CR20
Sia
2024
CR20 set out to be a vast improvement on CR19. Development started early in the academic year with the inclusion of an E-Throttle as well as a large amount of testing to better understand the previous car that was built and how to improve upon it, not to mention ample opportunities for the drivers to practice and get quicker. This testing also included a day at University of West of England’s (UWE) wind tunnel to help us when redesigning our aero package as well as a day at the Horsepower Factory to get the car mapped.
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Early in the design of CR20 the team had set their minds on returning to a European competition after a challenging few years. Excluding the logistics and price of getting the team and car into Europe, a challenge the team faced was the slightly different ruleset for the car, specifically the strength specifications regarding the side impact structure. In order to meet European specifications, a hybrid chassis panel was developed using titanium to increase the shear strength of the side impact structure, while maintaining the design and material of the remainder of the monocoque.
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New to CR20 was a backplate at the rear of the car which increased stiffness enabling a new roll hoop design, as well as increased rigidity for suspension mounting points reducing compliance. A big focus at the front of the car was a redesign of the suspension package with new front uprights to improve the performance and handling of the car as well as the inclusion of a front anti roll bar.
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Testing at UWE’s wind tunnel informed the teams decisions on the aero package this year. New sidepods were manufactured with the aim to maintain cooling capacity while reducing drag generated by the rear wheels. The front wing saw improvements to the elements, with a deflector placed in front of the tyres to direct air over the tyres, while the endplates were reshaped to further reduce the wake generated by the tyres, increasing outwash. Rear wing endplates were next on the list, made larger to help reduce the airflow escaping from within the underside of the wing, limiting unwanted turbulent vortices.
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The aim of the team this year was to ensure a month of testing was possible with the car before the UK competition. With the car being finished three weeks before the start of FSUK several test days were able to be completed, shaking down the car and bringing the drivers back up to speed with the dynamic events. This time allowed for the team to identify as couple small areas on the car that needed to be changed prior to competition as well as have time to prepare for each of the static events to improve our points haul. During the late stages of production for CR20 our long-time team technician Lee Treherne announced he would be leaving his role at Cardiff University for pastures anew. With this news of a core individual to Cardiff Racing of 20 years moving on the team rallied together to complete the car and prepare best for competition.
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Arriving at competition the team were confident, having completed a great number of miles during testing and having a well-rounded team with a great mix of experience and youth. It was a slow but steady start to the competition with scrutineering and static events taking their time, but the car managed to pass scrutineering on Friday afternoon before the start of dynamics. Results from the static events filled the team with positivity going into the weekend with an improvement in points in Business and Design over the previous year and placing 6th in Cost only just missing out on the final.
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After a late night on Friday preparing the car for dynamics on the weekend, we had a difficult start to Saturday with acceleration runs that were quick enough to enter the shootout but were down on what we knew the car was capable of, scoring us 4th position. Skid Pad saw an improvement on times achieved at previous competitions netting us 5th. Saturday afternoon was also set to be tricky for the team with an initial Sprint run being down on the pace we knew was capable of the car due to technical issues. The team were able to make some speedy changes to the car on Saturday afternoon and go back out for the last sprint run to set the third quickest time of the afternoon setting up a very exciting endurance on Sunday.
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As the final day of Formula Student UK rolled around moods were high as the team knew that finishing endurance would put them in a very good position for some silverware but historically had also been a weakness. The morning was tense as the whole team knew what was on the line, the endurance drivers went down to the test area early to get their eye in for the day warm the car up. Our endurance run started well with our first driver setting consistent but competitive times and would have completed a flawless stint if it were not for a false chequered flag bringing the car in halfway through the driver’s stint. After the correct chequered flag at the end of the stint the driver swap went smoothly, and the second driver brought the car home through some traffic on track to finish endurance for the 2nd year in a row.
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Spirits was high for the remainder of the afternoon going into the evening as although we hadn’t topped any event, we had been consistent and scored good points, finishing P3 in endurance and P3 in efficiency. At the award ceremony that evening the team we ecstatic to hear Cardiff Racing announced as runners up overall finishing just 0.2 points ahead of third place. This marked the team’s best results since winning FSUK in 2017 and finishing FSUK 2024 as the highest placed UK team!
Following the high of finishing second at FSUK the team had little time to rest or celebrate before heading back home to prepare and pack for Formula Student Czech. After many long days and a short shakedown of the car, the team were packed and ready to travel to Most in Czech for the next competition. After a long journey across Europe, we arrived in Czech ready to get going. The Czech competition is set out differently to that of FSUK with separate classes for electric and combustion vehicles unlike in the UK where they all compete with one another.
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Cardiff Racing’s first day at Czech was productive with a start to scrutineering being made with only some minor issues being raised, as well as our first static event going well in the form of the business plan presentation. The scrutineering progress stagnated on the second day when an issue with the E-throttle become more complex than expected. Despite this, we were able to prepare and complete the rest of the static events and were pleasantly surprised to be in the Business final in the evening showing that the teams hard work towards statics this year had paid off.
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Things continued to improve the following day, with the teams scrutineering issues being sorted allowing us to complete the demonstration run around the track with the rest of the teams. To top the day off we made it to the design final rounding off a very strong showing in the static events, finishing Cost in 6th, Business in 4th and Design in 3rd.
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Heading into dynamics we knew that some strong and consistent performance and points would put the team in a great position, even up against some other very quick combustion cars from around Europe. Skidpad and acceleration was a similar story to FSUK with a stronger skidpad time than we had previously been able to do with other cars but uncharacteristically not as quick in a straight line. Progressing to the afternoon for autocross we knew we needed a quick lap time, our first driver set two clean banker laps to start with before our second driver managed to go and set a time that ended up being the third quickest combustion lap of the day, despite there being a spill on track and it having to be covered in sand.
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Saturday arrived with the week flying, by it was time for endurance. The morning was again spent methodically checking every aspect of the car preparing it for our endurance run. Our first stint was quick although did include several cones being hit which would have resulted in a small-time penalty. Heading out for our second stint we would be on track with several quick combustion and electric cars at the same time but all we had to do was bring the car home. Unfortunately, an issue with the E-throttle caused the car to lose drive halfway through the last stint. The driver was careful to crawl back to the pits with a hampered car where a reset managed to resolve the issue. But heading back out the same problem occurred again on the downhill section of the track causing the marshals to have to call the car into the pits resulting in a DNF for endurance.
Although this was a heart-breaking way for the team to end the summer of competitions, we were still able to hold our heads high having performed excellently at Czech finishing P6 overall and beating our local friends and rivals UWE. Returning to Cardiff everyone could be proud of everything this team and car had achieved and look forward to doing it all again next year.
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We would again like to thank all of our amazing sponsors who without them, the success of CR20 would not have been possible. We would also like to thank of the staff and students who helped the team produce the car as without their help none of this would be possible. Finally, we would like to thank those that left the team after this year, our team leads who lead us through both competitions and sacrificed so much of their time to the team, and Lee Treherne who had been at the heart of everything Cardiff Racing for the past 20 years, through all of the highs and lows of the team and positively affected the team and so many students through their time at university.
SPECIFICATIONS
Body: Aluminium Titanium Hybrid Honeycomb Half Monocoque with rear steel space frame
Brakes: Custom 159mm steel discs
Callipers: Front - ISR 22-048-OB, Rear - AP CR4226-2SO
Suspension: Front Underfloor Mounted Pullrod Actuated Unequal Length Double Wishbone. Rear Pushrod Actuated Unequal Length Double Wishbone
Tyres: Hoosier 16.0x7.5-10 R25B / R20
Wheels: OZ 10" Magnesium
Engine: Triumph 675 Street Triple, DOHC, running on E85
Compression Ratio: 13.4:1
Inlet: Custom Laser Sintered Plenum with Electronic Throttle Body
Exhaust: Custom titanium design, absorptive/reactive, two-pass
Drivetrain: Drexler Differential
Final Drive: 3:33
Length: 2853mm
Width: 1487mm
Height: 1195mm
Wheelbase: 1540mm
Track: 1190 / 1120mm