What is Baja SAE?
Baja SAE, casually referred to as Mini-Baja, is an international design competition in which college students are responsible for designing, fabricating, and racing an off-road, one passenger car. The vehicle must utilize an unmodified 10 horsepower Briggs and Stratton 4-stroke engine and be designed for the non-professional off-road enthusiast. The vehicle is evaluated at competition based on many aspects of engineering such as: design, sales potential, manufacturing, cost considerations, and overall safety. Students are even evaluated on their technical writing skills through the judging of a Design Report and Cost Report. The vehicle is also subject to arduous testing through a Speed and Maneuverability course, a hill climb, a rock climb, and a grueling four hour Endurance course.
Recent Results
Congratulations to the MSU Baja Team on their recent race at the University of Louisville's Midnight Mayhem. The team placed 15th out of 30 teams from 20 different universities. Given the level of competition and the newness of our baja program, this is a result to be proud of. During the 4-hour endurance race on an extremely muddy track, the team made 19 laps and ran for all 4 hours without any major failures. Some pictures and video of the race can be found here.
2009-2010 Team Members
Cameron Hayes, Senior, Team Captain
Justin West, Senior
Clinton Edge, Senior
Ryan Martin, Senior
Thomas Heath, Senior
Caleb Reddick, Senior
Heather Ferguson, Senior
Eric Ornella, Senior
Tyler Frank, Senior
Brandon Humphreys, Senior
Andrew Brigham, Junior
Luke Jenkins, Junior
Lyndsey Cleaver, Junior
Bradley Cobb, Sophomore
Dr. James Rogers, Faculty Advisor
2009-2010 Vehicle Design
The 2009-2010 MSU Baja vehicle improves on last year's design which was MSU's second Baja vehicle. Improvements include a return to 4-wheel independent suspension, improved front suspension travel, increased ground clearance, redesigned braking system, and improved driver comfort.
Key design features include a Honda, 5-speed transmission, centrifugal clutch transmission. To incorporate this transmission into the powertrain, the crankshaft of the Honda transmission was removed and replaced with a custom-fabricated shaft. A solid linkage connects a shifter on the driver's left to the shift mechanism on the transmission. By incorporating a tranmsission with a centrifugal clutch, the need for a clutch lever and cable is eliminated making the car easy to drive.
Both the front and rear suspensions incorporates a double wishbone design supported by Foxx Podium X shocks and Hypercoil springs. Top speed for this year's vehicle is 33 mph. This could easily be increased by changing the sprocket ratio between the engine and transmission but increased speed would come at the expense of low-end torque. Given the endurance course layout and other dynamic events, the team feels the chosen overall gear ratio is optimum.
For more information on the MSU Baja Team or if your interested in joining the team, please email Dr. Rogers.