Design & Development

Design.

With our development work on various vehicles, we often cannot simply buy parts off the shelf to solve the problems we are presented with. So on a regular basis we have to design and manufacture specialist parts to fulfil our customers’ requirements.

Depending on the nature of the problem, either we will produce cardboard mock ups of parts – particularly sheet metal assemblies or we will use CAD to design and prove the concept before we have the parts manufactured.

Increasingly we are using the new technology of 3D printing to produce prototypes in plastic before committing to the final design.

CAD Design Services.

Development.

Often the cars we see don’t interact with the driver very well. That means the clutch is heavy, the throttle is heavy, the gear change is a lottery and the brakes are less than confidence inspiring normally coupled to nervous handling.

How can you drive at pace if you don’t have full confidence in your controls?

These areas are the first things we look at when we access a car. Then after discussing the project with the owner we can make a plan and budget for the development work.

What we do.

We do lots of work on the following systems:

• Suspension and handling
• Ignition system
• Vehicle electrical system
• Fuel system – both injection and carburettor
• Driver comfort

Above all we listen to the owner of the car and try to tailor the development of the car to suit their driving style, budget and ultimately what they intend to use the car for road or track.

The Basics.

Steering – needs to be a nice weight with plenty of feel for what the tyres are doing

Brakes – these should respond in proportion to the amount of effort exerted on the pedal

Throttle – this should be light and can be set up for a long travel or snappy short travel depending on the drivers preference.

Gear change – this really needs to be instinctive – if you have to look at the gate to see which gear your going for something is wrong!

Clutch – again this is personal preference for the driver but an overly heavy clutch is not acceptable.

Seems obvious but these areas are often the first areas we improve before anything else which usually transforms the vehicle. Along with these points we can also carry out work to improve all the other aspects of the car from reliability issues to improving the appearance and driver comfort.