The smell of grease, brake cleaner and–wait, are those burgers? These elements, mixed with the excitement of a first test, make up a Formula SAE student’s ideal Friday night.
A first test isn’t just for the satisfaction of seeing the car run. It’s to ensure that everything within the car, like the wire harness–which students design and construct themselves–interacts the way it’s supposed to.
“As a team, we were really pushing to get the car finished in February this year,” Jamie Horgos, president of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s FSAE team, explains, “the main reason being that, in previous years, we finished our car in late April or sometimes May. This late finish often led to problems arising too late for us to fix and caused the car to underperform at competition. Our students have dedicated countless hours and sacrificed many weekends to get us to where we are now so that doesn’t happen again."
The sound of whirring drills, students talking and Frank Sinatra fill the lab as ER09, the team's 2025 competition vehicle, goes through final modifications–tuning, fluid check, sensor adjustments and so much more–in preparation for the next day.
Even as the sun set, the work continued. But hey, that’s what Red Bull is for.
“We finally got the car at a solid running state at around 3:30 a.m.,” laughs Jamie.
Fast-forward to Saturday afternoon, and the parking lot next to the lab is full of students, team members and friends alike, all talking, laughing, eating and waiting in anticipation for ER09’s first test run.
Team members take positions around the lot with fire extinguishers in hand–can’t be too safe–and the driver for the day, Ryan Ray, suits up.
In what seemed like slow motion, ER09 was wheeled out from the lab to the parking lot before reaching its starting position and Ryan settled into the driver’s seat.
Silence seemed to overtake the parking lot as everyone held their breath.
As the engine roared to life, still, no one dared to make a sound–after all, we all knew the engine ran. It wasn’t until the car crept forward, picked up speed and completed its first lap that cheers erupted.
In total, the team ran around five laps–just to make sure everything was running the way it was supposed to–and just like that, ER09 officially completed its first test of the year.
“A running car is always such a big moment for this team, but for it to happen so early was just mesmerizing,” Jamie shares. “It still hasn't hit me personally, but just talking about it makes me a little bit emotional.”
That moment of satisfaction and pride is something every project car owner can appreciate. But just because the car ran doesn’t mean the work slows down.
For the rest of the year, ERAU Motorsports has planned testing days once, sometimes twice a week, each focusing on a different area of the car–suspension, electrical, etc.– to fine-tune and give each driver seat time.
While this process can be tedious, a thorough examination helps decrease any possible critical failures, which for FSAE teams is crucial due to their limited repair window close to competition. However, this process is something that can be changed to better fit the needs of any project car, no matter the progress, so use it.
Do you have a testing regimen for your project car? Let us know.
I am so unbelievably proud of the team. Although I wasn't able to be there for the first test, but I got to see the videos and hearing all the cheers of the students made my alumni heart emotional.
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