The SR02 is our new car we will compete with in the F1 in Schools World Finals 2012 in Abu Dhabi. We were already extremely proud of the SR01 and excited to share every detail about it. We will do the same right here because this car is even better – it’s crazy!
The Main Innovation – Sapphire
This is not exactly new to the SR02, since we already introduced the idea of using sapphires as bearings in the SR01. We found out that sapphires are the perfect solution for bearings, since they barely cause any frictions. This time, our sapphires came all the way from Austria. This innovation makes Safire Racing, and we are definitely very proud of it.
The Nosecone
Again, this is not completely new, since we introduced this very unique design with the so called nosecone with the SR01. We kept the basic design idea that most significantly splits the air sideways, instead of guiding it above the car, which could generate unwanted down force. This also gives amazing aerodynamics.
Wings
When we designed our spoilers, we thought about giving it wings, as a real F1 car has them. But in comparison to the real F1 wings, ours help laminate air flow, reducing undirected air around the car. Here’s the new part: the spoilers were created by stereo lithographic printing, making them lightweight and durable at the same time. You must say, they do look pretty sweet.
Wheels
The wheels on the SR02 are an extremely important point to mention. We had a long time thinking and experimenting with wheels, until we came to the idea to completely manufacture them ourselves. We found an aerogel material, which is extremely light, but also extremely hard at the same time. We cut and formed our wheels out of this material, then put a PTFE shrink tube around them, and used a nylon screw as the hub. The result is a wheel that is just absolutely perfect for such a miniature car. It even looks like a real wheel – And, it is “Made by Safire Racing”.
Tether Line Guides / Wishbone Axles
With the SR01, we designed our own tether line guides to make sure we wouldn’t have any problems with friction on the track’s tether line. With the SR02, it’s new that these are fully interchangable with the wishbone axles, just in case.
Another great aspect in the SR02 is the use of wishbone axles, ensuring perfect weight distribution on all four wheels. There’s even an innovation to this innovation: we used stereo lithographic printing for the parts.
Priming / Foiling
Using normal air brush paint would have made our car too heavy, which we realized with the SR01 already. We found the perfect solution to be a combination of priming the wood with air brush filler, and then adding a layer of light foil. This gives an amazing design aspect and it’s actually nothing different than what actually happens with real cars.
This car is seriously the most crazy piece of wood we’ve ever held in our hands. But it’s not only a piece of wood – it’s a very innovative and unique F1 in Schools car that has never been seen this way before, and the best thing about it is that it’s fully “Made by Safire Racing”.
Check out further pictures of the SR02 in the gallery:
