The Lehigh Baja team builds its car for the end goal of competing in Competitions against other Universities. Most competitions are hosted by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) which challenges students to design, manufacture, test, and race an off-road vehicle. There are three competitions held throughout the United States each year where teams are challenged to prove that their car abides by technical requirements, well-engineered, cost-effective and dynamic.
Each competition is broken up into static and dynamic events. The static events have each team judged on detailed presentations depicting the intent of design and cost breakdown. In order to compete in the dynamic events, the team must first pass technical inspection followed by a brake test. In dynamic testing, cars compete in four events unique to the venue that typically include a suspension and traction course, an acceleration test, a maneuverability course and a hill climb. Each competition ends with a 4-hour endurance race that presents teams with obstacles such as creeks, jumps, hairpin turns, and other difficult terrain. When cars break down, teams are expected to use their problem solving skills to perform onsite repairs and get their car back in the race!
