F25

The F25 was GT Motorsport's 31st FSAE competition car. It competed at local Formula South at KSU and at Formula SAE Michigan at Michigan International Speedway where it placed 3rd overall and P1 in Endurance. The F25 is Georgia Tech's most successful FSAE car since 2002. GTMS's team lead was Alexander Merryman, and the Chief Engineer was Evan Shaffer. F25's car number was #38.

History

Coming off a disastrous 2024 season in which F24's engine failed while completing a skid pad run, a decision was made to focus on reliability and testing. The F25 suffered a setback in January 2025 when left overnight in a trailer outside of the KSU engine dyno. That night temperatures dropped below freezing consequently freezing the distilled water being used as coolant and cracking the engine block. Another setback was had when while driving the F25 the right front hub failed, launching the front right tire into the woods. The F25 was able to log over 200 testing miles.

Formula South

At Formula South the F25 achieved 2nd place in Acceleration (4.503 seconds) behind Alabama (-0.07 seconds faster) and tied with Alabama for 1st place at the Skidpad (5.669) despite the tire pressures still being set for Acceleration. In Autocross, only a single run was able to be run due to the tube frame failing on the launch of the second attempt. However, Evan Shaffer was able to secure 1st place by 1.5 seconds. The tube frame had a small dent in it which was previously thought to be inconsequential to the durability of the frame. However, while launching the car, the tube buckled under the load causing the chain sprocket to be moved thus allowing the chain to go slack and strike. This failure ended the F25's day. It was also realized that the front suspension was 1-2 inches higher than intended.

Formula SAE Michigan

Summary

The F25 achieved P1 in endurance, a Georgia Tech first. The F25 also achieved P2 in Autocross. Overall, the F25 finished 3rd behind Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (FSUPV) and Texas A&M. This is Georgia Tech's best finish since 2002 where car #21 placed 3rd overall in the US competition and won the UK competition.

Wednesday

F25 passed static technical inspection on first attempt at Michigan. It was queued in position #42 and entered SES tech at approximately 11:45AM. Before this, a complete, final mock inspection took place in the paddock, which caught a final issue with a missing firewall between the crossover cooling lines. SES passed with no issue, encountering even less resistance than anticipated. Static tech was entered around 1:30PM, also passing first try, though there was a small oil leak and minor fit and finish issues that could have resulted in a fail. The car passed at 3:30PM, where it was weighed at scales before design the next day. The team left the paddock early, and rehearsed design at Evan's Lake Resort,

Thursday

The team participated in the 8:30AM design slot. The team had an initial very positive feeling about the performance, but did not make design finals, instead staying in the 100-point tier directly outside. They scored a 110/150 on the rubric, with design finalists reportedly in the 120+ region. The team fueled and went to tilt, though failed at the 45-degree angle due to a fuel leak. After re-entering the tilt line, passing, then passing sound first try at 109.1 dB, the team participated in cost at 1:30PM, scoring 10th overall, with 13/15 on accuracy, 13/15 on drawings, 18.5/30 on price ($18342), and 38.5/40 in the scenario. The team pushed to brakes, passing without ever leaving the area, but needing a second try due to the driver (Emmet Norell) positioning the car at an angle which was not allowed.

After passing all tech items, a final bolt check was performed before using the practice track. The practice track was used with relatively small wait times due to only ~6 other cars in line. The car was shaken down and ensured that the performance was similar to expected. Launch control was attempted to be tuned, but due to lack of working radios and technical issues with the launch control itself, the team decided to stop after a total of 4 practice runs by Zac Campbell.

Friday

The team spent the morning at the practice track, with acceleration and skidpad drivers (Alexander Hammonds, Diego Padua, and Emmet Norell) getting acclimated while the Autocross drivers participated in the course walk. Autocross drivers then got acclimated themselves before pushing over the Autocross. Autocross was the first event, with Evan Shaffer setting the preliminary fastest time of the day (49.231) at 12:30PM. The team the immediately participated in skidpad, with Emmet Norell driving first. Due to the time of 5.463 being slower than expected, positioning the team just barely in the top 20, the team paused to regroup. It was ultimately decided to divert from the original plan and attempt acceleration next in order to allow the track to continue to clean up.

Emmet Norell stayed in the car and completed his acceleration runs, with his first attempt of 4.471 being the fastest the team would achieve all day. Diego Padua completed his runs after minor tune and launch control changes in an attempt to improve, but did not. The 4.471 was ultimately good enough for 22nd. The team pushed back for autocross, at which point Valenica improved to first position with a 48.878. Zac Campbell attempted his autocross runs but was unable to improve the existing time. His second run was 48.756, the fastest raw time of the day, but received a 2 second penalty due to a cone strike at the first corner, some reporting the incident as a "skill issue", others citing his diminutive stature as effecting his ability to see over the steering wheel /s. The time was ultimately good enough for 2nd place, a team record. Skidpad was then attempted by Alexander Hammonds but was also not able to improve upon the earlier set times, resulting in the team getting 32nd.

Saturday

The team arrived at the track and debriefed with design judges before doing a final bolt check. In this final bolt check, it was discovered a front lower control arm bearing had come unseated. The team fixed this issue with about 30 minutes to spare before the fuel call time. The team opted out of the practice track, headed straight to fuel, and then participated in endurance with heavy overcast conditions. Evan Shaffer completed the first stint, with 4th fastest stint of the day. Zac Campbell completed the second stint with the 2nd fastest of the day. The overall time was enough for 1st in endurance, a Georgia Tech first. The team also achieved 14th in efficiency (51.7/100), which was 3rd out of the 4-cylinder full aero cars.

Post Competition Role

Contrary to the F24, the F25 was able to be used as a test bed for further testing and development for the F26 and F27.

F25 drove at KSU in preparation for the Michelin Shootout, before it was found the front lower control arms were bending, which prevented the team from participating in the shootout. F25 then drove again in the MRDC lot for driver tryouts on November 15th, before the steering column sheared on the final driver's warmup laps.

Design

Suspension

The F25 has independent double wishbone coil over suspension on all 4 corners. The dampers used were KWs. The F25 does not utilize anti-roll bars. In collaboration with Aero, it was discovered that the car became faster the stiffer the springs were due to less variation in aero. Thus, springs with a rate of 900/1200 lbs/in (front/rear) were fitted to the car.

Powertrain

The F25 used a Honda CBR600RR motorcycle engine with a carbon fiber plenum and custom exhaust.

Chassis

The F25 was a tube frame chassis.

Aero

Aero achieved 4.2 simulated ClA and 48lb system weight.