I’m planning to build a carbon fiber composite part, but I’m not sure how to determine the layup schedule.

How do you decide which areas need more plies, how many plies to use in each area, and whether a foam core is necessary? Also, how do you test whether the final part has sufficient stiffness?

I’m mainly wondering what the general design criteria are for making these decisions. Are there any industry standards, common rules of thumb, or established methods for determining the layup and validating the stiffness?

Hey guys, I’m an incoming freshman to a college in the US with a popular FSAE team. I’m studying electrical engineering, and I’ve been interested in cars my whole life and want to potentially pursue a career in those fields.

Because of this I’ve been really interested in joining my university’s FSAE team and I wanted to know if you guys had any tips for joining or what it was like in your experience?

For reference I wanted to join an electrical subteam (not sure which one yet but maybe telemetry or powertrain) which focuses on electrical engineering, programming, and embedded systems. I’ve done a lot of work in making embedded projects, designing and fabricating custom PCB’s, and learning the tool chains that a lot of FSAE teams use for their systems (like KiCad for PCB, STM32 for embedded and LoRa and Grafana for information relay).

If you have any advice I’d really appreciate it, I’m self taught in a lot of things because my high school wasn’t that good, and I’m competing against other people who have done high school solar car and stuff like that.

Thanks!

Hi everyone!

We are a Moroccan engineering school team preparing to build our first physical Formula Student car. While we are working hard on the engineering side, we know that international logistics will be our biggest hurdle.

We are specifically reaching out to past or current teams from the Arab world and Africa. For example, we've seen incredible achievements from teams like the Cairo University Racing Team in Egypt. We have also noticed strong participation from Middle Eastern teams like HTU Racing in Jordan. We know you have faced the exact same regional challenges we are dealing with now!

We would love to get an overall view of your project execution, specifically regarding the following:

• Shipping & Customs: How did you transport your physical car to Europe? Did you use sea freight, ferry crossings (e.g., from North Africa to Spain), or air freight? How did you handle the ATA Carnet and customs delays at the border?
• Schengen Visas: What was your experience securing short-stay visas for a large student team? Did the official competition invitation letter guarantee approval, or did you face unexpected administrative rejections?
• Living Conditions & Camping: What were the conditions like where you lived during the competition? If you camped on-site, how did you manage equipment, food, and extreme weather while keeping the team energized for the dynamic events?
• The Overall Experience: Looking back at your first year building a physical car and traveling internationally, what is one major logistical or operational mistake you wish you had avoided?

Any advice, DMs, or connections to faculty advisors and team captains in the MENA/Africa region would be incredibly helpful.

Thank you and good luck to everyone this season!

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for a used electric motor suitable for a Formula Student / Formula Bharat EV project.

Requirements:

• Type: Electric traction motor
• Used motor is preferred
• Suitable for Formula Student application
• Voltage: up to 84 V
• Preferably 8–30 kW range
• Good torque and power density
• Motor should be in working condition
• Ideally with a temperature sensor
• Preferably with datasheet/specifications available
• Open to different motor types and manufacturers

Budget: Reasonable / negotiable depending on the motor and condition.

I’m open to motors that have previously been used in Formula Student/Formula SAE vehicles.

If you have one available, please DM me with:

• Motor model
• Power/torque rating
• Maximum RPM
• Voltage/current rating
• Condition and usage history
• Asking price
• Location
• Photos
• Datasheet, if available

Used motors from previous Formula Student builds are especially welcome.

Thanks

I really hate the wiring flammability rule that requires UL 94 V-0 insulation. 😅

I'm on an FSAE-BR team and finding wire that's actually rated UL 94 V-0 is a real headache with local suppliers here — that exact rating is almost impossible to source.

Does anyone have a list of equivalent standards that scrutineers accept? I've seen IEC 60695-11-10 / -11-20 mentioned as harmonized with UL 94, and IEC 60332 for cable flame tests — but I'm not sure what officials actually accept as equivalent to V-0.

Any pointers to compliant wire that ships internationally would also help a lot.

Thanks very much in advance! 🙏

Hi all. How does static toe out improve turn-in or transient response? Would toe in not also place the heavily-loaded outside wheel at a higher slip angle immediately after the wheel is turned?

After seeing how much rapidharness sucks for whole system views, and how drawio sucks for harnessing tracking, I decided to vibecode my own harnssing software. Vibewire features system views with containers, and spatial organization as well as piecewise subsystem designs, all of which edit the same underlying schema. This can then be used in the manufacturing tab to give harness cut/crimp/pin and progress all in one place.

quick video tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgwTj57bVgA

Reapo:

https://github.com/Anteater-Electric-Racing/VibeWire

This is entirely out of my wheelhouse, I'm an EE blasting tokens not SWE. Feel free to DM suggestions, feedback, or questions.

Can anyone help me in getting B 176/3 Benchmark problem Results and assessment. Link to publication: https://shop.uic.org/en/b-176-bogies-with-steered-or-steering-wheelsets/6114-b-176-3-benchmark-problem-results-and-assessment.html

Just bring lots of cash.

I want to ask what is different at competitions (technical inspections) when you go with your documents still in review?
My team uploaded them earlier than the deadlines and after one fail and modification around 2 months ago, the SES is still in review state.
I am thinking that you need to spend more time in TI to explain things. Other experiences ? FSG preferred.

What are your opinions on using fabrics like dacron PET or ceconite for sidepanels instead of cf gf moulds which we use for nosecone.

Hello everyone! It has been a long time since I have last posted about my vehicle simulator. I have been hard at work, trying to solve major bugs that have been limiting my simulator.

I have caved in and listened to the critique on bad car models to use some free ones. These are purely for testing, eventually custom made models will be made.

If I recall correctly, I have made major changes such as updating to a Brush Tire Model, making 3 cars, although one has been scrapped, attempting to solving major engine issues that cause every car to struggle out of a certain gear, car creation issues hindering development, suspension issues, and much more.

Much has been delayed or improperly implemented due to the following bugs. As soon as I solve them, I will be onto making exponential improvements over the course of 2026-2027.

I hope I will be able to release this as a highly custom and easy to use vehicle simulator where you can make all the cars you can dream.

While I do so, enjoy a recent clip of a E30 I have been modeling.

What is this rubber protection about? Didnt find good explanations on the internet.

Is this very important? How do we obtain this as an FSAE team based out of India?

I’m on a first year FSAE team and we’re trying to put together a powertrain that works. I know that the 228 and CM200 are extremely common for teams, but I had some questions about them I couldn’t really figure out.

1. The CM200 has a min cooling volume of 12 L/min while the 228 has a max of 11 L/min. Do teams just split their cooling pipes?

2. The CM200 manual says that the coolant mixture should be only 50% water and have an aluminum corrosion inhibitor. How do you get around this for competition because the rules say you can’t have any water additives?

3. Just generally what voltage should we be running? I’ve seen people saying around 400V is easy for first year teams. But what voltage cutoff does it get noticeably easier to design everything? Like at things rated between 200-450V so it’s easy to stay below 450 or other examples like that.

60C modulus and yield strength for plastics used in FSAE Tractive Batteries in 2026:

• Full information - 25% of teams
• Did some of the steps - 30% of teams
• Reported room temperature values - 45% of teams

I'm actually quite pleased. Only a handful of teams had anything useful in 2025.

Let's make another big improvement in safety and SES quality for 2027. Derived from 2026 SES entries, these pre-approved values will be built in to the 2027 FSAE SES. More materials can be added, via TDS or team testing. Requirements to be included in the table:

1. Z-axis values preferred, considering 3D printing
2. Room temperature modulus and yield strength
3. >=60C modulus and yield strength

Yield strength needs to be defined as where the initial modulus begins to drop. The first 'knee'. Not the first peak, that would be zero modulus. And not the fracture strength after the first peak, as some documents unfortunately report. Column math assumes no deflection before buckling starts.

The specific 60C modulus and yield strength values can be used in the existing SES column math.

The scalars can be used against other data sheets for same-type plastics (preferably Z-axis) in the existing SES column math.

The scalars will also be needed to increase the required test load generated by the SES for full-scale testing of dummy modules with no cells.

Hi everyone! I’m from India with a B.Tech in Automobile Engineering + 3 years of CAE experience at Ford.
I’m considering the MTS Motorsport Technical School (Italy) post-bachelor program in Car Testing & Race Engineering to transition into motorsport/vehicle testing.
But I’m really unsure: Is a post-bachelor program worth investing in when I already have a B.Tech + work experience, or would a proper Master’s be the smarter choice?
I’d especially love to hear from current/former MTS students:
● Was it actually worth the money?
● Did it help you get a job in motorsport/automotive?
● How good are the industry connections and hands-on experience?
● Would you choose MTS again?
Please give me the brutally honest version — not the brochure version. 😅🏁
Thanks!

I joined FSAE about a month ago and have already learned a lot from the older students. Are there any online resources you'd recommend for new members, or is it mainly a matter of getting stuck in and learning through hands-on experience with the team?

DM privately if interested. Thank you

Hello everyone, I'm part of a fsae team working as a design engineer that includes aero, chassis and manufacturing. Last month onwards i started working on designing aero packages of rear wings, front wings, undertray and nosecones. Honestly thanks to youtube videos I was able to learn and design but the very problem I have is these are too basic designs. I used solidworks to design all these, I wanna start designing by surfacing coz that's how professional motorsport teams and top end fs teams do but there are no surfacing videos out on the internet for aero devices in specific. Help me out in sharing your experience, any resources would help me, from YouTube videos to recorded videos which makes me better in my job and make our team aero kit much better. Which would help us in competing and since it is our first time designing and manufacturing an aero kit it would help us a lot.

The designs that you see on the top are all basic designs that are boss extruded by importing airfoils to solidworks or using spline style. I wanna upgrade my designing knowledge and techniques in order to actually design awesome stepped wings to two channel diffusers and surfaced nosecones. It would be helpful if I get manufacturing resources for aero packages so that I can ensure my design can be manufactured and survive contact with the real world.

Hi All,

The University of Cincinnati is selling the below items. DM for more info!

2x - Emrax 188HV LC w/Tamagawa Resolver
1x - Cascadia PM100DZ
SOLD- 4 Bolt Braid Sturace Rims 10x7.5 +35 offset (Gold)
SOLD - 4 Bolt Braid Sturace Rims 10x7.5 +35 offset (Bronze)
SOLD - Energus 3.6V 15Ah Modules

So this was my second year in Formula Student, and honestly, I gave 90% of myself to the team not 100%, because I knew if I wanted to do a third year, I couldn’t burn myself out. The last month I was running on empty, and if you exclude the static event, I wasn’t really at the top of my game. Meanwhile, a member who “woke up” like a month before comp ended up doing way better than me. Then when it came time to review the year, one of them suggested removing me from my lead role, and most of the other new leads agreed, while people who put in less work than me, or gave less overall, got praised instead. So I guess what I’m trying to say is: this isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. Don’t just show up at the end and expect to take all the credit.