gathering around our paddock to take a look at the MR-10.

Competitors having trouble

2010-05-13T14:20:00.005-04:00

University of Stuttgart is having trouble passing noise, measuring at 116dB. Stuttgart is one of the strongest teams attending the competition.

Quote of the day:
"Why are you so heavy?"
-Michael Mosburger to Stuttgart

90/100 preliminary points in Cost Analysis

2010-05-13T14:02:00.005-04:00

We scored 90/100 preliminary points in cost. These points will be adjusted according to the performance of other teams.

The shifter cable mount is cracked, so the car is at the welding tent for quick repairs.

In other news, we have sold a Yoshimura muffler to Rutgers for $450. We purchased the muffler from another team last year in order to pass noise. Rutgers still does not pass noise.

MRacing is track ready

2010-05-13T11:52:00.004-04:00

We passed tilt early this morning and headed to design. The new 45-minute judging session proved to be an advantage. The extra time allowed the fine details of the MR-10 to be fully explained to the judges. All team members said they think it went well. We were judged by an engineer from the US Formula 1 team and he seemed positive about our car.

We then moved to noise, passing at 108.5dB. Braking went smoothly as well, despite traction problems accelerating in the rain. The officials intentionally failed us just because they wanted to see the MR-10 launch again.

Michigan is the 4th team to pass all tech checkpoints.

The team is breaking for lunch and preparing the car for this afternoon's cost event.

Good Morning everyone , May 13th first update

2010-05-13T08:53:00.002-04:00

Good morning everyone,

Despite the bad weather at MIS ( as always) , MRacing's spirit is at high , getting the car ready for fuel , tilt, and design event .

More updates after each events

Photos

Leo

The MR-10 passes tech inspection

2010-05-12T17:35:00.000-04:00

We passed tech inspection with a 409 lb weigh-in. The team is checking every system on the car in preparation for tomorrow's events. We will be heading to brake, noise, and tilt first thing in the morning. Some members are returning to Ann Arbor early to finish preparations for tomorrow's design event.

Day 1 Afternoon Update and Photo Album

2010-05-12T15:33:00.001-04:00

The team has arrived at MIS and set up the paddock area among notable competitors such as TU Fast (Munich), TU Graz, ETS, Stuttgart, Oregon State, and RIT. Kanagawa IT, the team we are hosting from Japan, is situated next to us in the paddock.

The car is currently in tech inspection and should be moving to weigh-in soon. Earlier this afternoon Sumeet Rai met with representatives from Joe Gibbs Racing to explain his self-written vehicle dynamics simulator as part of the team's application for the Joe Gibbs Spirit of Innovation Award.

Photo updates will be posted on this album: http://community.webshots.com/user/mracingfsae

Competition: MIS Day 1

2010-05-12T07:08:00.000-04:00

To all MRacing alumni, family, sponsors, and supporters: we will be posting status updates on this blog as regularly as possible. We appreciate your continued support!

The first competition for the 2010 team is underway:

Car preparation has been completed and the team is departing the shop for Michigan International Speedway. Initial weigh-in is 426 lbs.