Xtrac wins first ever Professional MotorSport World Expo award
Xtrac, a specialist supplier of gearboxes and driveline components for high performance vehicles, has received the first ever ‘Testing Technology of the Year’ award presented for its breakthrough ‘Quasi Transient Differential Test Rig’ at the inaugural Professional MotorSport World Expo event held in Cologne last week."By providing data that was previously unavailable from passive differentials, Xtrac's new test facility is truly innovative,” said Graham Heeps, jury member and editor of Professional MotorSport World magazine. “It’s an excellent example of a motorsport development that not only improves race car performance, but could also help car makers to build cars that are safer to drive.”
Commenting on the award, Peter Digby managing director of Xtrac said: “It was an honour sharing the platform with other award winners such as Ferrari, Renault and Bosch, high calibre engineers of the stature of Ulrich Baretzky of Audi Sport and team principal Marc Van Dalen of Kronos Racing. It was also a real privilege to receive this award on behalf of Xtrac, and I would like to thank in particular the efforts of our research and development team who helped achieve this world-class breakthrough in testing technology.”
Peter Digby accepted the award accompanied by Xtrac technical director Adrian Moore whose inspiration led to the development of the new test rig. The award was received at a gala dinner in front of an invited audience of 600 motor sport professionals, engineers, team principals and race car companies.
“I know the whole company will be delighted to receive this new award as it reflects our innovation and technology focus,” said Moore. “Our differential test rig is the first ever to be able to characterise passive mechanical type limited-slip differentials - as distinct from active differentials. This has obvious benefits in motorsport, but also broader safety implications for car handling generally, which clearly has been recognised by the judges.”
Xtrac’s new test rig is an all-new facility designed specifically to provide automotive clients with accurate test data on passive differentials. Despite being simpler than active differentials, because they are purely mechanical devices that avoid complex control systems and actuators, passive differentials have until now proved almost impossible to measure because of their transient behaviour. The new rig can characterise both speed and torque sensing limited-slip differentials as well as open differentials and complements Xtrac’s longstanding ability to measure viscous as well as electronically-controlled hydraulically-actuated differentials, thereby providing the company with the ability to evaluate any type of differential system.
“We designed and commissioned the test rig to support our differential design and predictive modelling capabilities,” Moore added. “It represents a significant investment and will help increase our understanding and calibration of mechanical plate differentials. The new rig is already being used for research into new friction materials and for confidential client projects.”
The Professional MotorSport World Expo awards were judged by an international jury of motorsport experts comprising Michael Andretti, chief executive officer, Andretti Green Racing; Jost Capito, director, Ford Team RS; Tom Kristensen, Audi DTM and Le Mans factory driver; Armin Schwarz, co-team principal, Red Bull Skoda; Tim Edwards, motorsports director, Ford Performance Racing; motorsport writer David Tremayne; Kim Wolfkill, publisher, MSN Autos; and Graham Heeps editor Professional MotorSport World magazine.