The 2016 Baja SAE competition may be eight months away, but this year’s team is already hard at work designing Raider, their 2016 vehicle. After participating in the 2015 competition last year with XV, UCI’s first Baja car in ten years, the team has gotten invaluable feedback that is being utilized to drastically improve the design of this year’s car. Among other changes, Raider will be switching to a semi-trailing arm rear suspension; the chassis will be narrowed, shortened, and made lighter; and the powertrain of the vehicle will be geared more towards an acceleration quicker than last year’s.
Pictured above is a new team member installing one of XV‘s front brake calipers after having disassembled and analyzed the suspension components more closely. As part of the team, student members develop skills like consideration of fabrication feasibility and packaging management that are frequently overlooked in traditional classrooms.