One of the major changes, due to the overall reduction in speed is that aerodynamics has become slightly less important but weight has become more important. With this in mind we have put the car on a crash diet. We have removed as much material as possable from the rear sub frame without compromising its strength. This includes the replacement of the cantilevered drive shafts with a single through axle.
This allows us to remove two bearing blocks and theirssupports from the frame but it does mean moving the braking system to the front wheels. One of our kind sponsors, Teagle, have offered to make our new steering assemblies which will now include the necessary mounting points for the brake calipers and also give us much more control over the precise geometry of the steering system.
While the car has been stripped down the team have also been working on the surface finish. We are trying to get a perfectly smooth finish to reduce turbulence as the air flows over the surface. With only a few weeks left until our next race we will have to get cracking to get all these mods completed but we will be working every lunchtime until the car is back on its wheels once more.
Sounds good! I know exactly what you mean about the weight issue, I need to try and get M6 on a diet! Out of interest how much have you saved by having a single shaft as I'm looking at this sort of design for a future car and had in mind the very first set up I used, one like yours.
ReplyDeleteRebuild work to M6 will be taking place over the next few weeks, steering and flooring is our main area. We have a F24+ race a week before Newquay which should give us some very good info on how the cars running before then.
Good luck with the mods, cant wait till the 23rd!