Unusual drivetrain for a featherweight track car.
Discussion
The walls are closing in on the combustion engine…
We must give the glorious mixture of fuel, air and spark the opportunity reach its full potential even if this means turning down a dark path.
We must dust of technology so fast it was banned from F1 after blazing test laps in the prototype vehicle, and a perfectly matching engine design that was never dared to be allowed in F1 and was banned from le Mans after its victory…
I am talking about a front heavily turboed rotary and a rear CVT for a 50/50 weight balance and a drivetrain match made in heaven.
Why is it any good you say?
Rotaries are a good match with a CVT because it allows them to play to their strength. They might be infamous for being unreliable gas guzzlers, but in this application it would not be true. Hey would constantly be running at a high RPM at peak torque thanks to the wonders of the transmission. And in those circumstances the reverse is true (though it will still eat allot of oil) the 787b used less fuel than its competitors and part of its success was because it was reliable (The same reason rotaries are used in single engine sport planes, where they also spend their time warmed up constantly at a high rpm)
With a CVT keeping the engine constantly in its peak torque RPM the limp low end is a non-issue and we can gladly smack a big turbo on it without being scared about the massive difference in available power at different speeds.
With a racing CVT (none of that silly simulating gears) the only times you would not be running at the high peak efficiency RPM is when you start from a standstill and if you are going down a long high speed straight and reach max gearing.
But, but, but wouldn’t you miss changing gears! Think about driver involvement! This thing would be involving as f***! With a carbon fibre tub and a low displacement heavily turbocharged wankel I wouldn’t be surprised if you could get total weight below 500 kg and a power to weight ratio of close to one, you will be plenty involved! Just light up those rear tires and be happy (to even further increase responsiveness and predictable power delivery fit it with a ALS)
Great, now can someone build me this pretty please?
We must give the glorious mixture of fuel, air and spark the opportunity reach its full potential even if this means turning down a dark path.
We must dust of technology so fast it was banned from F1 after blazing test laps in the prototype vehicle, and a perfectly matching engine design that was never dared to be allowed in F1 and was banned from le Mans after its victory…
I am talking about a front heavily turboed rotary and a rear CVT for a 50/50 weight balance and a drivetrain match made in heaven.
Why is it any good you say?
Rotaries are a good match with a CVT because it allows them to play to their strength. They might be infamous for being unreliable gas guzzlers, but in this application it would not be true. Hey would constantly be running at a high RPM at peak torque thanks to the wonders of the transmission. And in those circumstances the reverse is true (though it will still eat allot of oil) the 787b used less fuel than its competitors and part of its success was because it was reliable (The same reason rotaries are used in single engine sport planes, where they also spend their time warmed up constantly at a high rpm)
With a CVT keeping the engine constantly in its peak torque RPM the limp low end is a non-issue and we can gladly smack a big turbo on it without being scared about the massive difference in available power at different speeds.
With a racing CVT (none of that silly simulating gears) the only times you would not be running at the high peak efficiency RPM is when you start from a standstill and if you are going down a long high speed straight and reach max gearing.
But, but, but wouldn’t you miss changing gears! Think about driver involvement! This thing would be involving as f***! With a carbon fibre tub and a low displacement heavily turbocharged wankel I wouldn’t be surprised if you could get total weight below 500 kg and a power to weight ratio of close to one, you will be plenty involved! Just light up those rear tires and be happy (to even further increase responsiveness and predictable power delivery fit it with a ALS)
Great, now can someone build me this pretty please?
As i said, a CVT has been mounted to a race car... A F1 even, supposedly is was seconds faster around the track during the test than the competition.
http://badgergp.com/insta-banned-f1-tech-that-was-...
People are just not used to a constant RPM in cars (especially not entusiasts that actually think about their engine), so it has mostly been used in boring applications... And even then they are usually built these days to have varying RPMs to simulate gears in cars even if that is just a disadvantage other than feeling more familiar.
Its standard in snowmobile racing (where none of the expectations of a normal road car has kept it back), they use them in drag and endurance with horsepower going way over what we would need for this suggested application. Other CVT's are also used in heavy duty applications like the high tech type 10 tank from japan.
They are banned in most car racing series but they can sometimes pop up in racing when there are looser restrictions such as with this class winner in pikes peak.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk8YuJ2vYK8
(Actually 9th overall which is certainly not bad considering its a modified ATV)
edit* apparently I am not the only one calling for CVT speed demons, road an track published a piece earlier this year titled "Why a CVT Is Basically the Perfect Transmission"
http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a27823/a-d...
I just think its a perfect match with a big turbo wankel since it perfectly covers that engines inherent weakness while allowing its strengths to shine.
http://badgergp.com/insta-banned-f1-tech-that-was-...
People are just not used to a constant RPM in cars (especially not entusiasts that actually think about their engine), so it has mostly been used in boring applications... And even then they are usually built these days to have varying RPMs to simulate gears in cars even if that is just a disadvantage other than feeling more familiar.
Its standard in snowmobile racing (where none of the expectations of a normal road car has kept it back), they use them in drag and endurance with horsepower going way over what we would need for this suggested application. Other CVT's are also used in heavy duty applications like the high tech type 10 tank from japan.
They are banned in most car racing series but they can sometimes pop up in racing when there are looser restrictions such as with this class winner in pikes peak.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk8YuJ2vYK8
(Actually 9th overall which is certainly not bad considering its a modified ATV)
edit* apparently I am not the only one calling for CVT speed demons, road an track published a piece earlier this year titled "Why a CVT Is Basically the Perfect Transmission"
http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a27823/a-d...
I just think its a perfect match with a big turbo wankel since it perfectly covers that engines inherent weakness while allowing its strengths to shine.
Edited by Cyk0 on Thursday 18th August 13:07
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