Buy your own carbon monocoque for £30k
F1 supplier Dash-CAE launches TR01 carbon chassis for BEV and ICE power - the possibilities are endless
We’ve all dreamed of making our own supercar at some point, right? No compromise, no limits, nothing to consider but your dream of driving nirvana. Of course, there have been plenty of sports car kits for handy mechanics to assemble at home over the years, but those after something properly bespoke will need to start with the foundations of a car. They’ll need a chassis from which body panels can be draped and a powertrain wedged into; a carbon one, ideally, for maximum strength and minimum weight. Well, that’s now something on offer from Oxfordshire company Dash-CAE, which will sell you its TR01 carbon chassis for £30,000.
Now, obviously, it’ll take a bit more than a socket set and a crate V8 to make a supercar from that, but the very fact the TR01 exists is notable. Dash-CAE reckons this is about 50 per cent less than any comparable architecture currently available. It’s a proper bit of carbon kit, too, offering stiffness of 35,000Nm/deg and weighing just 50kg. It meets Euro NCAP/FMVSS crash standards, and the centre console design can be tweaked to the customer’s request. Dash says the TR01 ‘is suitable for any two-seat vehicle requiring a lightweight and stuff carbon monocoque’. The possibilities are endless…
Particularly as the monocoque can accommodate all manner of power sources. Dash reckons the TR01 is sufficiently versatile to be compatible with a ‘wide variety of two-seater ICE, BEV, and hybrid powertrains’. Ultimately it means that low-volume manufacturers and even startups can get hold of the chassis technology pretty much mandatory for a supercar these days, regardless of their engine choice. It’s also not beyond the realms of possibility that motorsport teams might be interested in the TR01, as it offers the chance to build a carbon-tubbed race car for much less than used to be possible.
Tim Robathan, CEO at Dash, said: “The TR01 chassis opens new possibilities for niche automotive manufacturers, and larger international OEMs by offering an affordable, versatile, lightweight, and high-stiffness carbon monocoque chassis. These programmes are often incredibly expensive and the ability to use a production carbon monocoque is a huge time and cost saving, without compromising performance. Our commitment to innovation and engineering excellence makes the TR01 an industry-disrupting solution that challenges traditional carbon chassis production and makes high-performance monocoques far more accessible.” And who doesn’t want to see more low-volume, carbon-tubbed exotics out there? We look forward to seeing what’s built from the TR01 first…
I'm imagining a modern interpretation of a Matra 670 with a v12 from any of the big boys, or even a judd v8 or v10. Just awesome
Yes I know the tub wouldn't actually work for this but I can dream...
It also doesn't include all the bits you need to bolt to it to turn it into a rolling chassis: it would be just the bare chassis, same as the bare chassis in the article.
For what it's worth, I designed this (which is quite a complex and sophisticated chassis by spaceframe standards - certainly an order of magnitude more complex than a 1930's ladder frame) and we had it fabricated by a professional race fabricator for, if memory serves, about £3.5K (though that was pre-Brexit/Covid/Ukraine inflation):
Obviously, a carbon tub is an entirely different kettle of badgers.
Not mind bending in terms of power, but light, smooth, and ought to be good for high revving. If you can keep the whole car under 750kg then you’d be in for a good 450hp/ton at the crank?
https://www.asfgroupltd.com/wp-content/uploads/202...
Bought a secondhand monocoque of one bloke (£650 IIRC), a set of 4 'corners' off another, new wishbones and then designed using proper CAW prototyping (Cardboard and Wood... sheets of card to get the layout then 1" sq timber and ply, before replicating it in steel and alloy..) the rear subframe that takes the engine (Kawasaki ZX10R) and diff, wings were assembled using 'by the meter' wing profile and carbon sheet endplates, doubt I was much into 5 figures when it first hit the track.
I had a lot to learn when I started (still do..) as i'm not an engineer, but a few decades of messing about with RC cars gave me the fundamentals of how the theory worked and the bits of knowledge to fabricate the bits I needed to make I learnt as I went along.. took about 12 months all in, but majority was October to March one off season!
Do It - the feeling you'll get the first time it moves is epic..
You'll see quite a few similar projects (most built to a much better standard!) at most of the hillclimb and sprint events, they're a superb environment for the home builder to still have a go
https://juddpower.com/our-engines/judd-gv-4-2l-v10...
Kind regards,
Ryan
Dash CAE
Epic work sir - my mind is in overdrive thinking of the possibilities: I wish you absolutely all the luck in the world with it, just brilliant!
Yes I know the tub wouldn't actually work for this but I can dream...
something like this, like a hotrod ish seven.
Can't let this go without a 
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