The Bodensee Racing Team’s (BRT) “Rollout” – the presentation of the BRT’s new racecar, the Iltis 09 – was a complete success. Roughly 600 attendees took the BRT up on its offer to marvel at the first showing of the new race vehicle. Among the onlookers were teachers and students alike from the HTWG Konstanz, as well as supportive sponsors from the region.
Since the Iltis08, the previous year’s issue from the Bodensee Racing Team (BRT), the students of the BRT have been busy reworking the entire car. The result: a lighter, faster car with brawn. The aim of the 60-student BRT is to bring home as many points possible in the international Formula Student competition.
The team, overseen by team leader Daniel Burgstaller, has developed a completely new suspension and steering system, utilizing harder springs, a new steering concept, and a larger cockpit. Many adjustments that serve the setup of the car can now be made by the driver in the cockpit.
“The most innovative of everything we’ve added to the car this season would have to be the half-automatic transmission feature,”added Technical Director Sebastian Schaaf, “Shifting is now trivial and is automatically dictated by the engine speed.” This new feature should help in particular with the acceleration test event, where the car must accelerate as fast as possible on a 75-meter-long stretch of track.
With the use of composite materials the Iltis09 saved – with bodywork alone – almost 10 kilograms, leading to a total weight of 260kg. Thanks to extensive testing this year’s Suzuki motorcycle motor will now offer an additional 15 horsepower, bringing the BRT’s car to 90 total horsepower. “Without the help of our various sponsors – those nice enough to help us manufacture parts according to our schedule – this project would be impossible,” adds Engineering Economics major Julius Mannherz, in charge of marketing for the BRT.
This is the fourth year of existence for the BRT and participation in the Formula Student race series. This year the team will take the lambourghini-orange Iltis09 along to participate in three events: early August in Hockenheim, mid-August in Austria near Vienna, and beginning of September in Italy. The distinct goal is placing within the top 20.
„The first goal of simply presenting our new, completed car on the stage on the ferry was a huge success. The atmosphere on the lake that night was perfect,” says the 24-year-old team leader Daniel proudly. The organizing committee, headed by Florian Marquardt and Andreas Weisz, were also satisfied with the evening: “The visitors had a great time. People came in from all around – Darmstadt, Cologne, Munich – it certainly proved to be well worth the drive!”
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