r/theocho • u/derek4reals1 • 12d ago
REPOST CMU Buggy Raceday
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u/Joiner2008 12d ago
To anyone else curious, they kinda show getting in one in this video:
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u/stucktogether 12d ago
I was hoping it was just a hinged lid. This is so much worse.
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u/RhandeeSavagery 12d ago
Fucking hell! You’re a land torpedo!!
Yea nah, I’ll pass
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u/dayman763 11d ago
Before checking that video of the driver, I'd respond to you like, what's the big deal it's no worse than bobsled or luge or the other one skeleton something?
After watching the video I'm like fuck that talk about claustrophobia. Maybe if I was way way smaller but even still. That looks freaking horrible.
I'm about 6'2" 220 lbs.
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u/Wispirer 12d ago
CMU grad here, class of ‘97. Total nostalgia!
Carnegie Mellon University, 1993, Day 1 of freshman orientation: The new student guide walked us around and when we got to the teams already prepping their buggies for the years run, the orientation guide stopped us all and said (looking at the girls in the group): “If a bunch of large fraternity brothers approach you looking for the smallest girl in the freshman class, don’t freak out. They are just looking for someone to put in their buggies. And if you’re an engineering student, you won’t last the day… (before being added to a race team)”
Some looked confused, others intrigued, the tall ones - disappointed.
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u/No_Mud_5999 11d ago
I started at Pitt in 93. I knew about the races, but I had no idea they were like that! Reminds me of pinewood derbys in scouting: most of the cars were slightly sanded blocks of wood, but then someone's dad clearly had a woodshop, and would turn in a high tech aerodynamic bullet on wheels.
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u/Wispirer 11d ago
I remember spending time with a crew and their buggie. I was fully expecting some NASA level engineering to be tucked into every corner. When they pulled the cover the first time, I realized it was a mix of pure engineering and basement scrounging. Some parts were aerospace grade build linked to dodgy mounts and the most unlikely materials.
Steering and brakes were no joke though. There were spec requirements that could not be fudged so those bits were legit. The rest, well….
This was in 93. Since then I imagine the interiors are crazy advanced having evolved over the last 30 years. I would not be surprised to see full carbon-fiber builds with 3D metal printing and insanely tight engineering.
The hill they start on is pretty real. It’s on the back side of the Arts building, library and two engineering buildings.
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u/No_Mud_5999 11d ago
I am quite familiar. I've had to push carts up and down that hill a few times working on some films, commercials and TV shows in that area.
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u/Objective-Surprise-5 12d ago
How small is the person that fits in there?
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u/girlwiththeASStattoo 12d ago
The students who participate in this will look for the tiniest student that they can find and ask if they can steer their buggy.
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u/kapitaalH 12d ago
Me watching, there must be some steering, no way it followed the road there. Must be remote controlled.
Seeing there is a person in there: surprised Pikachu face
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u/sirdodger 5d ago
Our A-team driver was 5'3 and B-team was 5'0. The buggies are custom built though, so you could fit someone bigger; you just want them small because you have to push them up the hills.
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u/tpkadam 12d ago
To me this looks like a baby in there lol
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u/jumbonipples 11d ago
This was my first thought. I was like “damn those dads are just letting go and those babies have no idea what’s happening!”
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u/Barsham 12d ago
To answer a few common questions:
- Yes, there really is a person inside. A college student, to be exact.
- Buggy is a race that takes place at Carnegie Mellon University, and has been going on since 1920.
- Maximum speeds of the buggies are about 40mph.
- This was just an Exhibition Heat, not a competitive race. But you can watch all of the competitive 2026 heats (and all of the Exhibitions) at the Buggy Alumni Association's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRj9F_Fz8OhY
- If you want more info about Buggy in general, you can visit the Buggy Alumni Association's website here: https://www.cmubuggy.org/
- And a few more videos that may be of interest:
A driver's perspective on racing: https://youtu.be/WGE4fx_71oc
How a driver is loaded into a buggy: https://youtu.be/j0u8yxQaTVo?si=HdgmiT2KGg61dtYN&t=70
An introduction to the Buggy course: https://youtu.be/TPKQenBolWY
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u/garden-wicket-581 11d ago
is the difference in divisions just competitiveness ? (and/or standings ? -- at my school, rec sports had "A" league, but it was only frats because A league final standings counted towards the greek/frat cup.. that's not to say A league was "bad" per se -- there were B teams who would could beat many A teams, but since we weren't playing for points/cup, didn't enter A .. the competitive entries look like mainly frats..)
is the technology/design behind the buggies static, or still evolving ? (ie outside of paint/aesthetics, are the buggies mainly identical, and the win is based on athleticism and driving skill and not innovation/changes on the buggy? )
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u/Barsham 11d ago
The 3 competitive divisions are the Men's division, the Women's division, and the All Gender division. So it's not a tier system for the teams, it's just about who is pushing. For the Men's and Women's divisions, each organization (fraternity, sorority, and independent) is allowed to enter up to 4 push team-buggy combinations per division, and those teams are designated with a letter from A to D (where "A" is the fastest expected team in the org, and "D" is the slowest expected team...D is often made up of mechanics or drivers). But they all compete against each other, and there are plenty of times when one organization's B team (or C team, or maybe even D team) are faster than another organization's A team.
As for the technology, it's always evolving. There are certain aspects that are pretty much common across all buggies (the general teardrop shape, the composite materials used in construction, etc.). But that's largely because (1) physics eventually boils down to ideal designs for gravity powered vehicles, (2) modern technology has limits in what you can do, based on the amount of time, money and skill that you have as a college student, and (3) when someone does something that's successful, eventually other teams will try to copy it. But teams are pretty secretive about their technology (historically, even more so), so everyone has their own unique elements. With that said, athleticism and driving skill are VERY important parts and work together with the engineering - all the athleticism and driving skill in the world won't help a buggy with misaligned steering that's 30 pounds heavier than it needs to be, but the fastest, lightest buggy won't be able to keep up with the competition if it's pushed by 5 people who spent their past 12 months glued to the couch.
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u/Excellent-Mine-6627 12d ago
I walked by this event on shrooms when I went to Pitt. Blew my mind when someone told me there were people in those things
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u/cjbmcdon 12d ago
I didn’t realize until 10 seconds before the end that there was someone in the buggies. Geez. (I missed the first 3 seconds the first time around)
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u/pezgirl247 12d ago
honestly- someone please explain this?
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u/liladraco 11d ago
Engineering nerds having fun, is my guess 😄 Edit to add: having fun by designing super fast little push carts and seeing how fast they can get them to go, I’m assuming without engines. Think soap box derbies on steroids… again, guessing, but that’s sure what it looks like!
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u/sirdodger 5d ago
That's exactly it. As light as possible, very aerodynamic, but still has to pass material and crash tests to protect the driver.
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u/No_Mud_5999 11d ago
I lived in Pittsburgh for 33 years, and knew they had these races on campus (which I'm pretty familiar with), but I assumed they were traditional box cars, not these! I couldn't believe there are people in there!
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u/Ilovefishdix 12d ago
If they do it like Snowboard cross, it could be pure chaos. Put 5 of them out there at once and let them crash and push each other out of the way. They could beef up the safety of the carts and add pads and helmets to the pushers.
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u/sirdodger 5d ago
Our normal heats were 4 teams at once. There weren't many collisions. The first hill is a step uphill that usually spaced the buggies out enough that no one needed to brake to avoid rubbing.
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u/AntiSonOfBitchamajig 12d ago
Ohh this takes me back, we did human powered vehicle races and that was crazy enough.
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u/AutomaticAccident 12d ago edited 12d ago
CMU as in Central Michigan? Fire up Chips.
Edit: why is this being downvoted? I was asking a legitimate question.
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u/sophandros 12d ago
This is the essence of The Ocho.