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the world much as S6.5 million and beyond. ard this feature. Ater all it is very watching their WATCH The reason these supersonic tin easy to mistake them as being shoddy, permies in these ONTINE tops demanded such extravagant so I suppose'affordable' is a much usettlingtimes budgets was fundamentally chargeable more fitting and complimentary. But of financial to the complex technology hidden whatever I pluck from the dictionary uncertainty I suppose this featue on away underneath an irmocent looking the truth is these two RML built these ludicrously outrageous Super production road car shell. Ifwe were able Super Tourers were in their day a very Touring cars may on the face of it seem to virtually peei back the modest looking very erq>ensive comrnodity indeed. shortsighted. If we couJd step back in Iffi.tcmagazine.com bodywork, staring back would essentially Wirurers of the 1998 and 1999 BTCC time to the era when these detailed be a space-frame chassis,hordes of ManuJactu.rers Championship, the tourers were competing successfitlly in carbon fibre and a lughly complex Drivers Championship in 1999 while the British Touring Car Championship eng'ine which was also positioned so beating the likes of the well funded Ford, @TCC) and youd be right, in fact these deep and Iow into the bu.lldread it was Renault andVauxhall outfits. It was also two cars alone wor:ld have probably cost barely recognisable. These may have followed up by an Independents Drivers in the region of just under !I million of been tagged Super Touers but they Championship in the hands of the lofty your hard-earned to buy them as a pair. were more like thoroughly modern Matt Nea.lin 1999 and 2000. So rather Even more staggering was the funds Ttrundersaloons, albeit ones with fittingly our two feature cars recorded required to run a team for a season which power rururing through the fuont drive- some of Nissan's finest achienements. started at arourd !4 million. .. Renault shafts. Thanldully today, udike the (who employedWilliams FI to build Ttrundersaloons of yesteryears, ex-BTCC THE HISTORY them a car) was rumoured to spend as Belry:This 1999 cars swamp the second hand market.. , TYacing the steps to Nissan's 1999 NissanPtimeE ffis driren bV the and they're cheap. Championship white-wash with the great David late, the best of words trrimera really does take us on a wild Leslie to second Cheap isn't exactly in lhat seasonts to use when describing the two cars roller-coaster ride.It a.llkicked off with BTCG Ddver Ghanpionshit'... we've got splashed across the cover Racing back in I99I. These early Nissan's were built byJiinos 6dor of happened if it wasn't for Nissan WATCH for the 1997 season, especia.lly when (founded and team manager of the Europe (NME) for the ONTINE controlled by the exceptionally talented JarSpeed racing team) with his late son collaboration with Ltd (or Mark Busfield (now team manager for Kieth 6dor as its number one driver now loown as RML Group, RML), the RIML'sChevroletWTCC team). Nissan's a.longside such tearrunates as Julian formidable yet quiet motorsport g'iant. first season showed huge potential but it Bailey, Andy Middlehurst, JamesWeave! Ttris combination wouJd prwe to be wasn't urtil 1998 that the cars started to Win Percy,TUf Needell and fic van de priceless for the second generation take shape, claiming the Manufacturer's Poele. fhe highest placed was 6dor Primera (or lcnorn as the PI l) and title, followed by the faultless season who managed to bring the car home in this was partly due to NME'S General w.trcmgdinecom in'99, not orily was the Manufacturer's sixth in the Drivers Championship but Manager, Alex Poole. NME"s boss was crown retained but the drivers also these cars weren't competitive enough once a B?CC champ himself (winning finished in first (Lawent Aiello) and second @avid Leslie). That year Nissan hissww's"first se{,s{}fitifs€.tw,ed kulle psteilti{i! f}ut it w{tstl'f ut'tti{ 1998tle&t ilee {:{tn startedto take shape,claiming the Manfficturer's title, tota.lly dominated and RIvIL racked up the '9$ most wins, poles, podiums, fastest laps fulf*ruert'fu' tkefiiw se&sstciut wkewit t*trk tke dawh{e and laps lead. and the JarSpeed program came to the 1969 One-Litre Championship in a That same season also brought Matt an end in 1994.A missed year in 1995 ) and lcrew only too well what was Neal some silverware in the way of his saw a comeback in 1996 by the (often required for Nissar to lift the crorrn. So Independent Championship courtesy forgotten) Rouse Sport using his Irish charm he stole RIVILaway of (in an RML Nissan Team but the real change came in I99?. ftom Nissan's main rival, blagging "we're Primera) and again the following year Although wilder versions of the a better bet thanVauxhall", Beld:...but, in 2000.With Nissan pulling,the plug alternatively, this Primera came in the shape of foru- Together with Stewart Ayling @ML t98 er- PdmeEhell'ed wheel drive (forTeam Rosberg's entry Engineer) and Richard Dwilla (I\IME scoop him Ore into the German Super Touriag Series Desigrner) the project was given an Isdel'ende[ts trct'hy that sane in 1997 and 1998) these would never ifiunediate (and much needed) boost '99 season

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on the works team (along with the Abwe left to tiglrt: models. So the outcome was a far stiffer into their keyboards and the fina.l Special steering majority of the key maaufacturers) Nea.l's EGk sits above shell which was also somewhat stonger. creation was not only solid but also as the engine.Tlre just possibly Team Dynamic Primera was to be low slung Nissan With the shell covered it was time lightweight as they could go one of the two remaining Nissan's that SRzO poweFplant for the NME ard RIML design boffins while maintaining high levels of driver prcduced in ran in (sadly) this Iast year of Super excess of 3oobhl' to concentrate on developing the most safety.Visually it's reminiscent of a al SsOOrpm.Sean part Touring cars. The second Nissan was welds demanded integral of the Primera; the salety monkey encloswe, a brace of complex the Champiorship wiruring car of Aiello 1OOO fril houE of cell. Driver safety was paramount, criss-cross tubes eng-ulfthe cockpit ard labour. Flatshifls and,like Nea.l,it was ruruung among were cal'able naturally, but overall an ingenious roll resemlcles that space-ftame chassis when united with the Independent teams but under the tlre Pectel EGU. cage would add wera.ll integrity and look I mentioned at the sta.rtof this steering Eridance of Colin Blair and Garbon crash box stifhess once welded to the already taut story The suspersion loads are fed around thedriveE rur (and still ovmed) by Derek Palmer feet. Engine shell. fhe ones inside the RML Primeras into the outermost corners of the roll- position pushed Engineering. the dtivcr back as were comDuter-aided via finite element cage structures v'dth the cockpit tu-bing far as the driver's '{b door pillar t*tzvittt:u,:*x{*{lt't*:.rt: t?'t*d{.:tlt}tt.elL l* llzi*k *lkr:*tist: f$ *er:iarfitrrw 3l$u tft/tf THE CHASSIS the highly complexRML shells would take 125 man-days I think you'll agrree that our cover cars aren't your average ciubman tin top race cars, To convince any of those mad analysis (FEA) in a bid to optimise the reaching out to the top of the damper enough to think otherwrise let me idorm tubular steel cage by creating a tLuee- mounting points, both front and rear. you that each of the luglily complex dimensional virtual model rnto wluch While we're on the subject of the RML shells wonld take I25 man-days simr:lated loads were fed and stilfrress four corners the original 1997 Rl/lL to prepare. That's 1000,grueling, man- values predicted. Sounds expersive but I cars (as demonstrated by our ex-Matt hows. Mind-boggling stuff, you may suppose havrng Williams F I trarsform:ng Neal example) were blessed with some want to sit down and just thirk about that. a RenauJt Lagnrna into a championship usefi:l origina.l equipment hardware. The painstaking time is occupied by the winning car certaidy didn't allovr any The rulebook in the late nineties arduous task of seam-welding the entire breathing space for the competition... required the origina.l suspersion layout shell, a process which over-stitches the Nissar certahly weren't holding back. to foilow the road version and Nissan's factory spot welds with longer, stronger Hundreds of simu.lations were done, GT model, of its Pl I Primera road car, welds which are spaced out by literally changing the shape and size of the came with multi-link front wishlcones inches rather than the traditiona.l wider tubing was just a couple of factors and coilwer dampers on the nose and berths set out by the production line the white coated engineers punched tail of the chassis. The ftont wishlcones n were modified into an odd loolang S with the ffpe of technolog'y (and money) type design (upper and lorer) while available to a 1997 BTCC team damper the rear slightly less complicated. Otu technology ramped up in quality at an Team Dynamics car (Chassis Number: alarming rate. 3I) features this early production rur yet RML utilised the services of Dynamic the newer 1999 model - finished in the Suspenion on its BTCC cars (although firll NissanVodafone colours - features some Independent teams tested with a slightly updated desigm. It wasn't a OlLIirs) and refined the control of its modification to imprwe performance coilorrers to such a degree that the cars hor,vever, rather an addition demanded could ride kerbs without upsetting the by the BTCC bosses who reguested a balance of the chassis but all the while rr:.le change in favou of a beam axle and still retaining the all important stilAless swinging arm arrangement. without a hint of roll. Ttris was mastered by providing the damper with two levels SUSPENSION& BRAKES of contol, low speed damping (reg:Jar One of the more memorabie track lumps and bumps) and high speed memories we have of most BTCC events damping (irregruJar track lumps and is the crashing and bashing... over the bumps aka: kerbs).Those clever chaps kerbs ('bet you thought I was going to in white coats once again came up say into each other?).To put it bluntly it top-trumps, prosiding soft suspension was an exercise to purely lap quicker, over bumps but firm in its resistance to straightening out the corners and roll and pitch. It kicked off multlway reducing the charces of droppinq out adjustable damping in big way ard the ofthe peak-power ranges ofthe engine. ripple effect landed its way into clubman cars were/are heavy motorsport and has since provided us aII (975k9) and the capped rev band (of with plenty of head scratching since. B,500rpm) made it crucial for the drivers With the chassis poise taken care off to eek out every last thousandths of a the brakes were critical considering the second a.bsolutely everywhere. I/lIheeI- prurishing kerb weight. Super Tourers spin had to be avoided at all costs and came packed with the biggest wheels

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we had ever seen rurming up to the 1997 Matt Nea.lcar features the'98 update BTCC and thus enabled a huge cavity of pack while the ex-l,eslie car is as it was space to fill with discs and calipers.Team Qessthe updated Pl l-l 14 face-lift pack) Dynamics RML cart really was the last in 1999 when he brought it home with of the late brakers when you consider second place in the championship. it had not just one but two calipers The'98 bodywork was where things on the front of its early cars but NME really sta.rt to work artd although having banished these and replaced them with their original designs rejected the I0 a singnrlar and more efficient AP Racing days at MIRA (in the windtururel) but six-piston ca.liper, with 378mm discs 15-20 days out doing live runs paid-off. upfront and four-piston,280mm discs at Complications with the governing body the rear. Both examples of braking are was all part and parcel ofworking to the clea.r to see courtesy of our featu.re ca.rs strict nrles.There was a limited minimum behind the mammoth 8.2xI9" forged ground clearance of 45mm for the ftont magmesium Rays rims on each corner. splitter arrangement which also couldn't These gigartic wheels were wrapped in be extended back behind the front slicks - obviously - and NME/RML had wheels whjle the rear wing was limited to reconstruct the inner arches in sheet to fitting into a theoretical 150x150mm meta.l to clear them. box and could extend beyond the car's outline in front elevation (view), or in AERO PACK plan view (from abwe). Although flat After the cheating Alfa Romeo I55s paneiled floors or profiling weren't (Oi! - A3) had bent the n:le-book out allowed RML did do a very neat job of of any kind of recogrnition in 1994 the tuckrng away that [3,000 Inconel exhaust following season saw a bunch of Mickey system from impending kerb damage. .. Mouse stick-on wings and splitters ungrracefully adorn the ftont and rear of RUNNING GEAR the entire field. Some worked, most didn't Out of all the components on the car, but it didn't take long for the grid to fine a Super Touring car eng'ine wasn't the tune its wings and louvres and by 1997 most secret of all. Quite the contrary in (ust two years after the rules changed fact, most engine builders were open in favour of wings) the Super Tourers about the construction of such ar engine started to really take shape. Any wing- and claimed it was just well-lanovrn set was required to be homologated at teclurology everybody lcrew. The rea.l the start of the year (to stop developing secrets which were kept under wraps ttuoughout the season) and it wasn't until at that time was the differential systems. I998 that Nissan fowrd its feet. The red Back in 1997 the ruJes prwented the

I8 lt C'i rCAzii:.irlt-1 f il{: :i:f : manufactwers ftom rurming bespoke WATCH of important things, firstly it drops the HOW MUGH engines, it was required to use the basic Iower centre of gravity and moving it It's very.{ifficult to place a value on a block and head configuration as found ONTINE tovrards the centre-Iine of the chassis Super Tor:rer. The millions poured into in its road cousirs.lhe Nissan SR2ODE takes the weight offthe front-wheels the project by the teams can blur the was a cracking little engine for the job (moving the weight distribution fr:rther bigger picture somewhat and back when - the head and block were made foom backwards) and at the same time it also they were just a year old the good ones aluminium so it was light - and affer mwes the eng'ine's mass to reduce the (they weren't all good, remember the all was said and done (forged pistons, polar moment of inertia which in turn Peugeot 406?) were swapping ovuners for lightened coruods and titanium valrres) lw.tffiaguine.com made the Nissan change direction rather a tidy sum of f,I50,000. That's without an the restricted 8500rpm wor:ld push out a quLicldy.The engine has also been canted engine and gearbox (which a.lone from steady 290bhp (while some journalists at rearwards too, a gEeat way of (again) X-T?acwas f35,000).T\ro years after the the time quoted in excess of 300bhp). moving that heavy chuk of steel crark SuperTouring era had come to a close The early engines built by fiuther backwards into the chassis. the cars still fetched between S24.000 International Engine Services (lES) All this power is fed tlrough an AP and upwards ofS80,000 and since then feah:red slide throttles and a slLift from Racing Eiple-plate, 5.5" diameter carbon prices have dropped and leveled out to belt-driven cams to chain and gear drive, clutch to a compact non-syncluo X-Trac/ just above f,20,000 and fluctuates up to a modification which was implemented Nissan sequential trarsmission filled f30,000 (plus) depending on the history to eradicate the small amourt of belt with dog tooth gears. Interacting with condition and manufacfurer ofthe car, stetch that occurred at high rerrs which the Pectel ECU it was an aJI dancing, Although these purchase prices place interfered with accurate valve timing. This was crucial because when IES betweent24,000 and upwards of {,80,000 wanted to run tight valveto-piston fetched clearances (in order to keep the valves open as long as possible) so the timing a.ll sing'ing flat-shift system with the them among the likes of the latest Clio 'had'to be accwate. T'hiswonJd change electronics cutting the engine to take Cup cars and considerably cheaper Belil clocLwise yet again in 1998 when IES upgraded to fom leftu Tlre the load off the'box and aIIow the gear than last montls cover car (the SEAT barrel tlEottles but the same Pectel Tl0 lcil older chassis change to go through smoothJy and Leon Supercopa) it's hard not to be fealured tmry engine management was retained which of the same rapidly aJI the while the driver's right seduced by these wonderfully iconic conponents of controlled eight injectors ; four down the nryer models foot is welded to accelerator which racing cars. Fingers will be burnt near the inlet valves and the other fow like tlre cilbon is buried in the bulldread. Combined however if you don't purchase one with a cEsb box around high up on the idet trumpets pointing the pedals.lEs with aviscous-plate tlpe limited slip comprehensive spares package. The vast 3till pretr'arcs dovm toards the hlet ports. ptiEtelyoffied differential system, power delivery was amount of specialised components Qike One of the more startling revelations PtineEstoday. where BTCC teams wor:.ld experiment. the unique wishbones on the ) lndependert rea isn't necessarily the engine itselJ, but was adtustable At the time it was all top secret stuff and will undoubtedly cause headaches ifyou frem the cockpit. the location inside the Primera's bay.It Twin calipeE this changeable system (depending on udortunately encountering failures of sits low in the clnssis and a deep into rerebimedin the circuit) would often create some wild such products.Write-off a chassis? It'U be favou of Eilgle the bulkhead.This achieves a couple design lor'99. conspiracy theories in the paddock. cheaper to buy another car.. . I

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