6 minute read
The Revolution is Coming!
The Revolution is Coming!
PRODUCT PARTNERS
BK FABWORKS 5ZERO4 DESIGNS AEROMOTIVE FUEL SYSTEMS SADEV TRANSMISSIONS
X-1
RACEPAK SMARTWIRE VI-PEC GOOD AERO IMPACT SAFETY OS GIKEN BELL INTERCOOLERS SWIFT SPRINGS AST SUSPENSION MASTERSHIFT DRIVEN STEERING WHEELS SETRAB USA RICHWERKS
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MOTORWERKS MAGAZINE MINIOLOGY.COM
The revolution is coming and it is coming in the shape of a MINI! That’s right folks, Jan Brueggemann of Revolution Motor Works is working on something that is revolutionary in the MINI world. Those of you who hang out at the racetrack may be familliar with the British sports car manufacturer Radical. Mick Hyde and Phil Abbott pioneered the concept of a light chassis with a superbike powerplant to build a brand that has now produced 1,900 cars in seventeen years. In addition to the bike engined cars a V-8 is available and the cars are now seen at racetracks all over the world. The British duo set out out to create a niche market where drivers could buy a safe racecar that would provide incredible performance for a realistic price. Brueggemann plans to do the same thing for the sedan market.
Starting off with a clean sheet, he got brainstorming with his fabricator Barry Karakas at BK Fabworks in Oak Hills, California and the pair thrashed out the details of what the new car should look like. Jan explained, “There were some things I had set firmly in stone. It had to look like a MINI, be powered by a MINI and perform like no MINI ever seen. Thus the RWM X-1 was born. It also had to pretty well be unbreakable and be easy to work on with removeable body panels” Karakas had no problem with the unbreakable part, the bulk of his business is building all sorts of trucks and buggies for the rough and tumble of desert racing. It was agreed that moving the Tritec motor to the rear of the car would give the optimal chassis balance as the motor would almost be mid-mounted. Brueggemann went on, “With all the criteria we set out, it dictates the only real option is to build a tube chassis car where everything can be placed where we want it for optimal performance. That has the by-product of making the car easy to work on as it is basically nothing more than a frame with a body attached.”
Below: The full tube frame features CrMo tubing to keep weight down.
Above: The X-1 features a flat floor to to match up with a state of the art diffuser at the reat of the car.
Above: You get into the car ala NASCAR, climbing through the window opening.
The one thing Brueggemann decided to do to make the X-1 different from the Radical business model was the availablility of potential customers buying the car in various stages of completion. He explained, “I know everyone can’t afford to drop the money needed to buy a ready to run (RTR) rolling chassis so I thought that making it availble in various forms would work for those who have the talent to finish the car themselves and save them a bit of money as well. This works well for the many drag race chassis builders out there and I see no reason it won’t work for the X-1. This is where our Race Car in A Box moniker comes from. You order the car to your spec, list the parts you require to go with it, we pack them up in a big box and before you know it, the whole deal is sitting in your driveway.” The X-1 was due to be shown for the first time at the recent SEMA show but Jan pulled the plug on it. “I just was not happy how the body was looking after we got everything screwed together. It just did not have the look that I wanted. I felt I had let down our product partners by not being there but in the long run I am sure they will understand the car has to be perfect when it comes out for the first time. Talking of these partners, we have absolutely the best people on board with this project. Their products will be seen on the production cars and with our own in-house development car I feel we can help them out with some development as well.”
Electrically we have the latest LINK ECU that will allow us to flat shift with the Sadev transmission. A Racepak EFI module communicates to the Racepak IQ3 datalogger dash where it shares ECU data with the datalogger. The car wiring is made easier by using one of Racepak’s Smartwire PDM (power distribution modules) units which also communicates on the V-Net and allows us common use of sensors without duplication. It also allows you to use logic to control outputs based on the status of one or more inputs anywhere on the V-Net. Richwerks is building the engine wiring harness and all together it is going to be a really robust system,
Above: Well built A-Arms and quality rod ends make for great adjustibility.
The fuel system comes from Aeromotive and features twin pumps for endurance racing. The great thing about Aeromotive is their wealth of technical knowlege, Brett Clow has been in the business a long time and knows exactly how to spec a system no matter if it carburetted or electtronic fuel injection. Watch for another installment in the next issue.
Above: The X-1 will feature a 2000cc Tritec motor with a turbocharger
Above: This work of art came from Bell Intercoolers
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Above: Scott Good has got building super light carbon fiber rear wings down to a fine art. Good Aero understands that the balance of downforce versus drag is something most amateur raceteams do not spend a lot of time sorting out. Their wealth of knowlege of their products and mounting solutions make it easy for them to provide a wing that is going to work.
Below: Twin A1000 fuel pumps reside in the fuel cell in case of failure when running endurance races.
Below: A Driven 12.9” flat steering wheel is fitted with shift controls from Mastershift.
Sunday April 26th - CTMP Mosport GP Sunday June 28th - Powerade Center Sunday July 5th - CTMP Mosport DDT (Bimmercruise) Sunday July 19th - Powerade Center Sunday August 23rd - Powerade Cente Sunday September 20th - Powerade Center Sunday October 4th - CTMP Mosport GP
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