University of Queensland enters motor sport arena

The screaming of high performance engines and the smell of burning rubber is a combination guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of any motor sport enthusiast.

For a team of University of Queensland mechanical engineering students, getting revved up about speed is only a small part of the motivation for entry into the Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) car racing competition.

Unlike their much-hyped racing relatives, Formula SAE vehicles must balance high performance with low cost, easy maintenance and reliability.

Professor Hal Gurgenci at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and his students Frank Evans, Anthony Reid and Sam McFerran head the UQ team.

They are looking for University and external corporate support to enter a car in the second annual Formula SAE competition being held in Victoria from December 6 to 9 this year.

"UQ is the first university in Queensland to enter this competition, so we want to make sure we create a good car, as well as a good impression," Mr Reid said.

The Formula SAE competition was formed in USA 20 years ago to give SAE student members a chance to conceive, design, fabricate, and compete with small formula-style racing cars.

"The idea is that the teams are hired by a manufacturing firm to produce a prototype car for what is known as the 'non-professional weekend autocross market'," Mr Reid said.

"The company plans to produce 1000 of these cars each year, and has hired the team to produce a vehicle costing less than $US30,000.

"The cars also need to have mass market appeal, so aesthetics, comfort and use of common parts, and not just performance, is taken into account.

"At the end the cars are taken to a major motor vehicle company for judging and comparison with other competitors".

The cars can be four, five or six speed and fuelled by either petrol. The top speed possible in the event is 105km/h, with cars cornering G forces of 1.4 compared to 0.8 in a normal production car.

Media: For further information, contact Mr Reid (mobile 0400 820 951, home telephone 07 3365 4100 or e-mail: anthonyreid@hotmail.com) or Brad Turner at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2659).