<p>The team NITK Racing, a group of 25 young and energetic students from National Institute of Technology-Karnataka, Surathkal, who had made India proud by being the only team from the nation to take part in the Formula SAE contest at Michigan last year, is all set to put its expertise to test with the redesigned version of the formula race car.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The team has modified the old car and has come up with the new race car NRXII (NITK Racing 12), which would give stiff fight at the FSAE, formula-style race car contest organised by the Society of Automotive Engineers at Hungary this August. NITK team had designed the formula race car last year at a cost of Rs 14 lakh and participated in the FSAE contest for the first time ever in May 2011. <br /><br />However, the team could not fulfill the dreams of making its place in the top position due to the technical snag. The team was not allowed to take the car to USA and was hence forced to return to India from London Airport, owing to the custom issues. <br /><br />Hence, the NITK Racing team did not take part in the live demonstration of the racing car and was forced to limit their participation for presentations on marketing the car and its design. Despite all the odds, the team succeeded to bag 90th position among the 130 teams that participated in the contest.<br /><br />Ready for the show<br /><br />Having learnt lessons from the bitter experience of last year, the team NITK Racing consisting of new student members has made up its mind to do its best and occupy place among the top 10 teams at the contest this year. NITK Racing Captain Sachin Kamath said that the car has been built keeping the design simple and has been manufactured to suit the Indian terrain as well. <br /><br />The car has been already modified with regard to intake and exhaust. <br /><br />Sensors have been installed and a new carbon fibre body shell has been fixed by replacing the fibre reinforced plastic (which the old car was made of), to make NRXII the lightest car in India. <br /><br />The car which takes eight to ten months to be assembled and integrated runs on an imported Honda CBR 600 cc Engine and the car’s chassis is of defense grade material.<br /><br />The 600 cc car can do a speed of 100 km/hr and a little more due to the rules set by the organisers. The car conceived, designed, fabricated and marketed by the students is currently undergoing tests at various levels. <br /><br />Rs 16 lakh<br /><br />Speaking to City Herald, NITK Racing Marketing Head Siddharth M H said that the designing and manufacturing the car costs about Rs 15 to16 lakh but the overall budget of the project including the transportation of the car by shipping or via flight would cost upto Rs 30 lakh. <br /><br />Though the cost appears to be on the higher side, it is meagre compared to the expenditure of foreign teams. <br /><br />“The foreign teams spend even upto Rs two crore for manufacturing formula race cars for the contest. Our car is appreciated for the cost-effectiveness and the performance,” he said.<br /><br /> The team has received a few sponsors including C&C Alpha Group, the NITK Alumni Association, Bosch, Race Dynamics, VRL, National Instruments and Autoforms. <br /><br />The marketing team is looking forward for more logistic support and the interested can visit www.nitkracing.com<br /><br />What is Formula SAE? <br /><br />Formula SAE is a student engineering design competition organised by SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) International. The challenge is for the amateur autocross racer to build a Formula-style race car. It consists of three major stages namely the design, construction and performance. Teams entering the competitions are run and operated solely by University students, helping them develop their skills in design, management, communication and research in a real-world environment. The two teams representing India at the FSAE contest this season are team NITK Racing and the team from Bits Pilani.<br /><br /></p>
<p>The team NITK Racing, a group of 25 young and energetic students from National Institute of Technology-Karnataka, Surathkal, who had made India proud by being the only team from the nation to take part in the Formula SAE contest at Michigan last year, is all set to put its expertise to test with the redesigned version of the formula race car.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The team has modified the old car and has come up with the new race car NRXII (NITK Racing 12), which would give stiff fight at the FSAE, formula-style race car contest organised by the Society of Automotive Engineers at Hungary this August. NITK team had designed the formula race car last year at a cost of Rs 14 lakh and participated in the FSAE contest for the first time ever in May 2011. <br /><br />However, the team could not fulfill the dreams of making its place in the top position due to the technical snag. The team was not allowed to take the car to USA and was hence forced to return to India from London Airport, owing to the custom issues. <br /><br />Hence, the NITK Racing team did not take part in the live demonstration of the racing car and was forced to limit their participation for presentations on marketing the car and its design. Despite all the odds, the team succeeded to bag 90th position among the 130 teams that participated in the contest.<br /><br />Ready for the show<br /><br />Having learnt lessons from the bitter experience of last year, the team NITK Racing consisting of new student members has made up its mind to do its best and occupy place among the top 10 teams at the contest this year. NITK Racing Captain Sachin Kamath said that the car has been built keeping the design simple and has been manufactured to suit the Indian terrain as well. <br /><br />The car has been already modified with regard to intake and exhaust. <br /><br />Sensors have been installed and a new carbon fibre body shell has been fixed by replacing the fibre reinforced plastic (which the old car was made of), to make NRXII the lightest car in India. <br /><br />The car which takes eight to ten months to be assembled and integrated runs on an imported Honda CBR 600 cc Engine and the car’s chassis is of defense grade material.<br /><br />The 600 cc car can do a speed of 100 km/hr and a little more due to the rules set by the organisers. The car conceived, designed, fabricated and marketed by the students is currently undergoing tests at various levels. <br /><br />Rs 16 lakh<br /><br />Speaking to City Herald, NITK Racing Marketing Head Siddharth M H said that the designing and manufacturing the car costs about Rs 15 to16 lakh but the overall budget of the project including the transportation of the car by shipping or via flight would cost upto Rs 30 lakh. <br /><br />Though the cost appears to be on the higher side, it is meagre compared to the expenditure of foreign teams. <br /><br />“The foreign teams spend even upto Rs two crore for manufacturing formula race cars for the contest. Our car is appreciated for the cost-effectiveness and the performance,” he said.<br /><br /> The team has received a few sponsors including C&C Alpha Group, the NITK Alumni Association, Bosch, Race Dynamics, VRL, National Instruments and Autoforms. <br /><br />The marketing team is looking forward for more logistic support and the interested can visit www.nitkracing.com<br /><br />What is Formula SAE? <br /><br />Formula SAE is a student engineering design competition organised by SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) International. The challenge is for the amateur autocross racer to build a Formula-style race car. It consists of three major stages namely the design, construction and performance. Teams entering the competitions are run and operated solely by University students, helping them develop their skills in design, management, communication and research in a real-world environment. The two teams representing India at the FSAE contest this season are team NITK Racing and the team from Bits Pilani.<br /><br /></p>
