Written by Rachel George and Mark Mcalary
Track Day 13th February 2025
The team arrived at Sydney Motorsport Park for a focused track day aimed at validating Mollie’s undertray performance using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) results. This session was dedicated to gathering aerodynamic data through coast down testing and gathering some High Voltage data.
As always, the team started the day bright and early, and upon arriving at the track completed all necessary procedures and safety checks before testing began. By 8:15 AM, the track was set up with cones marking the designated start and finish points.
An initial shakedown was conducted by one of our experienced drivers to confirm that the car was operating correctly. During this time, an issue was identified with water leaking from the radiator, but after some troubleshooting, repairs and another quick shakedown the team was able to resolve it and start with the aerodynamics testing.
The aerodynamic testing started with the coast down testing, which is when the car is accelerated to a set speed and the driver then lets their feet off both pedals, allowing the car to coast until it arrives at a complete stop. This data can be used to calculate the drag over the vehicle. This can be from aerodynamics or mechanical components. For today’s testing, we tested with the speeds of 50 to 70 km per hour.
Once all the aerodynamic testing was completed, the team moved on to HV testing to evaluate the performance of the motor controllers and powertrain. For this stage, an autocross track was set up and the torque settings were adjusted throughout the runs. This allowed us to maximise testing time and gather the most useful data possible.
Unfortunately, during one of the runs an issue arose with the duplex chain, which was first identified by our driver after hearing an unusual noise. As this couldn’t be fixed at the track, the team had to pack up early and return to the university to address the problem.
Though the track day ended early, we gathered valuable information that will contribute to further aerodynamic development and some HV data ahead of competition.
