Burning the midnight oil
The last few months have been very busy for all at Elemental. After a couple of years of testing and development with our XP1 car and the subsequent revisions and refinements to the baseline design of the RP-1, the project has taken great strides forward.
The whole team has been concentrating on the build of our first full “pre-production” Beta level car, PP1, in anticipation for its debut on the hill at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Adding in the work of fine-tuning the mechanical and aero packages means that we have all been burning the midnight (more like the 2am) oil in order to get everything ready in time.
In the workshop new storage shelves have been put up, and quickly filled with racks of new components, tubs, body panels, diffusers, every kind of fastening and fitting imaginable and an array of custom welded or laser cut aluminium and steel components that make up the Rp1.
The revised tub, new front and rear sub-frames, suspension geometry, new shocks, uprights, rockers and brand new Alcon brakes all look the part and crucially help contribute to the low overall weight and increased stiffness, and improved dynamics of the chassis.
The Aero package, a highlight of the original XP1 car, has been further refined and optimised in CFD and the MIRA wind tunnel to improve both balance and overall downforce, particularly at the rear of the car.
Finally, the new lighter and more refined full carbon-fibre bodyshell has been given an eye catching paint job in a bright calypso blue that looks the part and compliments the exposed carbon tub to great effect.
All in all, the production level RP-1 is looking very good indeed and the initial tests of the car point to it being something really rather special. Roll on Goodwood.
Goodwood festival of speed