It seems the 2012/13 Formula Student season has flown by in the space of just two newsletters, so this issue has a lot of ground to cover!

USM13 Final Build

March, April and May were exciting months for USM, as our 2013 car slowly emerged from a flurry of exams, deadlines and very late nights.

Semester 2 is always a busy time for the team, but this year the pressure was really on to complete the manufacture of an all-new car concept in time for sufficent testing before the first competition in July.

As the team sweated away in the workshop and welding bay, parts began to trickle in from our machining partners and various suppliers, with the postie bringing new goodies every other day. The image below shows USM13’s differential assembly, complete with parts supplied by Tannlin and Artemis, making the leap from CAD to reality.

Canadian machining research firm Miltera supplied one of our shiniest new toys, a comically small aluminium and titanium steering rack weighing just 383g and costing significantly less than list price.

Long-term machining sponsors Global Datum’s parcel contained four suspension uprights, each designed for ease of manufacture while making the most of the limited space inside a 10” rim, while at least two boxes full of parts cut by Lasered Components found their way on to the car.

We’re also extremely grateful to our new friends from Wire-Cut Technologies for cutting our hardened steel CV housings, some of the last and trickiest components for USM13, and to Ewart Engineering, for treating our chassis to a full powder-coat!

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University of

Strathclyde

Motorsport 20

12

/13

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www.formulastudent.strath.ac.uk

usm@strath.ac.uk

strathformulastudent

usmfstudent

USM13 Launch Night

Later than planned but earlier than ever before, USM13 was finished and ready to launch a good half-hour before the official opening of our 2013 Launch Night on June 4th. Following a successful event in 2012, USM once again took over the foyer of the McCance building to unveil our new car in the company of its predecessor, USM12.

Accompanied by the now-traditional video compilations by our tame cameraman Dave Wilkinson, all of which can be viewed on our team YouTube channel, USM13 was unveiled to the assembled audience of friends, family, sponsors and live stream viewers.

As USM’s first take on the single-cylinder 10” wheel concept, USM13 marks a radical departure from the team’s usual 13” four-pot, and the contrast was clear to see alongside USM12.

Eco Driving Challenge

Team member Bruce Coull wasn’t quite sure what to expect when he volunteered to represent USM in

the Bosch Formula Student Eco Driving Challenge.

Turning up at 3am for a trip to Dundee in a diesel Ford Fiesta probably wasn’t Bruce’s idea of a perfect Friday morning, but he drove his leg at a respectable average of 78mpg, presumably listening to some Radio 4 to liven up the journey.

USM13 Testing

Track testing is the phase in the car’s development during which the team really have an opportunity to fix problems, familiarise themselves with the car and learn how to make the most of the potential available.

After a long, intensely busy week of ironing out bugs and making final preparations, USM13 made its first shakedown runs on June 14th in a small car park on the disused Jordanhill campus, and the early indications of performance were very positive indeed.

As much as possible of the remaining time pre-Silverstone was spent on track at a variety of locations, as the team fought to get to grips with the new beast in time for competition.

FSUK2013 - Silverstone

Silverstone in a heatwave is never a bad place to be, and USM’s first competition of the 2013 season got off to a good start in the unusually tropical East Midlands sunshine.

With a record 25 team members on site to soak up the experience, USM13 was one of the first cars through Scrutineering thanks to the team’s thorough preparation. A couple of minor running fixes saw the team pass the final Brake Test with a good 30mins left on the Thursday schedule, the car weighing in at just 166kg sans fuel.

Next up was a parade lap around Silverstone’s National Circuit, giving rookie driver Azam Din his first chance to stretch the car’s legs while smiling for the cameras.

Friday’s Static events went very well indeed, a tribute to the work put in ahead of the competition. 8th position in Business was a massive improvement on previous efforts, while 17th in Design and a top-6 place in Cost & Sustainability were similarly respectable.

Saturday morning saw the first Dynamic events, with drivers

Azam Din and James Hall securing an excellent 17th position in Skidpad and a decent 5.0sec run in Acceleration. The afternoon’s Autocross served as an opportunity for Jamie Corr and Ross MacSporran to see how hard they could push the car around a 1km course, while also allowing the Engine team to test new map settings in an effort to ensure the car would run sweetly on Sunday.

Following a 6pm Cost Final, the team were absolutely delighted to be presented with the Class 1 Cost & Sustainability trophy at the first leg of the Awards Ceremony, making it 2 from 2 following our success at FSG in 2012 and highlighting USM’s emphasis on minimising production cost and environmental impact.

Sunday morning was the hottest of all, and although USM13 looked quick out on track, the blazing heat proved too much. After stalling out on track, the single-cylinder engine was simply too hot to restart, and the team recorded a DNF for the main Endurance event. As gutting as this was, our strong performances elsewhere resulted in an overall 23rd place with a trophy to celebrate and FSG to look forward to.

www.formulastudent.strath.ac.uk

usm@strath.ac.uk

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FSG2013 - Hockenheim

With three weeks of intensive track testing and a couple of kilos of added reliability on board, USM headed to Germany feeling oddly prepared for the toughest competition on the FSAE calendar.

As one final vital component took shape in DMEM’s 3D printer, just in time to be flown out with Bruce as hand luggage, two cars and a van left Strathclyde for the long drive to Hockenheim. Although the journey was slightly more eventful than planned, with shoes, air and passport supplied by Eddie’s 3am courier service, the team arrived safely in Germany, keen to better our FSUK results.

Despite being towards the end of a long Scrutineering queue, USM were through all checks by the close of play on Thursday and ready for Design at 0830 on Friday. Another strong Static performance secured 229 out of a maximum 325 points on offer before the car headed for a wet Skidpad session.

Acceleration on the Saturday morning really showed the benefit of our testing efforts, with launch

control and an improved engine setup helping USM’s drivers post consistent 4.6sec runs.

Autocross was a chance to show what USM13 could really do, with both drivers pushing hard and Ross MacSporran posting a highly respectable 84.4sec to earn 23rd place and a good slot in the Endurance running order.

With the car running flawlessly and a new starter motor cooling duct finally seeming to alleviate our hot-starting worries, USM13 was on a flyer for Sunday’s Endurance. Seconds fell off the lap timing board, the driver change and restart went beautifully and the car romped home to take 20th in Endurance and 20th overall, putting USM 2nd out of the British teams competing and 4th out of the non-winged cars.

Onwards and Upwards

With two strong performances to follow and a solid base to work from, there are big things to come from USM for the 2013/14 season! Thank you to all our sponsors and supporters who keep this team running, and please watch this space - USM14 is on its way!