Body and soul rule at 2012 formula SAE

Months before the Formula SAE Michigan competition in May, teams were hashing out product development decisions. The end-game was presenting a racecar that had the right stuff for earning high points in the challenge's vehicle design evaluation as well as the acceleration, skid pad, endurance, and autocross dynamic performance events.

THE MAJORITY OF TEAMS PARTICIPATING in the 34th annual F-SAE challenge at the Michigan International Speedway opted to power their racecars with a sport bike engine from Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki or smaller engines from other manufacturers. Several of the veteran teams pinned their drivetrain to a steel spaceframe, or a monocoque-as was the case with England's Oxford Brookes University racecar.

“When we first started in 1999, our car was an aluminum sandwich panel monocoque,” Luke Evans, Oxford Brookes University's chassis group leader, told SAE Magazines.