A group of over 30 students of Poznań University of Technology have built the car "Wilda", with which will compete in the Formula Student competition at the most famous race circuits in Europe. Work on the vehicle took 10 months.
This is the second car built by Poznań students from the team PUT Motorsport. Previous model "Warta" had a very successful debut - in last year\'s Formula Student the team won the best rookie title. In the overall standings PUT Motorsport took 154th place among 600 registered teams.
After this success, young designers from Poznań University of Technology quickly went to work. In Formula Student, every year university teams build new cars and compete with other teams from around the world at some of the most popular circuits in Europe, including Hungaroring, in Hungary or German Hockenheim.
Work on the new the car began in September 2015, more than 30 people were involved in the project.
"At first we had to design everything and analyse what was good in the previous the car and what needed to be improved. All that has to be designed a virtual system and then calculated, and then parts have to be made" - PUT Motorsport chief engineer Paweł Roszyk told journalists on Monday.
Work on the car is not only time consuming but also expensive. The main project partner is the factory Volkswagen Poznań, which offered students its the technological facilities.
"Other sponsors provide parts that we design, but that are too difficult to make ourselves. We have several engineers in our team, but it is not enough to do everything ourselves" - explained Roszyk.
He added that in comparison to the previous model, the new car "Wilda" will be lighter and will weigh approx. 210 kg.
"We are primarily fighting to minimize and centralize mass, and it is not easy, because the car is extremely small. Therefore, the biggest problem is +packing+ the car. It all takes time for engineers to redesign their parts, so that they could be fitted in this car and work together. We are proud that we were able to reduce vehicle mass by 50 kilograms. The plans for this season - we want to get closer to the world leaders" - he emphasised.
Roszyk admitted, however, that student car is very far from the classic Formula 1.
"Our car is much lighter and more manoeuvrable, but it\'s also associated with the specificity of the Formula Student circuits. These are competitions for students, amateurs, so safety comes first. Short straights and very tight corners dominate. Tracks are designed to keep the speed below 120 km/h. From the sports point of view, it is better to focus on rapid acceleration and manoeuvrability rather than on high top speed" - he explained.
Rector of Poznań University of Technology Tomasz Łodygowski believes that Formula Student is an extremely effective promotion of the university. He noted that the project itself is also extremely interdisciplinary, because it brings together students from as many as eight faculties.
"Some specialise in composites, others in virtual design, which is why some people do not even need to know how the engine works. I must also emphasize cooperation with Volkswagen, which also takes part of the responsibility for the education of students, as an industry partner. The university would not be able to do this" - he said.
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