The scene outside the shop was calm, collected and almost relaxed. However, on the other side of the closed garage door, the atmosphere was anything but.

Inside the Learning Factory at the Engineering Services Building, last-minute preparations were being made for this year's annual Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) team car.

About 20 team members were hard at work sweating every detail and making sure this year's car will be ready for the Formula SAE Competition in Pontiac, Mich. The competition takes place from May 14 through May 18, but the team has to be ready to test its car this weekend and be prepared to display it next Wednesday.

Team member Steve Veloski (senior-industrial engineering) is excited about the competition and determined to make sure the car does not suffer the same fate as last year's car, which was not completed in time and therefore could not compete.

Although Penn State did have a car in contest two years ago, it failed to complete a crucial part of the competition, and as a result did not finish in the top-10.

Veloski said this car will definitely be in the running for one of the top spots because it has a unique advantage over many of the other 140 schools' cars.

"It's probably going to be one of the lightest cars in the competition," he said.

Light could be considered an understatement about this vehicle. The car is fabricated from steel, but also from such weight-saving materials as aluminum, titanium and carbon fiber.

At just 380 pounds, it actually weighs 10 pounds less than what the donor engine originally propelled, a Honda CBR 600 motorcycle.

Veloski and the rest of the team anticipate the car's engine will produce about 75 to 80 horsepower and about 40 foot pounds of torque.

With this power output, the car has a horsepower to weight ratio of 1:5, and will probably go from zero to 70 mph in four seconds, Veloski said.

These numbers are very impressive considering that an $80,000 2003 Dodge Viper SRT-10 takes 4.1 seconds to reach 60 mph.

That's not to say construction of the Formula car was either easy or cheap, Veloski said. The team has been designing the car since last summer, and has been constructing it since late fall. Many team members worked straight through spring break in order to make sure the deadline for completion would be met.

Veloski said at least a 100 hours a week has been spent on the project. Thousands of hours of labor and about $30,000 later, the car is nearly complete.

Team member Dan Harris (sophomore-mechanical engineering) said prospective members do not have to be seniors or engineering majors to join the team. Anyone interested can be certified to work on the team by taking a short course offered at the beginning of the semester.

Harris pointed out another reason to join the team.

"It's a great way to get into racing," he said.

The team plans to put the car on display outside the Learning Factory from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday.

More information about the car and about the Formula SAE team is available at www2.me.psu.edu/sae/fsae.