Formula SAE Electric SPEED Team

The powertrain is the heart and soul of the vehicle. Without it, we could not even consider it an automobile. Which is why we take the utmost care in designing and manufacturing all the systems and components that go into the powertrain.

Our responsibilities include designing the intake, exhaust, and gas tank. Additionally, we tune our motor and set up our wiring for the ECU for optimum horsepower and torque. This year we are utilizing a KTM 690 single cylinder motor for our engine. Our motor is tuned on our in-house dyno setup using a Land and Sea DYNOmite dyno device.
 

Our goal as drivetrain leads is to develop a system of interacting parts that deliver power from the engine to the wheel as efficiently as possible. Achieving this means working closely with powertrain, chassis, suspension, and brake sub teams to create a well-integrated system.

We use CAD, analysis, lap simulation, and other programs to engineer an optimized drivetrain system to achieve our sub-team goal. Developing a drivetrain system means having thorough knowledge in power transfer, gear ratios, differentials, axels, pneumatic systems, and the interaction of these parts.

The tire is the most important part of any automobile, and a suspension system designed for the tire is crucial for performance. The Clarkson Formula Knights uses pushrod actuated, uneven double wishbone suspension in the front and rear of the car.

The car features a blade style anti roll bar in the front suspension and a torsional anti roll bar in the rear which doubles with actuating our third damper. On each corner of the car, we use Ohlins TTX25 MkII dampers with H&R springs. Keeping us hooked up is the Hoosier LC0 tire on OZ Racing Magnesium Wheels, and pointing us in the right direction is a NARRco steering rack.

Much of the suspension is machined and fabricated by team members in our machine shop, allowing for us to have hands-on experience in both design and manufacturing.

The ergonomics subteam is responsible for making the interface between the driver and the car as seamless as possible to ensure that the driver is as comfortable as possible.

We are in charge of designing and manufacturing the steering wheel, paddle shifter mechanisms, dash, seat, headrest, pedal faces, foot cups, and anything else that the driver may interact with. We use almost every tool that we have access to in our machine shop, and also use a lot of our own equipment to do more niche work, like carbon fiber layups and infusion.

Detailed Specs:

• CFRP Seat
• CFR Onyx steering wheel
• Quick detachable splined steering hub
• Aluminum adjustable pedal box with inclined master cylinders
• Integrated composite dashboard
• Motec display

The chassis is the bracket which allows each of our subteams to incorporate their ideas and designs into one hopefully moving vehicle. Every subteam depends on the chassis, making it a very important part of our car.

Designed by the chassis subteam, the car has an all steel space frame chassis which is cut, bent, and notched by VR3 Engineering. It is then assembled and welded together in our shop before being painted.

• Wilwood Gp200 calipers
• Four wheel disk brakes
• Fedhill hard brake line
• Custom cast iron rotors
• Dual Tilton master cylinders with bias adjustmen