R e s e a r c h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t

ChampCar Technology Application

in the Swift Atlantic Racecar
The CART Toyota Atlantic Championship Series is devoted to developing the next generation
of drivers, engineers and mechanics. This series is the highest rung in the CART development
ladder. The educational aspect of the series is reflected in the design features of the 014.a.

The new 014.a is a descendent of Improved Driver and improve driver egress.
the Swift 008.a. Many aspects of Protection and Safety Improved side-impact protection
the 008.a were retained to allow was achieved with thicker side
008.a operators to use 014.a As part of Swifts continuous laminates on the tub. The added
parts. The redesign used Swift improvement programme, several material was arranged to add tor-
ChampCar practices, including safety features were added to the sional stiffness as well as intru-
aero development in the Swift 8 014.a chassis. A tall helmet collar sion resistance.

Figure 1:
The Swift 014.a
Atlantic racecar.

Several safety by 9-foot rolling-road wind tun- fairing improved driver head pro- Improvements were made in
features nel, and autoclaved carbon pre- tection. A cockpit rim closeout part quality through exclusive
were added preg parts and tooling. All panel was also added to eliminate use of autoclaved pre-preg com-
design, analysis, tooling and fab- the abrupt edge to the cockpit posite parts, as on Swifts
rication were performed on-site. rim. Smooth contours reduce the ChampCars. High-quality body-
Each car comes with a complete chance of driver injury in a crash work begins with high-quality
parts manual, gearbox manual,
suspension guide and aerody-
namics manual. Major invest- Chassis Carbon/Epoxy Monocoque w/ Aluminum H/C core
ments were made in these docu- Bodywork Carbon/Epoxy w/ Aluminum H/C core
ments to bolster the educational Wings Carbon/Epoxy skins + Aluminum hat section spars
value of the package for CART.
Suspension Steel A-arms + cast Magnesium uprights
The Toyota Atlantic
Championship has been spon- Wheels BBS Forged Aluminum, front 10x15, rear 14x15
sored by Toyota for the past 13 Tires Yokohama racing radials, 250/590-15 F, 350/610-15 R
years, with Toyota Racing Brakes Brembo calipers, Performance Friction rotors
Development (TRD) providing the Steering Rack & Pinion
"spec engine used by all Engine Toyota 4AGE 1.6 liter inline 4, DOHC, fuel injected
entrants. The production-based
Cooling LHS Air/Water radiator
engine develops 240 hp. The
racecar weighs 1265 lb loaded Oil System RHS Air/Oil radiator, dry-sump, tank in bellhousing
and is capable of 160 mph top Gearbox Swift SG3, 5-speed sequential, Aluminum casing
speed, 4 g cornering acceleration Fuel Cell 15 gallon FIA FT3 approved w/ internal pump
and acceleration from 0 to 60 Dimensions OAL = 167, WB = 104, Track = 66F/61R
mph in less than 3 seconds. The
Swift 014.a Atlantic racecar is
depicted in Figure 1. Table 1: 014.a Toyota Atlantic racecar specifications.

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CAD surfaces, Figure 2. Alias A development

Wavefront Auto Studio and series racecar
SDRC Ideas were used to gener- should have
ate surfaces. Mould design fol- performance
lowed directly from part design. marginally lower
Trim lines and drill bushings for than a top-rung
fasteners were designed into the car
moulds. Parts were drilled before
de-moulding, with the result that
the moulds now doubled as drill-
off jigs for consistent and accu-
rate fastener location.

Aerodynamic
Development
A development series racecar
should have performance mar-
ginally lower than a top-rung car,
yet retain the same adjustability
to train the drivers and engineers.
Table 2 shows the comparison
between a ChampCar and an
Atlantic Car in high downforce
(high drag) trim at typical ride
heights. Forces are quoted for
standard day conditions at 200
mph. Cornering speed is based on
a friction coefficient of 1.5, and
maximum speed assumes 15 %
transmission/slip losses. All units
are pounds-force, horsepower
and mph.
Atlantic downforce to weight
Figure 2: High-quality CAD surfaces. ratio is shown to be slightly lower
than the ChampCar. However,
hp/weight ratio is only 40 % of
the ChampCar value. Since the
engine was not changed for the
014.a, it was not possible to
improve acceleration. Instead, a
10 % drag reduction was sought
to improve top-end speed.

Performance
Development
Starting with the 008.a baseline
configuration, 014.a features
were developed in-tunnel with a
50 % scale model, Figure 3. First,
the region surrounding the dri-
vers helmet was revised for safe-
ty. This was then blended into the
engine cover for drag reduction.
Downforce was improved with a
re-contoured diffuser and more
powerful Vortex Generators
(VGs). Figure 4 shows the
streamline traces on the under-
wing with the new VGs.
Sidepod development focused
Figure 3: 50 % wind tunnel model. on simpler lofting and a larger

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R e s e a r c h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t

radiator intake. Extending the mated AeroMap tool called

sidepod leading edge improved "DigiMan, which stands for
aero balance and extended the Digital Aero Manual. This option-
side-impact crush structure for- al software allows the race engi-
ward, thus improving safety. neer to rapidly evaluate dozens of
CART had announced plans to aerodynamic set-ups. The input
race at high-elevation venues page of DigiMan is shown in
where cooling would be a bigger Figure 8. Here, the user enters all
problem. Tracks like Denver nine aerodynamic variables for
(5,000 ft above sea level) require the racecar. Downforce, drag, lift-
about 14 % more exotherm capa- to-drag ratio (L/D) and balance
Figure 4: Streamline traces on the underwing with the new bility. In order to improve cool- are instantly calculated. A full
Vortex Generators. ing, intake area was increased to AeroMap can then be plotted for
reduce duct losses, Figure 5. A 15 any set-up. Team response has
% face velocity improvement was been positive to DigiMan. This
achieved. Computational Fluid software is another way for new
Dynamics (CFD) showed the larg- Atlantic teams to quickly get up
er intake did not ingest the front to speed on the 014.a.
flap vortex as feared, Figure 6. The 014.a racecar was track
tested at the Buttonwillow road
Aero-Mapping course in California and Phoenix
International Raceway in
The 014.a was thoroughly Arizona. Calibrated suspension
mapped in four separate tests. An pushrods were used to determine
example AeroMap is shown for a track downforce and balance lev-
maximum downforce case in els for several configurations.
Figure 5: In order to improve cooling, intake area was Figure 7. The graph depicts Compared to the wind tunnel
increased to reduce duct losses. downforce (lbs force) vs. rear ride data, the standard deviation on
height (inches) for constant front downforce for all conditions was
ride heights. Downforce and drag less than 1 % with a worst-case
can be reduced by approx. 35 % difference of 2.6 %, an excellent
by reducing airfoil incidence and correlation.
removing the Gurney flaps. No
additional parts are needed to Mechanical
convert from high to low-down-
force trim. The downforce behav- Development
iour is smooth with some roll-off
at low front ride heights. This Mechanical enhancements were
characteristic is similar to focused on torsional stiffness
ChampCars. and weight reduction. Stiffness
The 014.a racecar provides an increases were due to additional
extreme downforce range for the 45-degree plies in the chassis
operator. In order to aid the race laminate, as well as improved
Figure 6: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) showed that the engineer in exploring these alter- engine bay trunnions, added
larger intake did not ingest the front flap vortex as feared. natives, Swift developed an auto- laminates for side-impact pro-

Table 2. Roadcourse Performance Atlantic 008.a Atlantic 014.a Atlantic 014.a 2000 ChampCar
Performance Comparison max DF @ 008.a DF max DF max DF
comparison Weight 1265 1265 1265 1750
between Atlantics
Horsepower 240 240 240 850
and ChampCars.
Downforce 3200 3200 3550 5000
Drag 1030 940 1050 1700
Drag Limited Top Speed 145 mph 149 mph 144 mph 189 mph
Grip Limited Cornering Speed
R = 200 ft 79 mph 79 mph 80 mph 80 mph
R = 300 ft 108 mph 108 mph 113 mph 115 mph
R = 400 ft 143 mph 143 mph 157 mph 160 mph
L/D 3.1 3.4 3.4 2.9
DF/Weight 2.5 2.5 2.8 2.9
HP/Weight 0.19 0.19 0.19 0.49

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Figure 8: DigiMan, input page.

Figure 7: Example AeroMap for a maximum downforce case.

tection, the cockpit rim closeout well-spaced splits throughout Conclusion The Aero Manual
panel and the new gearbox. the range. The final drive ratio is is essential for
Table 3 summarizes stiffness 9/34. The gear selector mecha- A new-generation Toyota teams to
for the 008.a and 014.a. Driver nism and oil pump were moved Atlantic Racecar, the 014.a, has understand the
feedback confirmed the impro- from the rear of the gearbox for- successfully completed its first ride-height
vements. ward to a less vulnerable loca- season of racing. The 014.a set characteristics
The SG3 gearbox for the tion in a rear impact. qualifying and fast lap records at
014.a is a sequential shift, 5- virtually every 2002 race venue.
speed plus reverse, dog clutch Documentation Designed and manufactured by
design. Swift designed the gear- Swift Engineering Inc, the 014.a
box in partnership with The Suspension Guide contains is a significant improvement over
Hewland Engineering Ltd., basic chassis set-up information the previous model. Driver feed-
Figure 9. Despite the extra to aid less experienced teams back has been extremely positive.
torque capability, the SG3 with initial settings for both Customers have expressed satis-
weighs slightly less than its road and oval type tracks. This faction in the areas of part quali-
predecessor, due to better struc- provides a baseline that can be ty, fit, durability, ease of mainte-
tural efficiency. further developed for each track nance, handling response to
The shift forks were arranged and driver. The Aero Manual is chassis adjustment, documenta-
to slide concentrically with the essential for teams to under- tion and reliability. The Swift
selector barrel to balance the stand the ride-height character- 014.a is the most reliable and
overturning moments. The bar- istics and adjustment sensitivi- cost-effective spec open-wheel
rel is axially constrained by a ties of the 014.a. This eliminates racecar in competition today.
compliant mount to absorb the the need for on-track aero map-
kickback forces of a dog-to-dog ping. The Parts Manual features by Mark Page, Tom Huschilt, Chris
missed shift. The choice of ratios illustrations taken directly from Norris, Neil Roberts, Swift Engineering
was rationalized to 50, with the CAD models. Inc., San Clemente, USA.

Configuration Torsional Stiffness (Ft*lb/deg) % Increase from baseline

008.a with
trunnions 3,882 Baseline
014.a with
trunnions 5,110 +32%
008.a
chassis only 13,222 Baseline
014.a
chassis only 19,144 +45%

Figure 9: Swift designed the gearbox in partnership with Table 3. Chassis stiffness breakdown.
Hewland Engineering Ltd.

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