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The present paper investigates the potential of a dynamic driving simulator in the analysis of vehicle dynamics, specifically the effects of different stabilizer bar geometries in handling behavior. For this purpose, a case study was prepared using a standard maneuver in the field of vehicle dynamics. The objective was to investigate the influences of the proposed changes to the stabilizer bar on behavior / handling and whether the pilot in the simulator could identify the differences in performance while driving the simulated vehicle. The results clearly show the differences in the behavior of the vehicle in most of the tests performed, which motivates further studies in this area and exposes the viability of the driving simulator in the development of a vehicle.

This work consists of a computational simulation of a high performance ethanol engine to race Formula SAE Brazil. This study was conducted in order to reduce the performance losses caused by the mandatory usage of an air restrictor in the intake system. It started by redesigning the entire intake system of a Honda 600cc engine, selected by the GTR FSAE Team for this competition. The Ricardo WAVE software was used to developed a base engine model and their results were compared with the initial data (factory default). Then, a new intake system model based on the proposed changes was simulated. After observing the effects that the air restrictor could make to the performance, some actions were taken to minimize them. Finally, an engine fuel conversion to Brazilian Ethanol was carried out. The final results showed a feasible power improvement around 6% when compared with the gasoline engine with air restrictor.