Anteater Baja Racing - Fall 2026
Description
Who We Are
Anteater Baja Racing is a team of 40+ undergraduate students who design, manufacture and test an off-road vehicle from the ground up to compete in the international Baja SAE competition. Teams face hill climbs, rock crawls, maneuverability courses and a four-hour endurance race over rough terrain. Last year, our previous car, Corsair finished 21st, our school’s best result in years. Our new car, Spectre, takes everything we learned and raises the bar across every subteam.
Quick repairs during competition.
Our Subteams
Chassis & Human Interface:
We reduced the frame size and member count to cut weight, cleaned up the electrical layout and built a custom carbon fiber seat mounted lower in the car to drop the center of gravity.
Powertrain:
We lowered the engine, rerouted the driveshaft and designed custom driveshaft yokes, u-joint axles and a smaller transfer case for better weight distribution and faster servicing.
Suspension & Steering:
Increased rake, custom geometry, custom wheel hubs and uprights and Baja-specific external reservoir shocks help Spectre handle rough terrain. A modified steering column with no u-joints gives the driver tighter control, and the whole system was developed on a virtual simulation platform.
Brakes:
Chassis-mounted inboard brakes, soft lines and a custom rotor make the braking system simpler, lighter and easier to mount.
Testing:
Our custom data acquisition system measures speed, acceleration and more live while on the track. Along with a streamlined process for tuning the shocks and CVT and a test bench for measuring transfer case torque, it lets us choose gear ratios and setups with real data instead of guesswork.
Tested in the shop - proven in the desert!
Why Your Support Matters
Your support funds the materials, parts, testing and travel needed to turn Spectre from a design into a race-ready car and helps our student engineers prove what they can do on an international stage. Beyond that, supporting our team gives students invaluable, hands-on experience in engineering design, project management, teamwork and leadership, setting them up for success in automotive, motorsport, aerospace, defense, quality and manufacturing careers. By experiencing the complete engineering cycle from start to finish and being able to work on each component with our bare hands, our members gain the practical skills and confidence needed to make UC Irvine proud and ready for their future careers.
Putting the metal to the test, one weld at a time!
Connect With Us
Check out our website, follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn or reach out to us directly by emailing our Project Manager at aobanan@uci.edu.
$25
Elbow Grease
You gift helps us purchase essential shop supplies like fasteners and adhesives, the small but vital parts that hold Spectre together.
$50
Heavy Metal
Your generosity supports key subsystems like the chassis and brakes, from the steel tubing in Spectre’s lighter frame to our new inboard brakes and custom rotor!
$100
Plugged In
Your contribution helps fund the sensors, wiring and custom data acquisition system we use to measure Spectre’s speed and acceleration and fine-tune performance.
$250
Making Chips
Your incredible support allows us to focus on the machining of our custom powertrain parts, including driveshaft yokes, u-joint axles and the transfer case, designed by our team for a lighter, more reliable drivetrain.
$500
Smooth Operator
You are helping us upgrade Spectre’s suspension and steering with Baja-specific external reservoir shocks, custom hubs and uprights and a tighter steering column for better handling over rough terrain. Thank you!
$1,000
Full Send
You are making a huge impact on our project! Your gift helps with expenses like competition entry fees, final testing and sending our team and Spectre to race against the best universities in the world!
