Day 4

This is the pivotal final day of competition. If all goes well and the car finishes the endurance event, the team comes back with the University of Manitoba's best result, and a strong overall finish.

The day started yesterday, when the engine guys were assigned to replacing the burnt clutch. The engine came out rather quickly, but the clutch just wasn't right. The borrowed parts weren't of the same engine year, so the pressure plates weren't the right dimensions. Long story short, the clutch was a mix of newer model-year friction plates, with the older pressure plates. The long story would include the fact that the engine guys were coming in while the rest of the team were leaving for the track at 7:30 AM.

Unfortunately, with the time it took to replace the clutch, the engine reinstallation was not properly tested. So when the team tried to start the engine, things just weren't perfect. The fuel pump wiring was not in the same proven position and orientation, so when the team tried restarting the motor, they discovered a short in the fuel pump circuit. The fuel pump also needed to be replaced. With frantic calls for help to the other teams, they found another fuel pump and started wiring and plumbing that in.

All this hectic work means they missed their designated time slot for the endurance event, which adds a time penalty, but a finish with this 2-minute penalty added to their endurance run completion time would still guarantee an excellent finish. The team replaced the fuel pump, and the car was ready for running in the afternoon.

After a long, agonizing wait to stage and start the car, the driver finally pulled away and looked good for his first complete lap. The team was confident of the car's engine reliability, and all the chassis bolts were tightened. The clutch was good. The car was fast.

But then, when the car reached the far side of the track on its second lap, it seemed to crawl to a stop. The chain had broken. Their endurance race was done.

Despite its troubles, this was the quickest, most reliable car the team had ever brought out. Fundamentally, it was the 2004 car with the reliability bugs worked out, with some minor, but as a whole significant performance improvements. After some on-site debugging of the electronics and fuel supply, the car had ironed out all of the previous year's weak points in the engine starting, cooling and suspension uprights, which was the plan from the beginning. The chain failure was caused by too much lateral movement of the differential assembly. The team has every confidence that they can fix this and a bring bullet-proof car to the local Winnipeg autocrosses, and show the way with their speed.

All in all, it was a very educational year for this fairly green team. It will be interesting to watch them at the autocrosses this year, and even more interesting to see what they do and how they do it for their next Formula SAE entry.



On with the autocrosses! Winnipeg Sports Car Club's next autocross is June 12th!

Day 3

Enough with the paperwork, presentations, and scrutineering. It's time to go racing!

As we left off yesterday, the team needed a new ECU box. With the part vendor on site, they took a quick look at the uncommon failure and noticed a wiring oversight. Specifically, the coils were wired in parrallel, when they should have been in series, which in turn damaged the coil driver.

After this fix, and a free new coil driver from Performance Electronics (thanks a bunch!), the engine was finally making sounds familiar to the boys who spent so many hours in the UofM dyno lab. That means it started reliably. With this, the team breezed through the braking test, getting their third sticker, and lined up for the acceleration test.

First run, with the car's limited running time, the throttle stuck wide open, forcing a crawling car to return to its crew, the engine screaming at 11,000 RPM! The sticky throttle, due to an overly tight throttle actuator pivot, was fixed and the team then entered the skidpad event.

With the drivers' limited seat time, the team struggled through the event, posting average times, but times nonetheless. The key to a good finish is scoring in every event, and the team seem to be on track.

Two further acceleration tests were performed, but with less than average times, this because of a worn clutch. The 11,000 RPM crawl was suspected.

In the afternoon, 2 drivers had 2 runs each in the autocross event. The first driver set a slow time, after having spun and rejoined the track. His second run, however, was a dramatic improvement, and again the UofM was setting average, but completed times. But after swallowing a few cones with the radiator, the cooling fan destroyed itself on its bent mounting bracket.

After a quick service from the GM machine shop trailer, a new fan mount was slapped on the car, and the second driver got his 2 autocross runs. With drives that earned him the "cone-killer" nickname, the team had completed all their dynamic events up to that point, a UofM first. The 2005 UofM car's design is certainly on pace, and their drivers would look better were it not for the burnt clutch, which was not changed since this would require a 4-hour service in an action-filled day. The 63rd-fastest time set was among the mere 78 that set times, in a field of 144 registered participants.

Tomorrow, endurance. The track opens at 8:30 AM for the climactic 35% of all points single event. Twenty-two laps of high-performance driving. The car hasn't seen this much running in its entire life, but if it pulls through, it very well may bring home the UofM's best result, through the strength of having completed every single event. A fresh clutch will be in the car and the drivers are nervous and excited to add to the UMSAE legacy.

Day 2

Busy day 2 started bad, with some of those responsible for the sales presentation waking up later than planned, but they quickly got their showers and breakfasts, put on their game faces and completed their 8:30 AM event. Considering they had turned in at 3:00 AM, this shouldn't have been unexpected.

As the sales team were going about their business, the trackside team were pushing the car through its technical inspections. One of the "3 stickers" was on the car, and the team were on their way to get their second when a passerby noticed a leak from the car. The car was losing its freshly-added fuel, and would not pass the tilt test that would have given them that second sticker, since this test is exactly meant to check for leaks at severe angles.

With lots of JB Weld, epoxy and time, the problem was rectified, but now the team had to complete the noise and braking tests, to receive that third sticker. The engine had finally seemed to have gotten reliable starts, and the car clearly passed the noise test on its first try, but now the team faced the brake test, which has traditionally been a struggle for the UofM entries.

Between all this, the car was pushed towards the design and costing events, where the team competently endured the judge's grilling sessions. Scores should trickle in tomorrow.

The first brake test pass, all the judges seemed happy with the braking performance, but the test also requires that the car stay running after brake lock-up, to show that the car can be driven away after an emergency stop. The driver stalled, so close to getting all 3 stickers, and after being pushed out and restarted, the engine was no longer making the right noises.

After many hours of diagnosing, it was finally discovered that the engine control unit for the electronic fuel injection had gone bad, no longer sending spark to 2 cylinders. Diagnosing such an issue on a completely custom car is no small feat, and the correction will be to replace the ECU. As the diagnosis was confirmed at 2:00 AM, calling up the vendor was not an immediate option. The team will have to wait to the morning, where luckily a Performance Electronics representative is on site to cure their problem. And that is where they stand, knowing that they can get that third sticker, to be eligible for the dynamic, points-paying events, and complete the competition with a seemingly reliable package, all with a quick replacement of the ECU.



The day lived up to its hectic reputation. Tomorrow, acceleration and skidpad events in the morning, and autocross in the afternoon.

Day 1

It's now 3 AM, local time, and the team is split between those that will perform the sales presentation, and those that are correcting technical inspection and reliability issues. The sales presentation half just forced themselves to sleep, while the techs are still in the paddock wrenching on the car.

The day has been long. The team made several visits to the tech inspectors, wittling down the problems list to where it now sits at a single issue, where the judges request a closeout between the driver's head area and the engine intake. After this is corrected, the team can get their "3 stickers" that will allow them to compete in the dynamic events. As was discovered in Winnipeg, the engine is still hard to start. Dyno lab reliability once again doesn't translate to as-installed state.

Tomorrow, the team must get through tech, perform the sales prensentation, attend a design review and receive their cost report results. Like the previous years, tomorrow is the pivotal hectic day of events. A slip-up here will compromise their results for the dynamic events of Friday and Saturday. The team remains optimistic of a good result.



Breakfast is at 7 AM.

Arrival

The team has just arrived in Pontiac and are now settling into their hotel rooms. Before the 24-hour non-stop drive, the team had just completed the car, but there was no time for running tests. Although the engine ran trouble-free on the dyno setup, it wouldn't start installed in the car. There was a noticeable header leak, so they hope they can plug that up in Michigan to cure the starting issue and get the car reliable for the rest of the competition.

The next 4 days will define the entire year for the team, and they will go all out to bring home the best result possible. Let's wish them all the best of luck.

Update: It is with great sadness that I must inform the readers of the passing of 3 fellow racers, with a further 5 injured, on their way to this competition. Although the University of Manitoba team members are all safely in Pontiac, Michigan, their Minnesota State University counterparts were not so fortunate as they were involved in a serious highway accident. The team's thoughts go to the families of the victims and teammates.