Automotive Design
with seven forward gears. This format with ultra-close ratios suits the demands of front-engined, rear-wheel-drive cars with highly tuned, high-revving, smaller capacity engines with narrow power bands. The QBE89G gearbox also benefits from user adaptability and lightweight construction; an alloy two-piece casing helps to reduce the overall weight to 33kg. As well as having seven forward gears, the QBE89G
features a modular gear cluster and an open-face dog design for fast gearshifts. The addition of a pair of interchangeable drop gears enables end users to tailor the unit to suit their needs or those of particular race circuits. From the outset, Quaife’s engineers designed the
QBE89G to run with an optional semi-automatic paddle gear change system. While the QBE89G has yet to complete its programme of bench tests and real-life endurance tests, Quaife is confident that production units will be available later in 2012.
Quaife’s commercial manager, Mark Catterall, said:
“We have had lots of interest in a wide variety of products including the new transmissions and the Atlas alloy axle. A well-known specialist sportscar manufacturer is interested in the seven-speed QBE89G in-line gearbox.”
The ability to change rapidly from one set of gears to another to provide different ratios has also been retained, only it is now possible to swap ratios without disturbing the crown wheel and pinion. Moreover, increased differential adjustment enables teams to further fine-tune the chassis from one track to another. Xtrac also used Autosport International to present
its 1007 gearbox, a high-specification transverse gearbox for high-performance, mid-engined supercars; the Pagani Huayra is the first road car application. Transverse gearboxes are often found in race cars, as well as front-wheel-drive road cars, where the engine is also a transverse installation. The challenge for a mid-engined sportscar is to match a longitudinal engine with a transverse gearbox, which requires bevel gears to turn the drive through 90 degrees. The advantage of this layout is that the gearbox is shorter in relation to the length of the vehicle, which can assist in positioning the mass of the powertrain exactly where it is needed to enhance handling. Xtrac has recognised the importance of providing this
exclusive sector of the market with a quality product and has applied the same standards of design and manufacture as it applies to its motorsport transmissions. However, to provide the high levels of refinement
required for a road car, the transmission is of a fundamentally different design, employing, for example, helically cut gears and synchromesh on all seven forward ratios. Xtrac says that it has optimised the packaging, weight and efficiency the 1007 gearbox, but without resorting to exotic materials and expensive and time-consuming manufacturing processes (Fig. 2).
Thermal protection
Fig. 2. Xtrac’s 1007 gearbox, for high-performance, mid-engined supercars such as the Pagani Huayra, uses no exotic materials or expensive manufacturing processes.
Xtrac, another transmission specialist exhibiting at Autosport International, had on its stand a new 1011 transmission for the Dallara DW12 chassis. Xtrac has been the sole supplier to Indycar teams since the 2000 race season and its latest transmission is smaller, lighter and more efficient, as well as being designed to be integrated fully within the car’s improved rear crash structure. Not only did Xtrac work closely with Dallara, but the two companies also made sure that the gearbox is fully compatible with all three turbocharged engines supplied by Honda, GM and Lotus. Xtrac similarly consulted with Indycar and the race teams to understand what they wanted from a new transmission and has incorporated many of the features requested. For example, Megaline assisted gear change mechanism has been carried over, but it now powers an auto clutch anti-stall system.
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Coatings specialist Zircotec unveiled an expanded range of plasma-sprayed ceramic and metal coatings at Autosport International. This included a new vanadium hard-wearing composite surface coating, and the company also exhibited its Zircoflex flexible ceramic heat shield material and Thermohold coating for protecting carbon composites. According to Zircotec, over 80 per cent of the Formula One teams utilised its surface coatings in 2011, with its ceramic thermal barrier technology being a key feature of the exhaust- blown diffuser that many F1 teams employed to generate extra downforce. Peter Whyman, Zircotec’s sales director, commented:
“The technology was crucial for the teams who had not considered this in their initial design. Our coating reduces surface temperatures by 125°C and enables hot exhaust gases to pass over delicate carbon parts, protecting them from delamination. The technology began in the atomic energy industry, so helped reduce the introduction time as complete redesigns were not necessary.” Exhaust-blown diffusers have been banned from Formula
One for 2012, but Zircotec has made the technology available to the mainstream automotive industry and elsewhere. Numerous other exhibitors launched new products at
Autosport International. For example, Swedish firm Öhlins launched suspension products from its Road & Track range and for the historic rally market, and Bremsen Technik introduced its Brembo HP2000 sport disc brake pads that
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