Formula SAE
 

Hey everybody,

I am a sophmore mechanical engineering student on the Virginia Tech Formula SAE team. Formula SAE, for those not familiar with it, is a design contest for engineering students across the World. You build a functional Formula stlye race car which is judged in 6 categories. For a significantly more in depth look at the competition you should check out:
www.sae.org and www.fsae.com

The reason I posted this is because the team is currently looking for sponsors with this years car. Everything used to construct the car is obtained exclusively through sponsors. Sponsors can donate money or goods and will be able to have their logo on the car, have banners hung at competition and local auto-x's, etc. Based on how much money or the value of the goods donated.

This is a great opportunity for both parties, We are more than happy to share any and all feedback about the product. In addition to this the car is an excellent way to promote your buisness. It is the main feature in Virginia Tech's Ware lab and takes part in several parades a year. In addition to this the team is one of the top team's in the competiton, having finished 7th in 2002 and 6th/140 in 2003.

Please send any responses to my email adress:

Tamm@vt.edu

The team's website, which is still under development, is www.vtmotorsports.com

Thanks,

Mike

Stickied for 30 days. Good luck! :bigthumb:

If you need a driver let me know...:D

I think we're set on drivers ;) plus you have to be a member of SAE to compete.


But if anyone has any contacts at any companies for me to call that's what I am really looking for.

Right now We are in dire need of new equipment, an additional cbr F4i motor, any internals for the cbr (besides cams), Any type of metal tubing, specifically titanium or alluminium, and finally MOTEC. I really want to put a motec on this car so if anyone can help me that would be wonderful. I appreciate the support and will post some pics after competition but stay tund to the website and you should see some pics here and there of this year's car.

If I were you, I would submit a proposal to companies which would have an interest in what you guys are doing.

Example:

Eibach (www.eibach.com), Intrax (www.intraxsuspension.com), Baker Precision (www.bakerprecision.com), etc.

Pitch the proposal to a magazine, like Sport Compact Car, Car & Driver, etc.

Lastly, pitch the idea to companies which may not have a direct interest, but is great exposure nonetheless. (Nextel, Virgin Mobile, etc.)

Create a professional proposal. Something that is nicely bound/presented. Not something that is scribbled on a piece of binder paper.

Good luck.

Here in the Dallas area we have Dr. Bob Woods from UTA out with his cars and students quite a lot at our local autocrosses. It's become a recent tradition for other area schools to bring out their cars for shakedowns before the SAE competition. The little buggers either break or go like stink :)

Good luck.
Hit up your alumni! A lot of times they company they work for will match the money they give you.
Travis Rouse
University of Texas @ Austin
FSAE Test Pilot

Damn you are lazy... go start calling people up.

#1 sponsor you want is goodyear! that will save you maybe 3000 to 4000 a year and get your team almost unlimited tires.

You can burn through a set with 1 hour of test driving
;)

we are one of 4 teams sponsored by goodyear. So we already have that set, but thanks

The #1 reason I wish I wasn't going to a community college. In fact, it's really the only reason I want to transfer to a real university like UT. :D

I'm on the UW FSAE team, so I know where you're coming from in trying to get a quick and easy contact through this thread. However, I can almost guarantee that there are no easy sponsorships.

Here, each team member (we have a large team of about 35) takes a couple companies and becomes a "team contact" for that company. We try to create more than just a business relationship by actually inviting them to see our car on a regular basis, calling them regularly to keep them updated, and visiting their companies to present a very formal presentation that we've created. This method works fairly well and is also good real world business experience.

It's always hard to find good sponsors though and usually the best ones are those that donate time/supplies rather than cash. (For instance, we have a heat treater that does anything for us at any time just to get a few t-shirts and a small sticker on our car) Alumni are definitely good contacts to keep in mind too, although a lot of them are quite flaky IMHO.

Good luck to you and see you in Detroit!

Tim Ceder
UW FSAE Team 15 - Drivetrain

CU Buffalo racing here!! Funding is a horrid event that must be tackled by the team head on. My advice is try your damnest to give something back to the companies in return for their money. Be it shirts, stickers, advertising days, rides, etc. As always, get that damn car done as early as possible...we are shooting to have ours done before spring break..tuning truly is the key. If you guys are interested I'll post pics of our track day we just had today. The only thing more fun to drive than my FD is our SAE car!!

Scott Engberg
Steering Lead
Co-captain Suspension/Chassis

http://ucec.colorado.edu/~sae/

I was on the FSAE team last year at the US Air Force Academy and saxyman990 on this board was also.

Imagine a team of only 10 people....1 semester design, 1 semester build....I was THE engine guy....MORE work, but I learned a lot.

best piece of advice: keep it simple stupid (KISS)

too many teams trying to do the next great thing....and their cars also weigh 600 lbs...

I agree, tuning is key - motec or tec3 should make it pretty easy though. I think that they both have fairly accurate base ignition maps for the CBR motor. We used a haltech E6K last year....

:)

I was on the Drexel team. We got the forced induction high HP award in 1999 and would have had it again in 2000 but the MAP sensor died and screwed us on our dyno run. Our 1999 car was also quite a spectacle, because the stoner incharge of chassis fabrication messed up the front suspension mounting points. As a result, during the "lock up the brakes" test, the front wheels locked up and then tore the front end off the car. This included the throttle cable. So suddenly you have a car with insane power levels going full boost with no front wheels. :p:

So are there any awards for tht one? :rofl: :rofl:

Yes, it's called disqualification.
;)

Yeah, those were good times, eh Nic? I definately agree with you, it was a SH~T load of work, but definately worth it. I learned more than I imagined I could. Besides, we still managed to have some fun every once in a while...

At least we didn't have to deal with getting sponsorship (we weren't allowed to have any sponsor other than the Air Force).

M's - if you have any questions, want some help, or need advice, feel free to PM me or Nic (suganuma). We both have a pretty good amount of experience with FSAE, as well as racing in general.

Rob

VT eh? I'm at PSU, and am part of the SAE team here. Maybe I'll see you at the competititon, I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it out this year, but next I will, and hopefully I'll be driving next year too. Oh yeah we've got our Motech system hooked up on both of our cars:D . Good luck again.

- Steiner

There needs to be a rx7 meet at the SAE event
=)