Over the summer, team leaders have worked to create designs for the 2014-2015 car nicknamed Panther. FSAE has introduced new aerodynamic design rules for the upcoming year. Therefore, to speed up the aero design process, a Senior Design team has been formed. Our plans for this year are to finish the car as soon as possible to allow the most testing time. To accomplish this, we will minimize the amount of changes from last year. This includes using the same chassis tool and engine brand/model. The designs to suspension, drivetrain, and the brake systems will only have slight optimizations. The suspension team is working to improve steering feel and decrease the steering radius. The drivetrain team is utilizing a center lock wheel design for lighter weight and improved strength. The brake system will have bigger front rotors and different calipers to improve deceleration and lower braking temperatures.
Since the school year has started the team has worked to organize each design team and prepare the shop for manufacturing to begin. Due to the ongoing Phase IV construction, the Baja SAE team has moved in with us at the Foundation garage. In order for us to have room for both teams, we have worked to clean out the shop and organize it as best we can. The team should receive funding from the university within the next two weeks, so manufacturing will begin soon. In the meantime, we have continued testing 2014 Jaguar, which includes an endurance test that we finished at the spillway. We were able to borrow cones from Salina Region SCCA and successfully completed 30 laps of a mock endurance track. The weather even decided to rain throughout the test following the driver change. The car was able to finish, without complication regardless of the weather and track conditions, which marks a milestone improvement over previous years.