About us

The story of Sun Devil Motorsports throughout the years

Our History

Sun Devil Motorsports, Arizona State University’s chapter of Formula SAE, was founded in 1986. During this time we established ourselves as one of the best in innovation, winning four awards in the 1992 season, our first competition. By the early 2000s, however, most of ASU’s success had dissipated, having competed in only two seasons of competition in 2001 and 2008. In 2010, the program was brought back to life by a group of students who wanted to restore the FSAE program and participate in competition again. After two years of hard work and dedication, their efforts paid off, finally succeeding in making it to competition in 2012. These successful years would continue until 2020 when Covid hit, and the club would be put on hiatus until 2022. During this time, SDM lost everything, from previous sponsors and knowledge as well as interest in the club. When the club was reestablished in 2022, we were tasked with rebuilding from the ground up.

1986-1994 The Beginning

With the Formula SAE competition only being established just 6 years prior, many technological innovations were already occurring. From turbo chargers to composite usage, early teams were doing anything to get a leg up on the competition. A group of ASU students in 1986 decided they would take on this challenge of innovation, and bring with them one of the first aluminum/carbon fiber monocoques in the competition's history. For 6 grueling years these students passed down knowledge and research to eventually reach competition in 1992, winning multiple awards. This includes best use of composites, best prototype fabrication, best M85 fuel economy, and first place in engineering design. 1993-94 were more or less the same thing. In '93 the team reworked the carbon fiber body for a more clean and slick design, rocking only black and yellow by the time they rolled up for competition. In 1994 the team returned with a nearly identical car, this time in maroon and gold, however this would mark the end of ASU’s time in FSAE as bigger projects were on the rise.

The Arizona Horizon Project

The Arizona Horizon Project Electric Vehicle Research Group was founded in 1989 to facilitate undergraduate-student participation in national intercollegiate design competitions. The ASU Horizon Project Team went all in on Formula lightning, a chassis spec series where teams had full control of the electronics and how their EV batteries get power to the ground. ASU was different from other schools in their approach to power delivery, not only were they the first car to use dual electric motors, they were the first to 4 motor electric vehicles with a brushless motor set up. ASU’s approach to the competition was all about efficiency, although they were not the fastest, their need for one less pitstop every race was enough to put them in contention for multiple years. This series, sponsored by ABB, laid the foundation for future series like Formula E and Formula SAE EV. This project led to multiple podiums and an event win during the 10 years the competition was held. After 2004, the car was sold off to the Historic Electric Vehicle Foundation and was loaned to the Route 66 Electric Vehicle Museum where it currently sits today. FSAE was put on the back burner, and only one team competed during the time in 2001, and would not return until 2008.

2001 & 2008

In the midst of our decade-long Formula Lightning stint, a small group of engineers decided to take on Formula SAE again. With very limited funding and resources the team scrapped together a car to compete in the 2001 Formula SAE competition at MIS. The team consisted of 9 members and 2 faculty which helped get the students to Michigan. The next time ASU would return to competition would be in 2008, under the name of ASU Motorsports. This was once again a very small team, consisting of 12 members, who helped revitalize the FSAE program, even if it was only for a short year. Following the competition, the team would go dormant once again until 2010, when a new group of students got together with the goal to compete in 2011.

2012-2020

As the 2011 season approached for the new members, they realized that the short turnaround was not beneficial to the performance of the car. With this in mind the team decided to withdraw from the 2011 competition and set their sights on 2012. This reevaluation paid off as SDM-12 completed every dynamic event. However, this success would not be repeated until half a decade later. The team would reuse the 2012 car for 2013 season in Michigan, and used the time that would have been on used for design on teaching new members to make sure the club would survive after they left. And after 2013 the team took a hiatus in 2014. The team steadily grew during this time, from only a handful of people to 30+ constantly looking to improve year after year. This learn first approach would first see results in the later half of the 2010’s, where in 2017 SDM would complete all dynamic events once again. After a down year in 2018 the team would look to bounce back in 2019 but once again technical issues plagued the team and prevented them from setting an even higher point total in team history with 414.8. The team was looking to prepare for an even better car in 2020, but shortly before the competition, the world shut down. Covid had stopped everything. Although the car was scrapped, the team continued to work online through the in-person restrictions. The team hoped that the competition would resume by 2021, but that time came and went, and many people from the historic 2019 team had graduated and left, leaving a group of young, inexperienced members behind to pick up the pieces.

The Rebuilding Era 2022-2025

Once lockdown had ended, many students returned with renewed vigor and passion to get the club back up and running again. The one major problem was that no one was around to teach them. Many members who joined from 2020-2021 took the reins and started working on converting the unfinished 2021 car to the 2022 car. Much of the designs remained the same as the main goal was to get a car to competition. Although the car did end up at competition, the car was still being put together in the paddock and officially became a roller car on the last day. As the team continued to grow during the off season, the team regrouped for 2023. Although the car weighed 560lbs when it rolled over the scales at competition, the car had already been running before the team left Arizona. Things were looking up for SDM, the car passed tech, hit the practice pad, placed top 10 in the business presentation event, and was heading into Saturday having completed all dynamic events. As the endurance event started, SDM was looking to have its first completion of every event since 2017, but right after the mid way driver change, the throttle cable snapped, dashing the hopes of the team. In 2024 the team that could not get it done came back with a score to settle, and not only did they complete all events, they set a new team high in points of 470.1. In 2025 the team was looking at its best and most prepared car of the decade, setting a team record skid pad time with 3 months of testing before competition. But as April was starting, SDM-25 blew up its engine. With a quick swap of SDM-24’s engine into SDM-25 the team was hoping that the problems had passed, but as the team arrived at comp, BSPD issues led to the team not passing technical inspection, leaving the team heartbroken.

2026 & Beyond

Sun Devil Motorsports is more alive than ever. With 100+ active members for the IC team, SDM decided to reestablish the EV team. This would be the second attempt at trying to return to an EV competition since the disbandment of the Formula Lightning series. Although the team had tried to revitalize the program in 2018, a lack of interest and the location being at a satellite campus 25 minutes away from Tempe led to its demise. This year, Sun Devil Motorsports is looking for a top 10 finish with a platform that wasn’t able to show its true potential on the national level, and EV is looking towards a launch date within the next 2 years to mark ASU’s return to an electric series. Sun Devil Motorsports looks forward to supporting both teams for years to come.

Fueled by Vindicta Productions