2004

The 2004 car, TR-4 was our first car entered into competition. It was fielded into the 2004 Formula SAE International Competition in Michigan.

2005

For the 2005 car, TR-5, the team modified the 2004 car based on lessons learned the previous year. It was again entered into the 2005 Formula SAE International Competition.

2006

The 2006 car, TR-6 was perhaps our most successful car to date. It was built from the ground up and contained various bells and whistles such as a supercharger and a student-built traction control system. The car was entered into the 2006 Formula SAE West Competition, where it won third place in the acceleration event, and Altair Engineering’s William R. Adam Engineering Award for exhibiting innovative engineering in vehicle design.

2007

At the 2007 Formula SAE International Competition, UCSD became the first university to enter an all-woman’s team into the event. The women entered an iteration of the 2004 car, and performed well at the event.

2008

Over the course of the 2007-2008 school year, a handful of dedicated students designed and initiated manufacturing of what is known as TR-8 (for Triton Racing ’08), the fifth race car developed by our team. Intending to compete in the 2008 Formula West competition in Fontana, California at the International Speedway, the team made substantial headway in completing the car. Unfortunately due to last minute complications, the car was withdrawn with the team believing that it would still be very competitive in 2009.

2009

For the 2008-2009 academic year, UCSD SAE started its most ambitious project to date. For the first time ever, the team worked on completing two cars simultaneously.

The team decided to field an entry to the 2009 Formula Hybrid competition due to industry trends towards more fuel-efficient cars. The all-electric car, TR-9E performed remarkably, winning 3rd place in its class, and placing 9th overall. The car also got the second best time in the autocross event, which unfortunately did not get officially recorded due to technical malfunctions.

The team also entered its gasoline-powered car, TR-8, which had suffered from complications the previous year, in the 2009 Formula California Competition. This time around the car was in top form going up to competition, and scored very reasonable times on the dynamic events.