The 2012 car, resplendent in new colours, performed exceptionally during opening race weekend
The University’s 2012 Formula Student team began the new season with its “best performance so far” at Silverstone, the home of British motor racing.
Europe’s most established educational motorsport competition, Formula Student sees universities from across the globe challenged to design and build a single-seat racing car in order to compete, demonstrate their understanding and test the performance of the vehicle.
Over the race weekend, the School of Engineering team delivered a major improvement on previous years’ showings, thanks to its almost entirely redesigned car.
Significant engineering changes were introduced, from the suspension to the dashboard, creating a machine that was faster, lighter and more manoeuvrable.
Lecturer, Dan Hibbert, who leads the team of third and fourth year Engineering undergraduate students responsible for building, driving and maintaining the car, said: “This year has been the School of Engineering’s best performance so far, coming 4th out of 37 UK Universities, and 18th overall out of 103 international competitors. For the fourth year in a row, the team improved its ranking in an increasingly competitive field of international universities. This year has been particularly successful with the team achieving first place in the business presentation element of the competition.”
The tilt test
The contest is not just about speed. Teams are assessed on a number of different factors, including design and business case, as well as tilt tests and assessment of braking and endurance.
Deputy Team Leader and Mechanical Engineering graduate, Callum Healey revealed the effort that went in behind the scenes.
He said: “The car is more manufacturable, with the introduction of things such as a vacuum formed body and dashboard. The competition is not just about how fast you can go, but also the design. We’ve designed it so we could manufacture 1,000 cars in a year. The design is based on the business plan of the car, which is how we planned it.”
Other features include the introduction of the lightest chassis to date, innovative stub hubs, enhanced braking and an integrated digital dashboard.
In total, around 40kgs of weight has been removed from the finished car to deliver improved power to weight ratio, increased acceleration and more responsive handling.
The team will visit the legendary German track, Hockenheim later this month.
University of Liverpool 2012 Formula Student team
Dan Hibbert added: “The team has done brilliantly and we hope to improve even more in time for Hockenheim.”