Precision engineering from Aquila
For Aquila Racing Cars, precision is important.
We use modern technology to achieve the optimal result regarding
measurements and calculations. Take for example the monocoque on
the CR1, It needs 40,000 Newton metres to be twisted 1 degree,
making the car very safe and extremely rigid which is very
important for the car's cornering potential. This fits very nicely
with the car's low weight and centre of gravity to further increase
cornering speeds, braking becomes fun and gives you confidence in
the car.
When we mount the GM LS series engines to the chassis and bell
housing, we install our own integrally machined dry sump which
saves weight, eliminates oil movement away from the oil pump
pick-up, lowers the engine position and improves the car's rigidity
in the engine bay area. This is where our precision engineering
comes in. We use an extensive network of services to assist in our
precision work and a lot of time, such processes takes less than a
few hours to achieve the desired result.
Using a 3D coordinate measuring machine, we can plot the
position of every hole and geometrical feature on a manufactured
item within a few thousands of a millimetre. The machine does not
care if it's an engine block, bell housing or even your lawnmower!
From a fixed position it will tell us everything we need to know
and confirm that the parts which we are using or have produced
ourselves are accurate and will fit together first time. We measure
both sides of the engine and the bell housing from a central point.
In this instance we use the centre of the crank and the machine
needs just 3 transit points from inside the centre hole to find
dead centre. Now that we have the dead centre, we can go ahead and
find out where the rest of our bolt and dowel pin holes are located
in relation to dead centre. Hole diameters and centre axis
locations are then plotted as a map, filed and can be printed out
as a hard copy for immediate reference. We now have all the
information we were looking for in our hand after just 30 minutes
work.
The LS engine is then installed as low as possible in the very
stiff CR1 chassis, so low that we need a slight modification of the
standard Hewland NLT transaxle casing to accommodate it. Using a
computerized 3D coordinate measuring machine greatly improves
accuracy and saves a lot of time.
Lowering the centre of gravity reduces wear on the tyres, allows
the lightly loaded inner tyres to take a greater share of the total
cornering load, the rear brakes also take a greater share in the
total braking effort. Saving weight also reduces all dynamic loads
and reduces the wear on the brake pads. This is why our standard
Wilwood 4-pot system can out-brake other GT cars with much bigger
calipers and discs. From the ground up, both the CR1 and FD1 have
been developed in this way and both cars have gone on to break more
than one record each.
This offers our customers the peace of mind that their car has
been looked after and built to a professional standard using modern
technology, but most importantly they can go that little bit
quicker with confidence…
