We are a team of 7 engineering students who have chosen to accept a challenge; to design and build a competitive Ultra-4 race car on a small budget, and in a limited time frame. Each team member brings a different set of skills to the table, and hopes to take a new set of skills away. Together we will brainstorm, model, cut, bend, weld, and will our ideas into fruition.
The Ultra-4 racing series provides a unique challenge by incorporating a multitude of off-road racing styles into one. Competitive cars must be able to reach speeds of up to 100 mph in open desert one moment, and crawl through jagged canyons the next. Ultra 4 racing began in 2008 and has since become a nationwide league featuring 7 events, and 5 classes. The 4800 class, or “legends” class was designed to give retired race cars and teams with limited budgets a place to compete.
Over the next nine months, we will design and manufacture the core structural components of a 4800 class ultra-4 car, including but not limited to:
- A complete chassis
- Front 4 link suspension
- Rear trailing arm suspension
- Front and rear axle trusses and suspension mounts
- Steering components
In order to build this car, we will have to build it twice; once on a computer, and then again in our shop. Both phases will offer unique challenges, and push us to learn new skills. In order to minimize cost and reduce overall project scope, we are incorporating some cheap and readily available components which we cannot reasonably manufacture. Our engine, transmission, front, and rear axles are among these components.
Every component we make will start life as a solid model in either Inventor or Solidworks. From there, we will use a variety of metal forming processes ranging from cold-forming to precision milling to bring our models to life. Fabricated and machined components will then be married together with a mix of GTAW and GMAW welding processes to form complete parts. At the end we will combine the parts we made with the parts we bought into a car and hope it goes fast!
