Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 31, 1993 TAG: 9310290020
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The last few weeks, it has been paraded around Martinsville Speedway and tested at the Goodyear Tire facility in Akron, Ohio.
Such is the life of the race car built by the Virginia Tech Society of Automotive Engineers.
The car builders come from programs such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and engineering science and mechanics within the College of Engineering.
"It's like an addiction - the more you work on the car, the more you want to work on the car," said Dee Wood, a senior from Stuart and the daughter of Delano Wood of stock car racing's Wood Brothers. "It's kind of hard to realize sometimes that you have other classes. You find yourself pretty much spending all of your time in the shop."
Of course, there are benefits of spending so much time on the race car project. Building it allows students to put to use the knowledge they have learned in a variety of different classes in a real world setting. It also provides them an understanding of what happens after engineers design a project.
"One of the benefits of working on this project is you learn how to use the all the different shop equipment," said Harry Hess, a junior from Charlottesville. "There is a class where you learn the basics. But here, you fashion all the parts of the car using them. So you learn to think about the person who has to do that work when you're designing the car."
The car is built from a variety of sources. It is powered by a 95-horsepower motorcycle engine. A single-gear transmission, automobile suspension parts, tubing and an aluminum cockpit make up the rest of the open-wheeled racer. And on each of the four wheels is a special Goodyear racing tire.
"Driving it can be a most intense experience," said Vic Seaber, a junior from Durham, N.C. "It's hard to explain by the numbers."
The top speed - 85 mph - doesn't sound like much. But it doesn't take long for the car to get there. It accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in 3.48 seconds. And it can keep its speed in tight situations, pulling 1.8 lateral G's - nearly twice the cornering ability of any production automobile.
Those characteristics have helped make Virginia Tech a national power in the national collegiate competition every May in Detroit.
Cars are judged in racing, auto cross, acceleration, skid pad tests, design, cost analysis and group presentation. Tech has finished in the top five the last three years, including a national title in 1991.
"You do a lot of cost accounting," said Ron Oliver, a senior from Manassas and the team captain. "You look at the profitability [of the design]. That's what it is all about."
Cost accounting is also very important for another reason. While the society is a student organization, about the only support it receives from Tech is lab space and equipment. The group must raise money to build the car.
"A couple of times a year, we try to go to a special event," explained Mark Jones, a junior from Richmond.
Those outings include representing Virginia Tech at student expos and going to places like Martinsville Speedway. By doing that, the group brings exposure to the car-building effort which helps bring it money and sponsorship. And that helps keep the formula race car going around the track.
by CNB