This is the extent of the workshop operation – tidy, functional, but hardly what you’d expect from a competitive British Touring Car Championship team
than we were last year, but our lap times have improved drastically. The main reason for this is the lack of engine braking. It is a bit of a trickier animal on the brakes, so instead we are gaining the time down the straights.’
CHASSIS MODIFICATIONS The chassis was also subject to extensive changes during the winter of 2010/’11, building on the experiences gained during the team’s maiden season. Throughout 2010, the high ride height had compromised the handling, caused in part by excessive driveshaft angle limiting how low the car could be run. Conversely, if the chassis was run at its optimum height, driveshaft reliability suffered. To counter this, a bespoke bellhousing was produced to mate the Sadev six-speed gearbox to the new engine, the design of which allowed the whole transmission to be rotated counter clockwise, reducing the rake, and the consequent stress, on the driveshafts. This modification, combined with revisions to the subframe mounting, allows the car to sit lower at the front. In line with this, the rear suspension mountings were revised to
allow a lower ride height and alterations to be made without unduly affecting the spring and damper rates. Where previously the chassis height was adjusted by changing the spring platform height, new top mountings mean the entire spring / damper unit can be moved up or down. In addition to these changes, the bodyshell was put on a major weight loss programme, which has allowed greater scope for re-distribution of ballast weight and lowered the c of g.
interaction of the rear wing with the overall aero balance means that it can now be used to subtly alter the car’s rear end behaviour. But when it came to visualising airflow, lacking the funds for full-scale wind tunnel testing, some good old racer’s ingenuity came to the fore. AMD’s main business is tuning and re-mapping performance road cars and, to this end, they have an in-house 4WD rolling road. Through cunning use of the cooling fans, rollers and a smoke
cunning use of the
cooling fans, rollers and a smoke wand gave the team an idea of the airflow
Despite the obvious
limitations faced by being a privateer outfit, AMD still recognised that aerodynamic development was a valuable tool in garnering performance from the Golf, and this led to an imaginative use of the resources available to the team. Traditional straight-line testing was undertaken at the Bruntingthorpe testing ground, and this led to the rear wing being modified and given a wider adjustment range. A greater understanding of the
wand, the team was able to gain some idea of what the airflow was doing around the rear of the car. While admittedly not 100 per cent accurate, the information gleaned led them to modify the rear arches in an effort to reduce turbulence and drag.
SHREWD SELECTION The AMD operation is by no means a large one, and all of the racing preparation is completed in workshop space shared by the main tuning business.
Shrewd selection of team personnel has helped the team develop. For example, team manager, Chris Tweed, has a wealth of experience to draw upon, having engineered cars in both the ALMS and FIA GT championship, as well as heading up VW Racing’s Australian operation. Tweed’s importance to the success of the project cannot be underestimated, and brings into sharp contrast the gulf between works and privateer teams. As Hollamby puts it, ‘This is basically a racecar built in the corner of a workshop by one guy!’ The team’s intention was
always to treat entry into the BTCC as a three-year project, with the ultimate aim to be in regular contention for top 10 placing. Hollamby is pragmatic, and knew they would be hard pressed to compete with the front-running operations, but 2011 has seen the car take the fight to the established runners, managing on occasion to run with the front of the pack. More importantly, by setting
realistic performance targets and making the most of the limited resources available, the small, Essex-based team has proved that a privateer team can be competitive at the pinnacle of British saloon car racing.
September 2011 •
www.racecar-engineering.com 53
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100