FSAE 2009 Car Launch

For many, the chance to drive a race car is a childhood dream.  Nothing else quite compares to the thrill of flying around corners and being buffeted by g-forces and screaming engine noises.

The Monash Motorsport Team brings such dreams to reality, giving Monash Engineering students the chance to experience life in the fast lane.  Each year the team designs, builds and then races a small open wheel prototype race car, competing against other universities from around Australia and abroad.

Recently, hours of hard work paid off as the team celebrated the launch of their new car. Over 100 staff, students and sponsors attended the event to see the car unveiled. 

“It’s quite a sight,” commented one sponsor.  This is the kind of reaction the team was hoping for, having styled their car on an F-22 Raptor fighter jet and the Lamborghini Reventon.

 “It has been a frantic few months getting everything ready,” explains team leader, Rachel Mace.  “It has been a fantastic team effort and we have succeeded in putting together a really competitive vehicle.  It wouldn’t be possible without the help of our sponsors, particularly the Faculty of Engineering at Monash, so it’s great to be able to thank them and show them a finished product here tonight.”

The car is powered by a 600CC 4-cylinder naturally aspirated Honda motorbike engine that has been tweaked to produce over 80 horsepower (60kW).  This means the car, that weighs only 240kg, can blast from 0-100kmh in less than four seconds!  The car features a semi-automatic gear shifter that reduces shift times to an impressive 100 milliseconds.

The team will compete in this year’s competition from December 10-13. “Monash is really well placed,” Rachel points out. “It would be great to see a big crowd at the event to cheer us along!”

For more details see www.monashmotorsport.com