Whatever happens during the racing season, 2024 will be written in capital letters in the SZEngine Team's chronicle book: on the one hand, two Formula Student teams will have cars with hearts from Győr this year, and on the other hand, the team is opening up to hybrid drives for the first time, so much so that they will be testing the innovative technology in the autumn. The team of engine development students from Széchenyi University unveiled their developments at the usual pre-race rollout event.

Győr, June 5, 2024 - Márton Horváth

Formula Student is a worldwide series of races where cars designed and built by students compete against each other. The cars are usually powered by factory engines, but the Arrabona Racing Team from Széchenyi István University is in a unique position: they use a propulsion system developed by SZEngine Team, a collaboration that is unprecedented in the history of the series.

The SZEngine Team, which currently has 44 active members, was founded in 2008 by the Audi Hungaria Internal Combustion Engines Department, the engine development department and students of Széchenyi István University. Every year, the team presents its latest developments before the summer racing season, and this year’s event took place at the Győr Innovation Park.

The rollout event of the SZEngine Team took place in the lobby of the Innovation Park building in Győr (Photo: Márton Horváth)

"The first developments had a lot of teething problems, but in the decade or so since then the team has come a long way. It has evolved into a professional organisation that is able to pass on knowledge to the next generation, enabling them to produce better and better engines. This practice-oriented form of education is the best way to acquire knowledge that can be used in industry," said Dr. Gábor Dogossy, Dean of the Audi Hungaria Faculty of Vehicle Engineering, in his welcome speech.

Dr. Gábor Dogossy reminded that the SZEngine Team has always insisted that academics can only help with advice and mentoring, but only students can participate in the design process. (Photo: Márton Horváth)

Team manager Róbert Pap proudly announced that SZEngine Team will become a legitimate engine supplier in 2024, because in addition to their sister team, the Arrabona Racing Team (ART), also operating under the auspices of Széchenyi University, the Óbuda University Racing Team (O.U.R. Team) will also start the season with SZEngine racing power units. This means that this year two internal combustion engines have been produced to meet the teams' different requirements: an improved version of the previously used naturally aspirated engine for ART, called SZ24+, and a turbocharged engine for the O.U.R. Team, the SZ24-T.

Team manager Róbert Pap announced that SZEngine Team has fulfilled an old dream by becoming a real engine supplier (Photo: Márton Horváth)

The engines were presented by Márton Marschall, the team's design manager. "The SZ24+ used by ART is a low consumption, high performance engine whose reliability and efficiency have been further improved. We have enlarged our airbox to provide the engine with enough air at higher revs, redesigned the clutch cover and modified the external oil circuit cooling system. A special feature of the SZ24-T is that it is equipped with a turbocharger, so we had to design a number of custom parts and rebuild our dynamometer for testing," he explains.

As mentioned, the team really enjoyed being able to freely modify the same basic engine in several directions. In addition to the usual development framework of previous years, this brought freshness, excitement and challenge to the SZEngine Team, which energised the members – who found it particularly inspiring to be able to build a turbocharged engine. At the same time, the broadening of the “customer” spectrum also places an extra burden on them during the race season, requiring a significant organisational and logistical effort to support both teams to the same high standard during the races. Team manager Róbert Pap noted that they are satisfied with the support of two teams for the time being, and that this is also tying up their resources, but they are open to further supplier cooperation.

Márton Marschall presented the parameters of the two engines. SZ24+: 80 hp, 65 Nm of torque, 14:1 compression ratio and 10100 rpm. SZ24-T: 95 hp, 90 Nm of torque, 10:1 compression ratio and 9500 rpm (Photo: Márton Horváth)

The unveiling of the engines was preceded by a roundtable discussion moderated by former Head of Construction Maximilián Deák and attended by team prominent figures, team leader Róbert Pap, Head of Construction Márton Marschall and Olivér Posvanc, along with founding member Márk Szigeti and Gergely Simon, representative of Audi Hungaria's Quality Assurance department. The plans of the A SZEngine Team were also discussed, so that the wider public could also learn about their projects. As it turned out, the team is working on the development of a hybrid powertrain, the testing of which could start as early as autumn.

"Hybrid propulsion is the combination of an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, in our case in parallel architecture. The rear wheel will continue to be driven by an internal combustion engine, while the front axle will be powered by an electric motor. We hope to be able to put the prototype and all the necessary components into a test car from September," says Oliver Posvanc. He added that the team will continue to develop internal combustion engines as long as the Formula Student racing regulations allow, but that it is not ignoring current trends and has therefore turned to hybrid engines. This is an unexplored area with huge potential and provides extra motivation for the team members.

The roundtable also discussed how the combination of the practical knowledge gained in the SZEngine Team and the theoretical knowledge acquired at the university makes competitive engineers for industry. (Photo: Márton Horváth)

Regarding this season, team manager Róbert Pap told us that both teams will take part in the same three races: the FS Austria, at the Spielberg circuit, the FS East, which will be held at the ZalaZone instead of the Hungaroring this year, and the FS Alpe Adria in Croatia.

Members of the SZEngine Team after the unveiling of the power units. (Photo: Márton Horváth)