The Rhino 4 is a stunner. The fourth generation of the Fachhochschule Dortmund's racing car has been given a striking spoiler, or to be more precise, an eye-catching rear and front wing. The student team has been working intensively on this aerodynamic addition for a year. At the rollout, the official presentation of the racing car for the 2025 season, the Rhino 4 caused quite a stir.
Every year, the budding engineers from Fachhochschule Dortmund's Race-Ing. team assemble a new car and compete against other teams from all over the world at Formula Student. Every year, the aim is to make the Rhino a little better, more efficient and faster. "How to make a racing car faster is clear," explains Markus Dec, the technical director of the Race-Ing. team: "It has to be lighter."
The FH students have reduced the weight of the chassis alone by four kilograms compared to its predecessor, the Rhino III, and are now under the 20 kilogram mark for the first time. The chassis is now made of carbon instead of steel: that's another 12 kilograms less. And because the Race-Ing. team members also know the Honda "CBR 600 Type PC35E" engine inside out, they were able to almost halve the tank volume and thus save even more weight. Although the eye-catching rear wing adds weight, the Rhino IV should still be faster. "The simulations with the aero package are very promising," says Markus Dec. The Rhino IV will now go into practical testing in the 2025 Formula Student racing season.
The first major event is Formula Student in Austria from July 20 to 24, 2025. The Formula Student Alpe Adria in Croatia is also firmly on the calendar in mid-August.
At these events, it is not just lap times and acceleration that are relevant. The cost structure of the car and individual components are also assessed. The business plan for an additional product is also part of Formula Student. The Fachhochschule Dortmund team has developed a performance app for amateur racing drivers that is compatible with the major race tracks in Germany. "We want to use it to defend our first place from last season," says Michael Huynh from the Race-Ing. business team.
The Race-Ing. team at the UAS is made up of students from various faculties, ranging from Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering to Business Studies and Design. The team works alongside their studies. The students recruit sponsors for their racing car. Fachhochschule Dortmund supports the interdisciplinary project financially and with workshops. The new racing cars are tested on the LaSiSe test track in Selm.