RF # 117
Mission Statement:-
Build a car capable of winning in Group 2 Racing in Australia
(That may sound a bit conceited but you have to have a goal !)
(I should mention that my level of technical expertise is around 2 or 3 out of 10 )
A brief history of how this project came about may be of some interest, there again it may not, either way here it is.
After 5 years or racing-developing-racing-developing a local (Australian) Cobra we have reached the end of the development cycle. We knew where the next steps in improving the car lay but it means such enormous and radical alterations to the chassis of the car that we decided to look elsewhere for the next project.
There was always the logical and emotional progression form the Cobra to the GT40, however having stumbled into circuit racing first time around with a car that was never really designed for it we decided to try and be a little more analytical this time around. (The Cobra provided heaps of fun but also heaps of headaches ! Not to mention thousands of new ways to spend money)
The group that we race in here in Australia has an approved list of cars that are eligible for competition in sports car racing “Group 2”
A review of that list compared with the basic principles of where the major components of a race car should be, led to the choice being narrowed to Porsche, Ferrari, GT40.
Any sane man would take his money and bought a GT3 Carrera Cup Porsche, not wildly expensive, proven performance, fully developed (paid for by someone else) good resale value etc etc, no real choice for a man with a cool head.
Then your heart goes and gets in the way….. OK lets cut to the chase, we ended up ordering a car from RF. It may be worth mentioning at this point that Ross Nicol was responsible for doing the hard yards with the relevant authorities (CAMS) to get the car onto the “magic” list some years ago ( I owe you dinner next time I’m in Melbourne Ross)
The car was delivered to the workshop in Sydney in Feb last year and promptly stripped down to bare Chassis.
The rule book that we have to comply with spells out what can be done to the car and we have unashamedly worked every single angle we are allowed to. A full roll cage has been fitted and welded into the car (Once again Ross did the hard yards for the homogulation of the original cage – is that 2 dinners Ross ?) We have added a fair amount of additional bar work to the roll cage which means we have to have it re-inspected and re certified.
We have engaged the services of two race car engineers to provide advice on the suspension geometry. They come from two opposite ends of the spectrum, but interestingly their opinions and advice are strikingly similar.
A gentleman by the name of Ron Touranak who some of you may recognise as the man responsible for designing and building Jack Brabhams race cars ( They were partners in the BT company that produced the GP cars) Ron then went on to form his own engineering company manufacturing Ralt racing cars, I understand he subsequently sold out to a Mr Bernie Ecclestone.
The other end of the spectrum was provided by a young Engineer who has now left for the UK to pursue a career in F1.
The plan was to engineer the car from day one to try and avoid all the issues that I had previously encountered with the Cobra.
In no particular order we have tried to:-
1.Create the strongest, safest, stiffest chassis that is possible within the constraints of the rule book
2. Create the strongest, safest, stiffest hub assemblys to provide a stable platform for, the bearings (as big as practical) the braking system, the steering system and the suspension system.
3. Create the strongest, safest, stiffest suspension components to attach #1 to #2
4. Source the most reliable Transaxle that complies with the rule book
( Must be H pattern, not sequential)
5. Build a really strong engine with the accent on torque rather than outright power.
6. Build a braking system that can provide feed back during the development cycle then also provide telemetry once things have settled down.
7. Try, very carefully, to improve the aerodynamics of the car. This makes me very nervous as I am conscious that fiddling with the front alone may well upset the existing balance of the car.
We have unashamedly used the 2007 Carrera Cup Porsche as an” information Donor”
We have used components where practical and based engineering designs on theirs where we could not use the actual components.
I know --- shock horror--- the only defence I have is the following quote from RT
“Porsche ? ….. A design disaster covered up with brilliant engineering”
For example whilst we could not use their hubs we were able to use
spindles / rotors / top hats / callipers / rims / centre lock systems etc etc as a basis for the four corners of the car.
We basically placed the the wheels where we wanted them to live in the wheel arches dialled in the desired roll centers, scrub radius, camber, caster, toe etc etc and ran a computer generated programme to tell us where the pick up points should be located, wishbone design etc etc. All sounds too simple doesn’t it ? Well it took a year of full time effort from 2 people to sort it all out and here are some of the results.
All I can say is that I hope all this theory actually works.
Mission Statement:-
Build a car capable of winning in Group 2 Racing in Australia
(That may sound a bit conceited but you have to have a goal !)
(I should mention that my level of technical expertise is around 2 or 3 out of 10 )
A brief history of how this project came about may be of some interest, there again it may not, either way here it is.
After 5 years or racing-developing-racing-developing a local (Australian) Cobra we have reached the end of the development cycle. We knew where the next steps in improving the car lay but it means such enormous and radical alterations to the chassis of the car that we decided to look elsewhere for the next project.
There was always the logical and emotional progression form the Cobra to the GT40, however having stumbled into circuit racing first time around with a car that was never really designed for it we decided to try and be a little more analytical this time around. (The Cobra provided heaps of fun but also heaps of headaches ! Not to mention thousands of new ways to spend money)
The group that we race in here in Australia has an approved list of cars that are eligible for competition in sports car racing “Group 2”
A review of that list compared with the basic principles of where the major components of a race car should be, led to the choice being narrowed to Porsche, Ferrari, GT40.
Any sane man would take his money and bought a GT3 Carrera Cup Porsche, not wildly expensive, proven performance, fully developed (paid for by someone else) good resale value etc etc, no real choice for a man with a cool head.
Then your heart goes and gets in the way….. OK lets cut to the chase, we ended up ordering a car from RF. It may be worth mentioning at this point that Ross Nicol was responsible for doing the hard yards with the relevant authorities (CAMS) to get the car onto the “magic” list some years ago ( I owe you dinner next time I’m in Melbourne Ross)
The car was delivered to the workshop in Sydney in Feb last year and promptly stripped down to bare Chassis.
The rule book that we have to comply with spells out what can be done to the car and we have unashamedly worked every single angle we are allowed to. A full roll cage has been fitted and welded into the car (Once again Ross did the hard yards for the homogulation of the original cage – is that 2 dinners Ross ?) We have added a fair amount of additional bar work to the roll cage which means we have to have it re-inspected and re certified.
We have engaged the services of two race car engineers to provide advice on the suspension geometry. They come from two opposite ends of the spectrum, but interestingly their opinions and advice are strikingly similar.
A gentleman by the name of Ron Touranak who some of you may recognise as the man responsible for designing and building Jack Brabhams race cars ( They were partners in the BT company that produced the GP cars) Ron then went on to form his own engineering company manufacturing Ralt racing cars, I understand he subsequently sold out to a Mr Bernie Ecclestone.
The other end of the spectrum was provided by a young Engineer who has now left for the UK to pursue a career in F1.
The plan was to engineer the car from day one to try and avoid all the issues that I had previously encountered with the Cobra.
In no particular order we have tried to:-
1.Create the strongest, safest, stiffest chassis that is possible within the constraints of the rule book
2. Create the strongest, safest, stiffest hub assemblys to provide a stable platform for, the bearings (as big as practical) the braking system, the steering system and the suspension system.
3. Create the strongest, safest, stiffest suspension components to attach #1 to #2
4. Source the most reliable Transaxle that complies with the rule book
( Must be H pattern, not sequential)
5. Build a really strong engine with the accent on torque rather than outright power.
6. Build a braking system that can provide feed back during the development cycle then also provide telemetry once things have settled down.
7. Try, very carefully, to improve the aerodynamics of the car. This makes me very nervous as I am conscious that fiddling with the front alone may well upset the existing balance of the car.
We have unashamedly used the 2007 Carrera Cup Porsche as an” information Donor”
We have used components where practical and based engineering designs on theirs where we could not use the actual components.
I know --- shock horror--- the only defence I have is the following quote from RT
“Porsche ? ….. A design disaster covered up with brilliant engineering”
For example whilst we could not use their hubs we were able to use
spindles / rotors / top hats / callipers / rims / centre lock systems etc etc as a basis for the four corners of the car.
We basically placed the the wheels where we wanted them to live in the wheel arches dialled in the desired roll centers, scrub radius, camber, caster, toe etc etc and ran a computer generated programme to tell us where the pick up points should be located, wishbone design etc etc. All sounds too simple doesn’t it ? Well it took a year of full time effort from 2 people to sort it all out and here are some of the results.
All I can say is that I hope all this theory actually works.
epper:
