F1 Racing Car Prototype by SRM Students Proved to be the Best

F1 Racing Car Prototype by SRM Students Proved to be the Best

Deccan Herald
September 12, 2012

A Show of Speed and Design

It was a show of speed and design when budding engineers of India's leading colleges raced cars designed by themselves. However, leaving behind more than 60 teams from across the country, F-1 racing car prototype made by students of SRM University, Chennai, proved to be the best on all criteria at a competitive event.
The second edition of 'Maruti Suzuki supported Supra SAE 2012' at the Buddh International Circuit in Noida saw participation of over 2000 young and enthusiastic engineering students. During the four-day event, these cars underwent several rounds of dynamic and static evaluation including brake test, skid-pad testing and acceleration testing.
The teams who passed in these tests were then tested in the autocross section, where they drove fast in a controlled manner to showcase the manoeuvrability of the car.
Once finished with the autocross section, the teams were given four litres of petrol for two laps on the circuit. Over all, the cars were tested on parameters like vehicle robustness, endurance, and safety.
Pritam Reddy, captain of the winning team of 25, said, "We won because we had finished designing the car four months before the event. We utilised the time in testing our car on all criteria and modifications. Last year, our car could not qualify the endurance test. We worked day and night on that front throughout the year."
Vishnu Prasad and Shidhartha Kumar of the team drove the car in the event. The team includes students of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, automobile engineering, electronics and communication engineering. While all the teams were asked to make some modification in their cars, the one designed by his team was found impeccable.
Cars designed by Sri Krishna Engineering team from Coimbatore and Sinhgad Academy of Engineering from Pune, bagged the second and third position respectively. After the winners were declared, I V Rao, executive advisor, Maruti Suzuki India said, "I am impressed with the high quality of car prototypes created by the teams this year.
Considering this was the first exposure for many of these students, they have displayed exemplary knowledge and expertise in automotive engineering. I am confident that this group of youngsters will play a crucial role in the Indian automobile industry in the coming times of high growth."
The competition started with 63 teams making it to the first round of static evaluation of which only 25 teams could make it to the final round for dynamic testing on the Formula-1 tracks after stringent technical inspections and scrutiny.
"It is a dream come true. Participating and winning in such an event will give us an edge. We already know how F-1 cars are designed, what is team management and how automobile industry works," said Pritam, an automobile engineer.