Useful References

• Race Car Vehicle Dynamics by Milliken for first principles of the engineering design.

• Drive/Tune/Engineer to win by Carrol Smith books provide a good reference of racing engineering, mechanic, and driver skills. Not as formulaic as Milliken.

Recommended Businesses

• Competition Suspensions Inc. builds racing dampers, but also has a full machine shop capable of completing FSAE jobs.

Useful Tools

• Rolling jack stands are incredibly useful for moving the chassis around your shop without needing wheels on or having to steer the car. These are used in dirt track racing a lot, but are equally useful for FSAE. The link goes to a pair from Speedway Motors.

• Electric ratchets are awesome for tearing down or rebuilding a car with a much lower risk of stripping bolts compared to an impact gun. I like these from Milwaukee- I didn’t get one until after college for my garage, but wish I had known to get one earlier!

Safety Gear

• Used safety equipment can vary quite a bit in how functional they are. The more that fire-resistant material is worn and washed, the less it protects you in emergencies.

• If you’re US or Canada-based, and are looking for particular sizes with a budget for used gear, email me and I can help try to find appropriate gear for you.

I do not currently have a preferred safety gear supplier, but have had good experiences with Simpson Race Products, CarbonX, Alpinestars, Sparco, and Arai.

Other Sites

• FSAEparts has a good set of blog posts with a lot of different advice topics.

• Kaz Technologies has info on FSAE dampers and a good steering rack if you’re looking to buy off-the-shelf.

• Summit Racing & Jegs are good suppliers for racing equipment.

• AN Hose Fittings are super fast to ship and provide quality cooling fittings that don’t need thread sealer.

• McMaster and Digikey are industry standard for mechanical and electrical parts in the US.

Senior Theses from MIT Motorsports

Here are links to some of my teammates’ senior papers that are available online. Everyone linked here was involved in the team during my tenure.

• FSAE vehicle model & simulation by Cheyenne Hua

• FSAE vehicle dynamics, kinematics, and tires by Audrey Gaither

• FSAE monocoque analysis by Oliver MacNeely

• FSAE brake design by Luis Mora

• FSAE battery pack design (MY17) by Henry Merrow

• FSAE battery pack design (MY19/20) by Ethan Perrin

• FSAE 4WD analysis by Elliot Owen

• FSAE electric powertrain by Brian Wanek

• FSAE powertrain analysis by Sammi Bray

• FSAE motor control/VCU by Alvaro Melendez

• FSAE cooling system by Harriet Chiu

• FSAE electronics cooling by Aslı Demir

• FSAE steering thesis by Steven Gerasimoff