the engine and suspension are hung.
It’s a true monocoque, too, with the
24-litre fuel cell integrated into the
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monocoque is a fully enclosed shell to
which the engine is attached at four
points on either side – at the front and
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and low down on the gearbox. Since the
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couldn’t use pre-impregnated material,
because the complicated shapes of the
stylized monocoque made draping wet
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own vacuum oven to cure not only
the monocoque but all the many other
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which are made by BST in South Africa.
“There wasn’t an oven big enough
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Rolf. “It’s not pressurized, so it’s not a
true autoclave, which is vacuum plus
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the monocoque correctly – you have
to vary the temperature quite a bit and
you have to slow it down to ensure that
every molecule is completely cured. We
made a lot of practice runs before we
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but even so it was a critical moment,
and we were pretty relieved it came out
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spring, and delivering 120 mm of wheel
travel. Up front, Rolf used his own
variation of the double-wishbone girder
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A Most Unique Suspension
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principle in carrying the front wheel
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that pivots in the monocoque with twin
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fully adjustable for spring preload and
damping to deliver 110 mm of wheel
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the copycat BMW Duolever, the front
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lengthwise through the top of the
monocoque beneath a plexiglass cover
and is connected via a short rod (with
adjustment to vary the ride height front
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which sits in line with the front one.
Steering geometry is relatively con-
ventional, with a 24-degree head angle
(it’s variable over a 16- 30-degree range)
and 100 mm of trail, which, Rolf says,
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minutes to change the head angle.
“We use a double wishbone front
suspension because you get more
adjustability than with an upside-down
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control,” says Rolf. “And the nicest
thing about this system is that the forces
cancel each other out, and this reduces
stress on the monocoque and allows us
to save some weight.”
Rolf continues: “But the most inter-
esting thing about the front suspension
is that we can adjust it any way you
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and replicate the traditional telescopic
feel, or we can give you anti-dive
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THERE WASN’T AN
OVEN BIG ENOUGH IN
THE NETHERLANDS
THAT WE COULD USE,
SO WE HAD TO MAKE
OUR OWN
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