Xtreme Gravity Racing: Soapbox Derby meets Formula 1
from Good Thinking (415 articles)
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Image Gallery ( 30 images )October 1 2005 The 2005 Xtreme Gravity Racing Series has been run and won, with yet another quantum leap forward in corporate support, automotive company participation and global recognition for the sport attempting to bring soapbox racing into the 21st century. Nissan proved to be the ultimate winner of the series from the gravity racers of Volvo and Chrysler and it was also clocked at the fastest speed - 52.38 mph – in the second and final race of the 2005 series at Irvine, california. The two vastly different courses saw five different teams on the podium with Nissan Design America (NDA)winning overall courtesy of the best aggregate time at Jack’s Peak and Irvine where it placed second and third respectively. Chrysler won the day at Jack’s Peak and Audi won outright at Irvine. Most impressive of all was the opportunity to see the exquisite design work of the contenders – see the extensive photo gallery of the racing with close-ups of the Xtreme Gravity Machines inside.
A team of designers from NDA's La Jolla studio designed the long and sleek winning machine dubbed the Nissan Flying Torpedo around the principal of aerodynamics. Measuring a slick 4'x4'x9', the Nissan Flying Torpedo is best described as an elevated fuselage with completely covered wheel skirts. After many months of concept work and design renderings, designers built the lightweight racer composed of a custom-built welded trussed frame and body that features an aerodynamic fiberglass shell and wheel covers.
Its exterior was designed in collaboration with Easy Racers, a bike shop in Santa Cruz, California, which provided NDA designers ideas for the most efficient design. The exterior shell, with a distinct smoked-gray polycarbonate window, provides the least amount of frontal area to the vehicle and allows full, wrap-around visibility for the enclosed driver. Coming in at a lean 145 pounds, extra ballast was added to bring the total weight of the vehicle, plus driver, to 320 pounds, which represents the maximum weight allowed for the race. To increase driver safety, the racer is equipped with a complete roll cage and safety harness. In addition, its unique body color is directly taken from the color palette of the Infiniti FX45.
Robert Bauer, design manager, NDA, served as the design lead on the project; Richard Plavetich, technical design manager, NDA, served as the lead engineer; and Charlie Postins, design sculptor, NDA, was the driver. According to the team, Nissan was eager to participate in the event as a means to support the foster kids program and to take advantage of a chance to create something unique.
All of the teams participating in the event were supporting America Works for Kids, a charity organization founded to provide paying jobs for foster kids as well as help to develop their professional skills and introduce them to the field of car design.
Promotor Don MacAllister was pleased with the final result. “We had a record number of teams in the design section and as it turned out, everyone was competitive on at least one of the two courses, so it made for exciting and close racing.”
The two courses proved to be very different. The Jack’s Peak event was held on August 18 and the course was quite winding as well as steep, with three left hand corners, three right hand corners and a very tight hairpin at the end.
Jacks Peak Time 1 Chrysler 34.24 2 Nissan 34.58 3 Volvo 34.78 4 Bentley 35.31 5 Mazda 35.45 6 Volkswagen 37.09 7 General Motors 37.19 8 Audi 38.51 Fastest Speed – Volvo 54.00 mph
Lars Erik Lundin, VP and General Manager of Volvo Cars Monitoring Concept Center (VMCC) said of his team’s top speed win, "The greatness of this event is the team building effort that has happened here." Achieving top speed in a vehicle without an engine is an integration of design and engineering. "Many people took part in the creation of this vehicle and after much brainstorming and interaction, in end, a winning vehicle was created," said Lars Erik Lundin.
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