Xtrac helps debate environmental role of motorsport

Transmission technology specialist Xtrac will help debate green motorsport issues at the US Society of Automotive Engineers ‘Motorsport Engineering Conference’ which takes place at Dearborn in Michigan from 5-7 December.

Andrew Heard, vice-president of Xtrac Inc, a subsidiary of the UK parent company, joins other motorsport experts looking at diesel, hybrids, hydrogen, LPG and renewable bio-fuels such as ethanol and methanol as alternatives to gasoline. The conference mirrors the debate taking place in the mainstream automotive industry regarding alternative powertrains with better energy efficiency and environmental credentials for road vehicles.

“The primary focus of the conference is exploring the potential of the motorsport industry to create greater awareness of alternative powertrains for normal road cars,” said Heard. “By demonstrating their performance potential, we can help dispel some of the negative perceptions that the public has of green vehicles. Motorsport is an ideal marketing platform which demonstrates that low emission, fuel efficient vehicles don’t mean a loss of performance, which is the common perception.”

“Good examples are the diesel powered Audi R10 Le Mans racecar and JCB DieselMax project, both equipped with Xtrac transmissions, which have helped put to flight misconceptions, particularly in the US, about diesel power. In fact, it’s been a watershed year for diesel announcements. Shell has launched its V-Power diesel fuel, which utilises the same fuel technology that helped the Audi R10 become the first diesel racecar to win the Le Mans 24 hours race, and was unbeaten in the six ALMS races entered. In road cars, under normal part throttle driving conditions, diesel vehicles typically achieve 20 to 40 per cent more miles per gallon than petrol, so it’s a big issue for the automotive industry, which faces increasingly demanding environmental legislation.”

“Also, the competitive nature of motorsport tends to attract some of the best engineers who can offer creative solutions. For example, in recent years we have seen remarkable progress in new materials, such as advanced composites, and new manufacturing processes. One of the technical issues of diesel engines is designing a robust yet light and efficient gearbox capable of handling the higher levels of torque; a technical area where Xtrac has a great deal of experience. We have also recently introduced an award winning test rig for measuring passive differentials, which has implications for normal road vehicle handling – and safety issues also have an impact on the environment.”

Other participants at the conference include Brett Boyer of PerkinElmer; Jeff Horton of the Indy Racing League; Richard Karlstetter of Shell Global Solutions; Dan Schwartzkopf of Renova Energy and Graham Weller of Ricardo Inc.; Frank J. Bohanan of Greenspeed Automotive Group, Tim Frost of Frost Motorsports LLC; John Glenn of the US Environmental Protection Agency; Robert Larsen of Argonne National Laboratory and Doug Robinson of the International Motor Sports Association.

Three technical papers to be presented are the Development of a Hydrogen Fuelled Land Speed Record Engine by Elliot Scheve of Wheel To Wheel Powertrain; Energy Efficient Motorsport – A New Alternative Fuel Equivalence Strategy by Roland Ermers of Ricardo UK; and Design of the World's Fastest E1 Class Electric Car by Jeffrey Baxter of Brigham Young University.