Moving into a new year with the Baja car, our primary focus was the optimization and polish of our previous design. Given the success of our car mechanically last year in all but one of the events, we felt that major changes to the chassis were unnecessary. We focused instead on improving the rear uprights that failed during the endurance race, causing us to retire, and adding versatility to our buggy in a near-production ready package. We also took steps toward street legality in order to add to our viability as an option on the marketplace, as well as giving our largely new team a chance to gain hands-on experience for building their own Baja car over their next two years at UCSB. Our key additions this year are:
Rearranging the wiring harness
New, durable rear uprights
Fully adjustable and removable sway bar
Adjustable caster
Street legality
Paint and polish
Our immediate goal is to raise roughly $10,000 to cover build and travel expenses this year, and then continue to raise funds to establish the UCSB Racing program. This will require, at minimum, an additional $30,000. The initial costs will cover fixing and improving the Mini Baja Vehicle from the 2014 competition, entry fees, team gear, and a couple rooms at a Motel 8. The money funding the program goes towards hand & power tools, welding & pit equipment, a truck & trailer or box-van, as well as leaving a bit of seed money for 2016.
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