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B R U S S E L S • D E T R O I T • S I N G A P O R E

Produced on behalf of the Ricardomarketing team by AutomotiveWorld, 32 Percy Street, London W1T2DE

Editor: John Simister Design editor: Will KailEditorial director: Tony Lewin Publisher: Jonathan PriceEditorial enquiries: fiona.hunte@auto-

motiveworld.com

Ricardo marketing team

Marketing manager: Anthony Smith+44 (0) 1273 794460, AVSmith@ricardo.com

Sales enquiriesUK: +44 (0) 1273 455611USA: +1 (734) 397 6666

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Head office: Ricardo plc, Bridge Works,Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex BN43 5FG,United Kingdom

contentsAutumn 2001

NEWS

Industry update 4GM won't build its own fuel-cell engines,MG Rover plans for the future, EU farms togrow biofuels, Warwick University says theUK's future is in niche manufacture andDelphi gears up for 42-volt electrics. Plus amessage from Ricardo chief executiveRodney Westhead

News from Ricardo 18Laser technology boosts combustionresearch, a new report forecasts dieselsales boom, pressure sensors are key tofuture engine management. And asJaguar’s X-type goes on sale to wideacclaim, Ricardo outlines its involvementin the AWD transmission system

FEATURES

Ricardo Conference: the highlights 6Environmental issues dominated theSecond Ricardo International Conference,held last June. Jeff Daniels reports fromBrighton, England on hybrids, 42-voltelectrics and direct gasoline injection

MINI: a major achievement 10With the demerger of BMW and Rover, theMINI program needed a partner. BMWpassed the project to Ricardo – presentingthe British company with one of thebiggest challenges and tightest deadlines ithad ever had to face. Julian Rendell relatesthe tale

Motorsport: a dedicated division 14Ricardo has long been involved in motor-sport developments at every level, butnow Ricardo Motorsport is the one-stopshop for every engineering solution. Jesse Crosse meets the brains behind thenew division's achievements

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Sir Nobuhiko Kawamoto 8CEO of Honda from 1990 to 1999,Kawamoto gave the keynote address atJune’s Ricardo International Conference.Afterwards, he revealed to Tony Lewin hisviews on the issues faced by the motorindustry. Global warming, fuel cells andaluminium cars are high on the agenda

End of life: end of profits? 18From 2007, automakers will have to pay forthe eventual scrapping of all vehicles theyhave ever made. It’s seen by many as afinancial time-bomb ticking away to bank-ruptcy, but the legal interpretations andtrue costs remain unclear. Ian Skinner

asks: is the industry crying wolf?

08 20

14

10

Autumn 2001 3

4 NEWS FROM AUTOMOTIVE WORLD Autumn 2001

Mercedes SL first tooffer brake-by-wireMercdes-Benz’s new SL sports-car has no mechanical orhydraulic connection betweenbrake pedal and disc.Sensotronic Brake Control (SBC)communicates the driver’s com-mands via cable, and brakingeffort comes from a high-pres-sure pump. Its outputs are mod-ulated at each wheel, integratedinto the ABS and ESP systems.

Pneumatic hybrid ispatentedKorean company Energine hasdeveloped a hybrid minivanpowered by an electric motorand a compressed air engine.Industry commentators havecriticised this because of theenergy needed to compress theair, but Energine has obtainedpatents in eight countries.

Shell Optimax set toreplace super unleadedA joint research program withthe Ferrari Formula One teamhas led to Shell Optimax, a 98RON, ultra-low-sulphur gasolineexpected to replace superunleaded in the UK. It is claimedto burn more quickly and clean-ly, to improve an engine’sresponsiveness and to removeharmful carbon deposits.

Hybrids from Toyota,Honda and RenaultToyota’s Prius has been joinedby a hybrid Estima minivan, aspart of what will be a full rangeof gasoline/electric hybrid cars.Honda, building on its experi-ence with the Insight, will launcha hybrid Civic. Renault, havingintroduced an electric versionof its Kangoo van, will reveal ahybrid version next year.

Models per platform toquadrupleToday’s auto industry builds 400different models on 100 distinctplatforms. But leading supplierValeo predicts that by 2010there will be just 40 platformsspawning around 700 differentmodels. That would make over17 vehicles from each platform.

● in brief GM may outsourcefuel-cell engines

THE MG Rover organisation is

little over a year old, but its

management team has now

sketched out the product plan

that it hopes will guarantee

financial independence for the

next five years.

The core is a new compact

hatchback, codenamed

RD/X60, due on sale in spring

2004. It replaces the slow-sell-

ing Rover 45, itself based on

the previous-generation Honda

Civic, and will use Rover’s own

platform based on a shortened

and much-modified Rover 75

base. These modifications

include a cheaper torsion-

beam rear axle in place of the

multi-link Z-axle. Engines will

be developed from the exist-

ing K-series units, built in the

Midland Powertrain factory

which is now back under MG

Rover’s control after purchase

from BMW.

Other Rovers will be facelift-

ed, but much of MG Rover’s

efforts will be directed towards

three new MG sports cars.

First will be the X80, a

reskinned version of the Qvale

Mangusta made available by

MG Rover’s surprise purchase

of the Modena-based, US-con-

trolled company. The other

two are a roadster and a

coupe, codenamed X71, aimed

at Mazda’s MX-5 and Audi’s TT.

Chief executive Kevin Howe

says MG Rover has no debts,

is on target to break even in

2002 with a 200,000 produc-

tion volume, and has £500m in

cash reserves. Despite the

new-model development

costs, the company looks set

for a relatively stable return to

health.

MG Rover reveals its product plans

DESPITE the leading-edge R&D work it is doingon fuel-cell vehicles at its Global AlternativePowertrain Centre in Germany, GM may choosenot to build its own fuel-cell engines.

Instead the work may be outsourced to firmsmore specialised in these sophisticated tech-nologies, said Dr Otto Willenbockel, executivedirector of GM Powertrain and responsible forGM engine strategy worldwide, at the Ricardoconference in June. Speaking to AutomotiveWorld magazine, he stated that GM had done lit-tle preparation for the possibility that FCVsmight account for a significant proportion ofworld vehicle sales.

Willenbockel’s view is that if FCVs really takeoff, existing suppliers might not be able to satis-

fy demand. “But itis unlikely that theautomakers willstep in,” he said. “Idon’t expect thiskind of system willbe insourced. Wemainly act as avehicle assembler,and provide mar-keting and distribu-tion. We’re seeingthe shift already

with the move to infotainment, customer serv-ice and OnStar.”

OnStar already has one million subscribers.Willenbockel’s comments are likely to be takenas an indication that in the longer term GMhopes to reduce its involvement in traditional‘smokestack’-style manufacturing and boosthigher-margin operations such as assembly andperipheral services to its customer base.● Honda has opened the first hydrogen produc-tion and refuelling station in the Los Angelesarea as part of its research into renewable ener-gy resources. Running under solar power, it canproduce around 7,600 litres of hydrogen a year– enough to fuel a single FCV for a year.

Outsourcing: GM will subcontract the building of alter-native powertrains in future products. Precept usesdiesel hybrid; fuel cell means more radical shake-up

Willenbockel: engine strategy

MG Rover’s new model offensiveOn sale Model Description VolumeJune 2002 MG X80 V8-engined coupe 600Sept 2002 MGF facelift Freshen-up 13,000Mar 2003 Rover 75 facelift Flagship spruce-up 40,000Sept 2003 Rover 25 reskin New look for supermini 80,000April 2004 Rover RD60, MG X60 New models 95,000May 2004 MG X71 V6-engined sports car 15,000July 2004 MG X70 V6-engined coupe 7,000TOTAL 250,000

Autumn 2001 NEWS FROM AUTOMOTIVE WORLD 5

DELPHI Automotive Systemshas introduced an AbsorbentGlass Mat (AGM) battery,ready for the advent of 36/42-volt power systems. In thisbattery, glassfibre mats areimpregnated with electrolyteand compressed together withthe lead plates to form asealed case. The result is aspill-proof, maintenance-freebattery which is smaller andlighter than conventional lead-acid units. It can operate inany orientation or position,which gives vehicle designersgreater freedom in its siting.

Gases produced duringcharging combine in the sealedsetting to create water, and thebattery’s separators trap thegases where the recombinationoccurs. Delphi has alreadylaunched AGM batteries in theSouth American motorcycle

aftermarket, and its first appli-cation in North America is inthe Chevrolet Corvette. Thisstill has a 12/14-volt electricalsystem, but AGM technologywill be used for the company’sforthcoming 36/42-volt archi-tecture.

THE European Commission is

planning to allocate large areas

of agricultural land to crops for

manufacturing biofuels. EU pro-

posals expected in September

will oblige 2 per cent of trans-

port fuels to be produced from

biofuels by 2005. Typically, the

fuel would be produced from

sugar beet, oilseed, plant waste

and probably cereals, which in

the US provide a major feed-

stock for ethanol production.

The plan is to grow the crops

on land normally taken out of

production under the European

‘set-aside’ scheme. It is thought

20m tonnes could be grown

annually, equivalent to 7 per

cent of the EU’s current petrole-

um-fuel production. Costs will

be high, however: €250 per

1,000 litres, compared with

around $25 for a barrel of crude

oil. Ultimately, the aim is to use

20 per cent alternative fuels

overall by 2020.

ASSEMBLY plants with a low-volume, multi-model capabilitycould be the future for the UK’sautomotive industry, accordingto a Warwick Universityresearch team.

Dr Ken Young, principalresearch fellow at the WarwickManufacturing Group, says thatthe UK used to offer low labourrates while competing on quali-ty, but this is less true now.

Where the UK industry hasstrengths, says Dr Young, is intechnology development andfast response. “In the FormulaOne industry, for example, theUK is good at coming up withinnovative ideas that the rest ofthe world can’t beat.” Thismeans that a manufacturingenvironment which constantlyhas to change and react to

market demand is well suitedto the UK industry’s skills.

Dr Young leads the RAMP –Responsive AutomotiveManufacturing Plant – project,initially a one-year programmefunded by the UK’s Departmentof Trade and Industry. It is

investigating the feasibility oflow-volume, multi-model pro-duction, and the plan is toextend the project to threeyears involving industrial part-ners and ‘real’ future vehicles.

The equipment in the plantwould be implemented in aphased manner to spreadcosts, and arranged as a seriesof cells with modular tooling.Workflow would be highly flex-ible, and all elements of theplant would be easily reconfig-ured to meet changing marketdemands. Dr Young believesthat tier one companies wouldbe the first to implement suchan approach, as it wouldenable them to produce similarmodules for different vehiclemanufacturers from a commonfacility.

The new MINI powertrain pro-gramme has been a majorachievement both for Ricardoand for BMW. Despite signifi-cant organisational and engi-neering challenges, the pro-gramme successfullyachieved its start of produc-tion target less than a yearfrom the commencement ofRicardo involvement, enablinga successful launch into themarket in July of this year.

All too often when a vehicle isreleased it is not possible totell the full story of the back-ground to its development. Onthis occasion, however, we arefortunate that BMW has grant-ed permission for us to lift,partially, the veil of confiden-tiality that has surrounded theproject until now. In the mainfeature of this third edition of

RQ, some of the key Ricardoand BMW team membersdescribe the challenges theyfaced, as well as the technicalskills, courage, determinationthey applied in overcomingthem, to deliver a truly excel-lent vehicle from a quiteexceptional programme.

Rodney Westhead

A message from theChief Executive

EC plans topush biofuelsUK future in niche

model production

Delphi battery is36/42-volt ready

12,891

7,010

2,823

60646

Forecast production of42v vehicles (000s)

2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Source: DRI-WEFA

6 RICARDO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE Autumn 2001

The conference gave an opportunity togauge the industry’s current thinkingin several environmentally related

areas. Although a high proportion of the2001 conference was devoted to trends insystems engineering and modelling tech-niques – the virtual vehicle, let alone the vir-tual engine, is not very far down the road –three papers stood out for their environ-mental messages. However, the messageswere mixed.

Perhaps the star paper in this respect wasone which could hardly have been anticipat-ed: a presentation by Peter Gresch, chief ofelectronics at Opel, on the future of 42Velectrical systems. Gresch’s point was thatwe should not be in too much of a hurry tostampede to a 42V standard. Yes, he admit-ted the power requirement of the average D-segment car will rise to 2.5kW by 2005, andto 5kW by 2010; but Gresch is wary of theextra cost of raising the standard voltagetoo soon, because “the consumer will seeno benefit, only the cost”.

On one or two fuel consumption relatedaspects of 42V, Gresch felt the case in itsfavour has been overstated. There is, forexample, the higher generating efficiency of42V alternators. But, Gresch pointed out, theaverage electrical load during the MVEGcycle is around 10A. With today’s 50 percent efficient alternators, this is equivalent toa fuel consumption of around 0.13litres/100km. But the next (and probablyfinal) generation of 14V machines, using aflywheel alternator-starter (FAS) configura-tion, are likely to be 75 per cent efficient.From that baseline, the further gainachieved by using an 80 per cent efficient(42V) alternator is a modest 0.006litres/100km, “equivalent to a weight reduc-

tion of only 4kg”.From this starting point, Gresch seemed

to pile on the bad news. For example, hereckoned the expectation that 42V will leadto significantly lighter wiring harnesses ismisplaced. Most of the wires in a harnessare signal wires, their size determined bystrength requirement rather than currentcapacity. Thus in a dual-voltage 14/42V vehi-cle, any weight gain in the wiring harnesswould be cancelled out by a heavier battery(having engineered a dual-voltage Opel,Gresch insisted a 36V/20Ah battery weighedmore than a 12V/60Ah one) plus the neces-sary DC-to-DC voltage converters.

The real challenge, Gresch suggested,might come first in reducing parasitic powerconsumption. The average electrical sys-tems power consumption of a typical mod-ern European car is 800W, he says. That rep-resents 9 per cent of the output of a carwhich returns 8.7 litres/100km in the MVEGcycle – but it would be 27 per cent of theload in a car which achieved 3 litres/100km.

In other words, the electrical load wouldthen make a substantial difference to fueleconomy, and efforts to reduce the load – bymoving to more efficient 42V components –would become worthwhile.

Gresch concluded that 42V systemswould become steadily more desirable oncethe average peak electrical requirement risesbeyond 2.5kW, the accepted limit with 14Valternators, even FAS-configured, but per-haps more importantly as MVAG fuel con-sumption falls towards and then below the140g/km CO2 undertaking for 2008. Mostlikely, he said, dual-voltage 42/14V electricalarchitecture will emerge that will eventuallymake its contribution to higher vehicle effi-ciency and lower emissions, but we should

not look for it too soon.Talk of hybrids

One of the most formidable arguments infavour of an increase in voltage is to servethe needs of hybrid drivetrains. For this pur-pose, 14/12V systems with their maximum2.5kW output are clearly not enough. Itremains an open question whether even a42/36V system can provide anything like fullhybrid flexibility. Ricardo’s Richard Gordondelivered an in-house paper describing thecompany’s own development (in collabora-tion with Valeo) of a mild hybrid builtaround a Ricardo-developed 1.2-litre, four-cylinder common rail diesel engine of 75kWand 230Nm output, plus a Valeo-developedwater-cooled 42V flywheel starter-alternator(for which Ricardo’s favoured acronym isFMED, Flywheel Mounted Electrical Device)producing up to 6kW.

The Ricardo powertrain is different fromother mild hybrids, such as the HondaInsight, in that it relies upon a 42-volt archi-tecture for the FMED. Ricardo argues thatthis approach offers a highly cost-effectivesolution – and one which is scalable forhigher electrical ouput – if the system andFMED are correctly specified. The ValeoFMED in the Ricardo prototype is also usedfor regenerative braking and stop and gooperation as well as for power generation,normal engine starting, and output boost.Like the Insight, the Ricardo vehicle retains a5-speed manual transmission with gearshiftadvice provided by indicator lights.

Figures showed that the Ricardo hybridachieved substantially better fuel consump-tion than the standard 2-litre GM dieselengine with which the Astra had originallybeen powered. As might be expected, thegreatest benefit was at low outputs wherethe electrical output formed a larger propor-tion of the total.

Reflecting the points made in the Opelpaper, most of the auxiliary systems in theRicardo hybrid Astra are highly optimised toexploit 42V power and minimise parasiticlosses. These notably include an intelligentengine cooling system with an electricallydriven coolant pump, fans and actuators –itself reckoned to be worth 2 to 4 per centsaving in test-cycle fuel consumption – andan all-electric HVAC system with 1.5kWheater and 3.3kW air conditioning compres-sor. Both these systems were developedand supplied by Valeo, along with the FMED

The Second Ricardo International Conference featured

speakers with wide-ranging environmental views on

topics including 42V electrical systems and hybrid

drivetrains. Jeff Daniels was there

Environmental talk atRicardo conference

Gresch: 42V electrical systems

Autumn 2001 RICARDO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 7

and the nickel-metal hydride 42V battery.The engine carries no belt-driven ancillaries.

Ricardo developed the vehicle and power-train supervisory system which optimisesenergy use, recovery and storage. It is calcu-lated to be worth a further 5 per cent fuelsaving. Ricardo makes the point that stopand go operation means that a conventionalmechanically-driven air-conditioning com-pressor is not a viable solution, while theuse of electric heating overcomes the prob-lem of poor heater performance caused bythe low heat-rejection rate of the highly effi-cient small diesel at part load.

Testbed results have already demonstrat-ed that the mild hybrid has potential toachieve low emissions. It uses a combina-tion of high EGR ratio and an aftertreatmentsystem which combines a passive de-NOx(with 5 to 10 per cent reduction rate) andoxidation catalyst with an electrically heateddiesel particulate filter (DPF) which “almosttotally eliminates particulate emissions”without the need for additional fuel injectionto reach regeneration temperature. Overall,the objective of the powertrain is to meetthe part-load emissions targets for Euro 5.

According to Ricardo, the kerb weight ofthe fully engineered hybrid Astra is virtuallyidentical to that of the standard 2-litre dieselversion. The main saving is of course in thesmaller engine (80kg lighter) made possibleby the low-speed torque output of theFMED, while the weight penalty of theFMED itself, the 42V and (smaller) 12V bat-tery plus the power controllers is around67kg. Further weight is added by the newelectrically-operated auxiliaries.

What the Ricardo mild hybrid Astrademonstrates is the possibility of achievinga test cycle fuel consumption of around 4litres/100km in a typical C-segment vehicle,without sacrificing C-segment performancefeel, with the added benefit of half Euro 4emissions. But there remains, naturally, thethorny question of cost.

The US view

It may become a tradition of Ricardo confer-ences that a paper is presented which givesEuropean delegates a better insight into thevery different US view. The 2001 conference,for example, saw a paper from a jointDetroit-based Benteler/Degussa/Ricardoteam on a new concept to achieve low emis-sions in a 5-litre V8 gasoline engine.

The concept around which the paper waswritten is simple, but startling to anyone notprepared for it. A catalytic converter ishoused in a twin-walled vacuum casing con-taining a heat-retaining phase-change mate-rial. Europeans in the audience recalled theattempt, some years ago, to use thermalaccumulators in which the phase-changecharacteristics of barium hydroxide wereused to pre-warm an engine’s coolant andthus reduce cold-start HC and CO emissions.In effect, the US device applied the sameprinciple to keeping a relatively small-vol-ume upstream catalytic pre-converter (atwo-brick unit feeding into a conventionaldownstream converter) warm, with thesame kind of result.

Test results showed that even after 12hours of cooldown in ambient conditions,the catalyst was maintained at 250°C, imply-ing almost immediate light-off. The demon-stration vehicle also used a double-walledexhaust manifold for minimum thermalcapacity, ensuring maximum heat input intothe special pre-catalyst. Emissions measure-ments suggest that the device is especiallyeffective in reducing cold-start CO, which isa particularly American concern.

The promise of the device arises from fig-ures published by the EPA itself, showingthat 80 per cent of US vehicles are restartedwithin 12 hours of the last switch-off. Itremains to be seen, of course, whether theEPA is willing to accept heat storage as partof its emissions test procedures or whetherit will continue to insist on a complete cold-soak prior to start-up. If a way can be foundto accommodate the benefits of this heat-storage catalytic device, it could make theachievement of extremely low emissionsfrom large gasoline engine much easier –since it has long been accepted that themain problems now arise during and afterthe cold start. Europeans may cynicallycomment that the CO2 emissions of a 5-litreV8 will be as high as ever by their own stan-dards – but the value of papers like this is atleast to give us an understanding of the verydifferent priorities and requirements whichexist in the US.

Gasoline direct injection

The final paper of directly environmentalinterest at the 2001 Ricardo Conference wasa heavyweight presentation from RobertBosch project manager Matthias Kusell, giv-

ing an overview of the approaches to gaso-line direct injection and the way they arelikely to evolve as new techniques to controlswirl and spray pattern are developed.

Kusell drew an immediate distinctionbetween wall-guided and spray-guided in-cylinder airflow and fuel charge positioning.The production systems thus far seen are allwall-guided, because until now the neces-sary precision and consistency in a widerange of operating conditions could not beachieved with air or spray guidance.

A question of holes

Bosch’s main interest in this, naturally, is thefuel injector. Kusell gave details of exhaus-tive testing of swirl-type and multi-holeinjectors running various fuel pressures,pointing out that increasing pressure (whichreduces droplet size) always tends to reducethe spray penetration into the combustionchamber before ignition takes place, but thatthe spray width depends on the physicaldesign of the injector. The shaping of thespray may make it more or less suitable fora particular airflow pattern.

However, Bosch’s work seems to suggestthat multi-hole injectors give the bestresults, especially at higher fuel pressuresand especially with spray-guided airflows;close study has suggested that wall-guidedsystems suffer from a wall-film of liquid fuelwhich increases HC formation in particular.

The general conclusion of the Boschpaper leaned heavily towards the multi-holetype of injector. After surveying the maintechnical factors, Kusell delivered thispunchline: “It is possible that the full poten-tial of the spray-guided combustion systemmay only be achieved with multi-hole injec-tors.” The importance of this conclusionneeds to be read in conjunction with thepaper’s opening line: “Direct gasoline injec-tion is one major approach in reducing fuelconsumption to fulfil the stages of CO2reduction commitments in Europe fromtoday until 2008.”

While some engineers continue to voicedoubts about the overall worth of gasolinedirect injection, especially in smaller enginesrunning higher average loads, the technolo-gy will clearly continue to advance, and fur-ther improvements may widen the windowof DI application. ■

Jeff Daniels is senior contributing editor of

Kusell: gasoline direct injection Gordon: Hybrid drivetrains

Tony Lewin:What do you think will be the

most significant trend in automobile engi-

neering in the next 10 years?

Nobuhiko Kawamoto: Of course the envi-ronment issue. If I may say so, the secondthing will be globalisation.

TL: Do those two trends pull in the same

direction?

NK: No, I don’t think so.

TL:What’s the tension between the two,

then?

NK: For the environment you want to havelighter cars, more fuel-efficient cars moresuited to local markets. For globalisationyou want the same vehicles everywhere toproduce them cheaply. The difficulty withthe environmental issue is getting the pub-lic to understand the extra cost that’s neces-sary. People need to pay to maintain oursociety’s standard of living. That is thebiggest issue.

TL: Especially in the US?

NK: There, they all agree on the need to pro-tect the environment but they have nointention of paying anything. We have toconvert the people by showing our prod-ucts and try to educate them in the direc-tion [things] should be going. We’re at theleading edge on the protection of the envi-ronment.

TL: In the next 25 years what do youthink the main trend will be?NK: It’s really hard to predict. The engineersmust keep in mind that the situation isgradually getting worse. People do notnotice until something critical happens andmany people suffer. It might take a disasterto raise people’s consciousness.

TL: It sounds like you are talking about

global warming and CO2. Is that our

biggest problem?

NK: It is really big.

TL:Would you say that the toxic emissions

problem is now solved?

NK: Regulation are tending towards zeroemissions, but at the same time the use ofenergy is rapidly growing – so that on anearth basis a practically zero level [is hard toachieve]. So we must be more prepared tosolve this at the same time as CO2 reduc-tion.

TL:Which fuels will be used in the next 10-

15 years, and in what proportions?

NK: Of course for fuel cell vehicles [FCEVs]hydrogen must be the most important. Howcan we get the hydrogen? Again publicopinion may push the oil suppliers into pro-viding it. The majors [oil companies] arereally strong, and even influence politicalissues and people to keep their position.

From the technical perspective I think wecan change our vehicles to hydrogen fuelFCEVs. We will announce our car in 2003.

TL: Do you see diesel engines taking a

greater share of global demand, not just in

Europe but worldwide?

NK: Development of diesel engines in thepast five years has been really remarkable:the position of the diesel engine is quite dif-ferent now. Particulate trap technology isnow coming into practical use. [If we] solvethese toxic emissions and particulates, thendiesel engine use will rise even in the US.

TL: So will you market the Honda diesel

engine in the US?

NK: No, we are not yet producing the dieselengine, but we have been studying thosetrends and plan to build it by ourselves. Ifwe are successful in reducing particulatesand NOx, the application of the [1-litre]diesel engine to the hybrid will be the bestin both areas of emissions.

TL:You are looking at parallel hybrids. Do

you think that is the way you will stay, or

will you go to a more complicated series-

parallel hybrid like the Toyota if fuel econo-

my demands are even higher?

NK: The target is always fuel economy. If thefuel economy is good we have to move thatway. But through the development of theHEV [hybrid electric vehicle] we clearlyunderstand that the basis is the reduction ofthe frontal area and running resistance. Thesecond thing is the prime mover system –the engine. [So while] people are now talk-ing about FCEVs and so on, they tend toforget that cars must be lighter or smaller.This is the most important thing.

TL:You’ll show the first production fuel cell

vehicle in 2003.What fuel will it run on?

NK: Hydrogen.

TL: Do you see that the world will go

straight to pure hydrogen? Don’t you see

an interim fuel?

NK: We are studying the conversion ofmethanol to hydrogen – but how can youmake use of the extra carbon which youget? It’s the same with gasoline. Themethanol rate of carbon [emission] is betterthan with gasoline. To get rid of the CO2 isthe problem. The issue of how can you han-

As CEO of Honda from 1990 to 1999, Sir Nobuhiko

Kawamoto presided over a decade of remarkable

engineering progress.Trained in Formula One,

Kawamoto is a passionate believer in innovation being

exploited for the long-term good of society rather than

short-term company profits. He spoke to Tony Lewinafter he had delivered the keynote address at Ricardo’s

second international conference in Brighton, UK

Global warming: why theindustry must respond

8 SIR NOBUHIKO KAWAMOTO Autumn 2001

dle the carbonhas not beendiscussed yet.

TL: Is it in the

hands of energy

suppliers?

NK: Yes, I think so;they are the mostinflexible and pow-erful. The importantthing will be publicopinion.

TL: Do you think that public pressure could

induce the oil companies or some energy

supplier to provide hydrogen?

NK: It’s connected to the politicians. Oneway of affecting public opinion is to movesmall but important sectors – one of whichis in California. They are keen on hydrogenfuel and we now have the field test there.We hope to show the public that FCEVs willbe good, reliable and practical for the buyer.And we need some governmental assis-tance, especially with California.

TL: Do you think that gasoline is a realistic

useful interim step so that you can then get

the fuel cell vehicles on the road, and can

those same vehicles then be adapted to run

on hydrogen later on when there are hydro-

gen suppliers? And which way do you think

the world will go: gasoline or methanol for

the first wave of fuel cell cars?

NK: The suppliers, the oil suppliers willagain decide. Shell is for methanol, youknow, and Exxon just gasoline.

TL: But as a car company you will have to

decide which one to support.

NK: Of course we support and protect[against] global warming. We supporthydrogen because that is the only way toprotect against global warming. We have tobe flexible and friendly with the suppliers.That is the most important factor for the carmanufacturer.

TL:What technology are you looking at for

on-board hydrogen storage – is it nano-fibre

storage?

NK: That is one of the selection. Also, com-pressed hydrogen seems to be quite goodas far as we have tested.

TL: Is that the one you are following at the

moment?

NK: Yes. As we have already shown inCalifornia, we are comparatively good inrelation to the other car manufacturers.

TL:Your first fuel cell car in 2003 – will it be

sold publicly or will it be put into limited use

in certain areas? How will you present it?

NK: I’m not quite sure, and I am not in a

position to decide whether tosell or not. But field testing,possibly with the co-operationof California ARB [could allowus] to sell some numbersbecause without selling carswe cannot know what arethe weak points of the newproducts. It is really impor-tant for the manufacturer togive practical, usable vehi-

cles to the customers.

TL:Will we be able to drive the fuel cell in

Canada? Will it be able to drive in the cold?

NK: At this stage we are trying to test in avariety of conditions, to extend the limits ofour knowledge. Our knowledge is not 100per cent of the customers’ conditions yet.

TL: Is it far too early to say anything about

cost?

NK: It’s not easy, it is not very cheap toimprove civilisation. We must [take thisroute] – otherwise we cannot survive. Somaybe in the short term we have to losemoney selling the cars, but in the long runit will be good for the people. That’s ourresponsibility as a manufacturer.

TL: As a manufacturer how many years

ahead? Is it somebody’s job to do that?

NK: Ten years – we can see more or lesswhat we plan to do – but again it dependson natural phenomena, maybe a naturaldisaster that will promote new thinking. Itwill have a big effect on human safety. It isreally hard to tell 20 years ahead. But if wejust think about today’sprofit, this will only lead todisaster. We must keep asense of crisis, for withoutsolving these crises wecannot survive.

TL:What about the

lightweight aluminium

construction of the

Insight? Is that feasi-

ble for large-scale

manufacture?

NK: I think so. I thinkit is still [more]expensive than[working on] thepowertrain.Comparing the basicCivic body and this body, the cost isvery different.

TL: Could you see the day when Hondabuilds all its vehicles in aluminium likethe Insight?NK: I think so. It is very good, and it’s veryhard to find similar benefits using steel.We’re trying to improve the manufacturing:

our extrusion system is quite good in get-ting the complex cross sections to keep therigidity, and they’re easy to manufacture.

TL:Would those vehicles be more expen-

sive than today’s vehicles? The Audi A2, for

instance, has not yet been a success.

NK: We’re coming back again to the firstissue – understanding that extra cost is nec-essary. Audi has learned a lot from makingthose cars and that is the basis for theimprovement in the future.

TL:Would an aluminium car be cheaper to

build if you built big numbers of it?

NK: I think so, yes.

TL: Is Honda actively considering going to

aluminium for large volume vehicles?

NK: Not yet.

TL: But it is on the agenda maybe?

NK: Yes, and the research for making itmuch lighter and cheaper are major issuesin a new body research programme.

TL: Do you think there’s a future in a $5000

car that a couple of car makers think is

good for getting third world markets

mobilised?

NK: Well, regarding the cost of $5000, itcould be possible. But the information pop-ularity makes the people’s understandingquite the same all over the world regardlessof the income or the state of their life stagesor levels.

TL: Honda is back in Formula 1 now. Not

quite as successful as before yet. Does

Formula 1 still benefit road cars?

NK: I don’t think sosomehow.

TL: Has it done so in

the past?

NK: As we have beentold from the begin-ning from Mr Honda’sphilosophy, to educatethe young willing engi-neers in very short butvery severe conditionshas led us to where weare today. And that wasthe biggest merit I think ofmotor sports for us. Theresult is very clear: win ornot.

TL: Do you think, for instance, that if we

had a Formula 1 with 1-litre capacity it

might be very good for engineering?

NK: It could be. For instance I was involvedin the turbo one and a half litre – it gave1200-1300 horsepower, and we thought thatwe could get to one horsepower per cc. ■

Autumn 2001 SIR NOBUHIKO KAWAMOTO 9

Maximum achievement

10 MINI Autumn 2001

The divestment of the former RoverGroup was a challenging period forBMW. However, throughout this

period the German company retained aclear vision that one of the most excitingnew model programmes – the MINI –should be retained as a distinct but signifi-cant part of the future BMW brand portfo-lio. As a result of the divestment pro-gramme, BMW needed to replace theengineering team responsible for the pow-ertrain aspects of the vehicle.

The scale of the challenge in retainingthe MINI programme, particularly giventhat there was less than a year until thescheduled start of production (SOP) date,meant that a solution was urgentlyrequired. It was in these circumstancesthat BMW turned to Ricardo.

“We had two major questions,” saysThomas Bruener, BMW’s general managerof powertrain development. “How do wefinish this project, and how do we protectthe future of the people working on it?”

Development of the engine and power-train for the MINI was being carried out inthe UK, from offices at Rover’s Gaydonengineering centre. That centre was ear-marked to be sold to Land Rover, so theproject team would have to move.Although Germany was also an option,Britain was the favoured location in order to maintain continuity. But findingan office in the UK was only part of the problem.

BMW needed a multi-skilled contractor,as comfortable smoothing the takeover ofthe remaining MINI powertrain engineer-ing team as crunching a computer analy-sis or building high-quality test proto-types. With time pressing on the BMWteam, the spring and early summer of2000 was a hectic one with Bruener andJohannes Guggenmos, BMW projectleader for MINI powertrain, searching fora quick and effective solution.

A competitive tendering process putRicardo into competition with up to 5major industry names, although thechoice quickly boiled down to two major,Midlands-based consultancies, one ofthem Ricardo. Says Bruener: “We madean assessment and in the end it was easy.Ricardo would give us the best opportuni-ty to finish off the MINI project. It’s a bigcompany with a wide spread of skills, andthe work it can offer ranges from trans-missions to vehicle engineering andengine engineering.”

Bruener’s colleague Guggenmos elabo-rates: “There are only a few companiesthat could do this job. Ricardo has out-standing expertise in gearboxes, and whatwas very important for this decision wasthat it could have the complete competen-cies and not just one centre of gravity.”

Ricardo takes over

Lee Sykes, technical director at MTC, waseuphoric when Ricardo won the contract:

“That was a great moment.” The MidlandTechnical Centre was to be the nerve-cen-tre of the MINI powertrain project. “Weproved we had core competencies in allthe components BMW was interested in,and we were ideally located close toGaydon,” he adds.

But the depth of the challenge facingRicardo was just about to emerge. BMWneeded a partner for the engineeringdevelopment of the powertrain, most ofthe engine sub-systems and two transmis-sions to a contractor, albeit under thestrict supervision of BMW’s Munich-basedEA powertrain division.

Although the MINI’s all-new 4-cylinder,4-valve ‘Pentagon’ engine was the respon-sibility of engineers in Detroit working forDaimler-Chrysler, BMW’s joint venturepartner, the MINI would have its own ver-sion of the engine. That meant separateengine management systems had to bedeveloped for the two base versions ofthe 1.6-litre Pentagon – with peak poweroutputs of 66kW and 85kW, plus uniqueengine sub-systems and its own manualgearbox. “We received the engine as a‘black box’ from Detroit and worked onthe application of the powertrain withinthe car,” is how Mark Garrett, Ricardo’schief engineer in the gasoline productgroup, sums up the Ricardo involvement.

In effect it meant developing compo-nents such as the cooling system,exhaust, engine harness and gearboxes to

Autumn 2001 MINI 11

In the summer of 2000 BMW urgently needed

an engine and powertrain specialist to

complete the new MINI. Ricardo was

selected, and a year later BMW is

a contented customer and

the MINI is in volume

production.

Julian Rendellexplains

12 MINI Autumn 2001

production readiness, and ensuring thatthe car passed global legal requirements.That means four main test regimes –Europe, North America, Japan and Rest ofthe World – for exhaust emissions, noise,on-board diagnostics and a myriad otherhomologation issues.

For many components it also meant taking the place of BMW engineers andacting as the main contact for key tier onesuppliers.

The path back to that seminal date inspring 2000 when Ricardo won this MINIcontract is a short, but very busy, one.“Probably the biggest challenge in theproject is that there’s been absolutely nolet-up,” says Sykes, “and for many peopleit’s been a case of putting in 60 hours aweek or more.”

The Ricardo team have moved heavenand earth to make the MINI project hap-pen, starting with a brave ‘open-books’policy during the quotation process. “Wehad so little time,” adds Sykes, “just a fewmonths to agree the details and cost ofthe project, that we had to be as open aspossible. Otherwise the project wouldnever have started.”

BMW was equally impressed by thisapproach. Says Bruener: “It was a reallyopen relationship; they showed us thebooks and that continued throughout theproject. We’d have liked more time for dis-cussions, so the open-book policy helpeda lot. We saw the drivers of any costincreases and could work together forways to keep costs under control. In

Germany we have a saying that translatesas money really destroys a friendship, butin this case it strengthened it.”

A bigger task than expected

The scale of the project emerged quicklyas Sykes and the team started to getdeeply into the contract. “At the start wehad no office, no people, and no long-term relationship with this manufacturer,”he says with a smile. Ricardo got the go-ahead in May and work had to get into its

stride by July 2000 to hit the April 2001SOP date. “In reality it meant that everypart of our work really had to be fixed byJanuary at the latest. We were looking ata very busy Christmas,” says Sykes.

Sykes’s first problem to solve was theoffice location. Ricardo had establishedthe MTC at Leamington Spa in November1998. Three Ricardo divisions are nowbased at MTC – Driveline andTransmission Systems (DTS),Vehicle Engineering (VE) andEngine Engineering (EE).“That was a good bit ofstrategic thinking thathelped make thisproject possible,”says Sykes,“and weknew thisfacilitywascapableof han-dling awhole powertrainprogramme.”

Staffing on the MINI project was envis-aged at around a peak of 140 with up to60 from driveline and transmissions, 30from vehicle and 10 from engine engi-neering. The balance would transfer fromRover. BMW wanted all the MINI projectpeople to be sited in the same office, so anew dedicated project centre was estab-lished for the MINI programme in the topfloor of the modern and well equippedBuilding 2 at MTC. A team of up to 10BMW engineers and managers were alsoplanned into the team.

As well as the main body of engineers,Sykes had to gather around him managersto work on scoping out the programme,which is where Mark Garrett and DaveNesbitt, director of transmission engineer-ing, come in. Each has a fascinating storyto tell. Garrett joined Ricardo at Shorehamafter a long spell at Rover, including theearly stages of the MINI powertrain proj-ect. “Ironically I’d lived in Leamington Spafor 15 years and had moved down to thesouth coast. Now I’m living in a flat 15minutes from my old house!”

Nesbitt had also done a spell at Rover,mainly at Land Rover, leaving inNovember 1998 after becoming head oftransmission concepts. “Both Mark and Ihave very good contacts in Munich fromour days at Rover, which has helped alot,” says Nesbitt.

The three Ricardo engineers quicklyrealised that the first phase of the projectwould have to be carried out during theBMW-Rover group disengagement. But byearly July the team was fully up tostrength when the Rover engineers who

chose to transfer to Ricardo reported fortheir first day’s work away from Gaydon.“Some people from the original MINIteam left the project, but we were reallyimpressed with the way that Ricardo wascapable of filling the gaps very quickly,”says Bruener.

Now the serious engineering workcould begin. Sykes takes up the story:

“We had three major systems to engi-neer: the exhaust, the manual gear-

box, the software and its calibra-tion.” All work would be signed-off

by BMW’s ‘in-house customer’team, which is legendary for

setting tough targets, and

all the processes would be BMW’s.Surprisingly for an organisation with a

reputation for orderliness and clinical effi-ciency, the BMW process is highly flexi-ble. In practice it means componentdesign and development can change at avery late stage in a project, the aim beingultimate product quality for the customer.“It was really the biggest surprise howRicardo could adapt to our processes,”comments Bruener. “We had some peo-ple from Rover, some from Shorehamand some from MTC, and from the startthey worked together as a single team.”

The only glitch was really getting theRicardo team plugged into the BMW engi-neers in the EA division. SaysGuggenmos: “The integration into BMWisn’t 100 per cent, because the contactsaren’t there. But that’s why we are here, tomake some support and bridge the gap. Ithink in the next six months Ricardo willbuild up these relationships.” There werealso computer software and systemsissues facing the team. BMW uses theCATIA design programme and Ricardohad to update its systems in order tobecome compatible.

Validate? Engineer first

While driving the project towards success-ful completion, Sykes was more worriedabout coping with the blossoming scopeof Ricardo’s work: “The project started asa validation exercise, but it turned into afull engineering programme for somecomponents.” That meant many parts, forexample the exhaust, facing major engi-neering work.

‘The Ricardo team hasmoved heaven andearth to make the

MINI project happen,starting with a brave

open-books policyduring the quotation

process’

Autumn 2001 MINI 13

Garrett added: “For us one of the bigdrivers was BMW’s complete and unre-lenting drive for quality. They would notbudge an inch. For them objective targetsare only a guide, what matters is the finalproduct for the customer. And they’re pre-pared to make changes very late.”

The Siemens-supplied engine manage-ment system also came under Ricardo’smicroscope. Siemens were responsiblefor the basic code architecture, butRicardo took this forward to fine-tune thecalibration. “We’ve had the biggest inputinto driveability,” says Garrett.

Although MTC was the hub of Ricardo’swork, the test cells at Shoreham

were a vital part of the proj-ect, any test work being

carried out at thesouth coast loca-

tion. “We’vehad twoengines on

the test bedsolidly

for active knock calibration,” Garrettreveals. This is a particularly crucial part ofthe validation process for Rest of the Worldmarkets, where poor fuel quality affectsengine performance. “We used referencegrade fuels in the cells and then went onclimatic trips to validate our results.”

Another area of concentrated develop-ment work was cooling system perform-ance. The engine package of the new MINI

is a miracle of engineering, butthe close proximity of heat-sensi-tive components posed chal-lenges to the Ricardo team. Forexample, the new MINI usesweight and energy-saving electro-hydraulic power-assisted steering.Keeping the hydraulic fluid reser-voir at 86°C, when the componentwas close to the engine’s catalyticconverter at 950°C, requiredRicardo to engineer specialexhaust manifold heat shields.What is clear, though, is that thenew MINI brought huge workpressures. “This was easily thetightest project I’ve worked on interms of time and targets,” saysGarrett, “which creates a newlevel of programme intensity.”

Two transmissions

While Garrett’s engine team were busyingthemselves, Nesbitt’s transmission teamwere working just as hard. In fact the pro-portion of Ricardo engineers involved wasskewed in favour of transmissions. “Wewere responsible for the application engi-neering of everything after the fly-wheel, through the gearboxes tothe driveshafts. Under the BMWsystem, that also included thegear knobs,” says Nesbitt.

The vast majority of MINIs soldwill use the R65 five-speed manu-al gearbox, a development of aRover design. BMW now builds itsversion of the unit at its ownMidland Gears operation inLongbridge. Ricardo has had amajor input to the detailed inter-nal design of the gearbox, itsgearchange and clutch. “We’veresolved about six or seven engi-

neering issues onthe R65,” addsNesbitt. He lists thehighlights asimproved clutchfeel and reducedload, revising the design of agear pair to improve durabili-ty, and detail design on thecable routings for the newcable-operated gearchange.

Refining the clutch was alate change, prompted by aBMW ride and drive evalua-tion, and Ricardo once againpulled out all the stops to getthe changes validated in timefor the April production startdate. “That was only pickedup in September, which leftlittle time for validation,”comments Nesbitt.

From a management view, Nesbitt picksout his biggest achievement as co-ordinat-ing Ricardo’s intensive vehicle testing pro-gramme with that of EA [BMW’s powertraindivision] and tier one suppliers to hit theJob 1 date. Road testing was an integral

part of that programme, but there was alsoa lot of rig work to co-ordinate. “Prototypesaren’t cheap, and if the tests are done in theright order, some gearboxes can carry outtwo or three functional tests,” he says.

Visit Ricardo today and the work hasn’tstopped. Prototypes continually buzz inand out of MTC as future variants contin-ue their engineering development.Everything has clearly gone well, BMW isa contented customer, and the MINI is involume production. ■

Julian Rendell is news editor

of Automotive World

Guggenmos

Bruener

Sykes

14 MOTORSPORT Autumn 2001

In the last decade the £4.8bn Britishmotorsport industry has become theenvy of the world. British-built cars

have triumphed in 80 per cent of F1 WorldChampionship races, an estimated 90 per-cent of cars in the US CART champi-onship are constructed in the UK andmore British-built cars have won theWorld Rally Championship than from anyother country.

It is hardly surprising then, that demandfor Ricardo’s expertise in a number of areashas grown steadily and to such an extent,the time has finally come to bring allmotorsport activities under one banner. Asa result, the new Ricardo Motorsport wasborn on the 1 July this year in order to pro-

vide a dedicated service.Now it has been formally identified,

motorsport projects coming into the organ-isation will be automatically directed to thenew group. And the remit is wide, includ-ing not just powertrain, but whole vehicledevelopment too. In total, the division canoffer engine, transmissions, chassis andcontrol systems development as well assoftware analysis and simulation.

The group has expertise in-house tocope with pretty well the entire spectrum ofmotorsport. At the top of the pyramid is F1and the US CART series where the maininvolvement will be in engines and trans-missions. Moving down, the next segmentincludes the World Rally Championship and

Le Mans, where the Ricardo Motorsportcan offer expertise in powertrain, and vehi-cle development. A third category includesF3, F3000 and Indy Lights, then finally,there’s BTCC, NASCAR, Group N, and GT2and GT3 sportscars. In the last two cate-gories Ricardo expects to offer the mostextensive coverage to the level of develop-ing a vehicle from scratch.

As far as engines are concerned, Ricardohas been developing software productsoriginally intended for mainstream auto-motive processes, into motorsport-relatedapplications for well over a decade. And astechnical manager engines Steve Sapsfordexplains, an association with the BRMGroup C team in the early1990s led Ricardo

In July Ricardo brought together all its motorsport activities

under a single banner, providing engineering solutions at

every level from F1 to Indy lights. Jesse Crosse reports

Dedicatedto motorsport

in a new direction.“We were involved with the BRM Le

Mans sportscar project in the early 1990sand we used measured data from their V12engine to validate our software. That led toa relationship with Brian Hart and weworked on the 3.5-litre V10 F1 engine. Wehelped on camshaft design and valve trainto extend the operating range of the enginewhich could finally rev to more than15,000rpm on conventional springs. Wealso did quite a lot of work on the 3.0-litreV8 F1 engine. Based on that we have beenable to market our software and currently, itis licensed by most of the F1 front-runners.”

The acquisition of FF Developments in1994 accelerated the process and the

Motorsport Transmission division under thecontrol of motorsport director, Mark Barge,has been dedicated to the development ofmotorsport transmissions since 1996. Audiscored its famous 1-2-3 Le Mans win lastyear using a Ricardo transmission, and fin-ished first, second and fourth this year. Anumber of major teams have also usedRicardo’s transmission components in bothTouring Cars and the World RallyChampionship, with, for example completetransmissions being developed for the FordEscort WRC car and Puma rally cars andRenault’s highly successful Maxi Megane.Ricardo has also supplied transmissions tothe Chrysler Team Viper and undertakenprojects for a number of F1 teams includ-

ing Ferrari, BAR, Williams and Jordan. The scope is increasing rapidly, however,

to encompass all areas of motorsport engi-neering and Ricardo is well equipped forany eventuality. Quite apart from having itsown world-class software tools, RicardoMotorsport is delivering services whichrecognise that in the future, the applianceof science is going to become far moreimportant than traditional trial and errortechniques in extracting additional per-formance from engines, transmission andchassis.

Principal software packages are theWAVE engine performance simulation pro-gramme, the CFD system, VECTIS and VAL-DYN valvetrain and drive simulation.

Autumn 2001 MOTORSPORT 15

▼

Ricardo also provides ‘technology trans-fer’ supporting customers on the use of thesoftware. Practical work has included devel-oping a 17,000rpm V2 engine, representingthe front two cylinders of a V10, for fuels,lubricants and combustion research.

The engine development team was givena boost in October 2000 when they werejoined by Eiji Taguchi, whose career at Hondaspanned 37 years. Seventeen were spent atHonda Motorsport working on the 3-litre,normally aspirated F1 engine and transmis-sion program, then, later, the turbo enginesof the 1980s.

“The last year for 1.5-litre turbochargedengines was 1988,” recalls Taguchi. “We won15 races, and lost only one at Monza.”

Simulation projects

Now Taguchi is also bringing his consider-able experience to bear in simulation proj-ects. “From the air intake to the exhaust weneed to perform simulation calculations forsome clients and it is a big job. Not only thesimulation calculation but we need to havesome validation too.”

There are key areas such as combustionand friction, but Ricardo can deliver solu-tions on all fronts. “In Formula 3000/Nippon,engine speeds are limited and we are help-ing some customers optimise torquecurves,” Taguchi continues. “Without simula-tion they would need to keep producing newcomponents and of course, that becomesexpensive.”

Taguchi explains some of the more subtleareas where modern F1 engines can beimproved. “The power curve is not straight

but slightly uneven due to pulsations, orshockwaves, produced by the valve system.With the current generation of grooved, low-grip tyres, that makes getting the powerdown on the exit of a corner more difficult. Amore linear curve will improve driveability,and at Ricardo we are using WAVE and VEC-TIS to model induction systems.”

Overall Taguchi feels that there is signifi-cant further potential to be realised in theuse of CAE. “Computer simulation can helpin an extremely big way, allowing engineers

to ‘spiral up’ their ideas to new levels of opti-misation. However, this is not just aboutusing the latest technology. It requires excel-lent communications between the CAE ana-lyst and designer.”

However, no full powertrain service wouldbe possible without control systems expert-ise, and Ricardo’s growing team of experts inthe field is now nearly 100 worldwide.

Andrew Mallion is well placed to under-stand the needs of F1 constructors. Prior tojoining Ricardo in April 2000, he was at TAGElectronic Systems for eight years and priorto that Lucas for 10 years, developing elec-tronic fuel injection control systems. TAGdesign and supply electrical systems formotor racing at all levels. Mallion’s in-depthknowledge in control systems has provedinvaluable since he joined and Ricardo’s con-trol systems division, which is growing at a

substantial rate. Core expert-ise in powertrain controlshas grown to encompasscomplete vehicle systems.“An OEM can delegate thewhole of the supply of theelectronics to us,” saysMallion. “That is our ulti-mate aim.

“There is enormousscope for helping F1 teams

on the simulation side,” he adds, “usingSimulink, Matlab or Easy5, especially for themiddle range F1 teams who sometimes findthey are dreadfully constrained on resources.They concentrate on developing a new car inJanuary then, of course, have to run itthroughout the year. Their engineers spend alot of time analysing and refining controlstrategies for the gearbox and chassis. And

16 MOTORSPORT Autumn 2001

“SOFTWARE helps you to under-stand what’s going on inside theengine,” explains technical man-ager engines, Steve Sapsford.“Traditionally, most engine devel-opment was based purely onexperience. You might changethe cam timing, increase enginespeed and so on. In the past thatwould be successful in nine out of10 times but now, with modernhighly optimised engines, suc-cess is more elusive.

“The software helps youunderstand why the changesmade result in the measurementsand engine performance youget,” adds Sapsford. “Engine per-formance simulation helps youunderstand the breathing, gasdynamics, intake/exhaust systemand valve timing to make sureyou have truly optimised the sys-tem and achieved the best result.

“For example,” Sapsford con-tinues, “we have used CFD forexamining the design of an F1air-box. Equal distribution of air toeach cylinder is vitally importantto deliver optimum engine per-formance. But the air tends tostick to the top and the back ofthe airbox so the rear cylindersare well fed but those at the frontcould get starved. By using simu-lation, you can see where the air isgoing and why. You’ve then learntsomething and it goes into yourknowledge base. With trial anderror, experimenting with varioussplitters and so on, you might findsomething that works. However,you may not know how it worksand why. What stops you testing15 splitters next time?”

Software can be brought tobear on two levels. In many situa-tions it can be validated against

measured data so future analysisis verifiable. But it is also usefulwhere accurate measurement of a scenario is all but impossible.One typical example involves piston and ring dynamicsin F1 engines, and a rising concern over oilconsumption.

“The problem is due tohow the piston and ringsare behaving in a hot, dis-torted bore,” Sapsfordcontinues. “We need tounderstand the analysisand identify the solutions.They may involve ring designs orstructural modifications to theblock. Were you to try and solvethis problem experimentally, itcould take ages, cost a fortuneand you may learn nothing at all.”Ricardo has yet to get to the bot-tom of the problem, but it will.

Simulation: the key to success

▼

they are using tools such as Simulink andother modelling packages that we use here.”That similarity in working practice has notbeen lost on some F1 teams and, earlier thisyear, Ricardo completed the development ofa launch control system for a major team.

Chris Holmes is senior manager, vehiclecalibration at Ricardo. He previous-ly worked for Ford SVE and wasinvolved with both the EscortCosworth and the Puma. “Themarket is becoming moredemanding. People are far morecritical of the way sports vehiclesperform and handle, and even oftheir fuel economy. Calibration, aswe define it, is about using theengine management and trans-mission management systems todeliver a good level of driveability,refinement and emissions.”

Most recently, the department has deliv-ered projects to the Ford Racing Team, thehigh-profile Puma Racing production carand also a Focus Racing car which is aboutto be delivered. The Focus will be deliveredas a road kit and will also be used in a one-make race series. “Projects like these havehigh demands in terms of the performanceand driveability of the vehicle,” says Holmes.

“Our task was to validate and fine tune theperformance of the engine, as well as tomake it driveable.” That involved extensivedynamometer testing, improving bothpower and torque within the limits of deto-nation. “We are trying to optimise the steadystate running and the transient performanceas well. The performance feel can bechanged quite markedly with the calibration,it can be made quite soft or quite sporty inits torque rise rates. In the end, it is the driv-er interface with the engine that you influ-ence with the calibration. In that respect,there is a big difference between the charac-teristics you would require in a productioncar, compared with a racing car.”

Assessing and benchmarking

Ricardo uses tools it has developed in-housefor assessing and benchmarking vehicles.For example, one set of tools make a correla-tion between how the vehicle behaves andsome objective measurements of character-istics such as torque rise rates. Engines aredelivered to Ricardo with the mechanicalwork completed together with some basiccalibration, including the setting of two orthree full load points. “Our job is to look atthe entire speed-load range, the entire map,to give you the best possible result,” con-cludes Holmes.

Chassis development is very much on theagenda too, and by drawing on the expertisein its Special Vehicle Operations division,Ricardo Motorsport has had a major impacton the fortunes of the PK Sport Porsche 911

GT3 RS competing in the GT class of theEuropean Le Mans Series (pictured on pages14 and 15).

In July, the team won at Most in the CzechRepublic. Ricardo Motorsport’s work on theGT3’s body structure played a major part inthe success, having increased the torsionalstiffness of the body shell by 400 percent.

Drivers Mike Youles and Robin Liddell arethrilled with the result. “The first time wedrove the GT3 was at Daytona in 2000, justas it had been supplied by the factory. Wefound it difficult to get the front of the car towork well. Along with a number of otherteams we tried changing the damper set-tings, but eventually decided there was adegree of chassis movement at the front ofthe car.”

Once Ricardo had stiffened the shell, therace team discovered it could soften the sus-

pension by a substantial amount, making itfar more compliant and much easier todrive. Handling was vastly improved,

understeer was drastically reduced and thecar proved more willing to change direction.It is stronger too, says Youlles.

“I had a 160mph crash into the barriers atLe Mans, but when we checked the suspen-sion pick-up points later, they hadn’t movedat all. Robin and I are now leading the dri-ver’s championship while PK Sport/Ricardoare leading the constructor’s championship.”

But then Ricardo is no stranger to achiev-ing great results. And because all forms ofmotorsport these days have reached the pin-nacle of technical sophistication, it was onlygoing to be a matter of time before Ricardobecame a major player at all levels. ■

Jesse Crosse is editor of Automotive

Environment Analyst

PK Sport asked Ricardo to take alook at the torsional stiffness ofthe 911 bodyshell after it sus-pected that persistent andunwanted handling characteris-tics were due to flexing of thebodyshell.

Under the direction of An-thony Hardy, Ricardo tested sev-eral type 996, 911 shells on aspecially built torsional test rigand gained substantial improve-ments in torsional rigidity allaround the shells and especiallyat the suspension pick-up points.

The shells are carefully beadblasted to remove all paint priorto starting the work, then seamwelded to improve the stiffness.On earlier projects the roll cagewas also linked to the shell inseveral places, but this is not

allowed under the ELMS and LeMans regulations and could notbe included on the latest car.

The shell is far stiffer howev-er, with torsional stiffness hav-ing been increased from2000Nm/Rad to 8000Nm/Rad,an improvement of 400 per-cent. The team start by attach-ing the shell to the rig completewith a cross-beam at the rear ofthe car to apply the torsionalloads. “We measure the deflec-tion using dial gauges posi-tioned strategically around theshell,” explains Hardy.

“The car now responds toeach incremental adjustment ofthe springs and dampers, where-as before, larger changes had tobe made before a differencebecame noticeable.”

Removing the factory paintfinish inside and out provided anopportunity to save weight too.Though the additional weight ofthe strengthening work amountsto some 3-4kg, only 2-3kg paintis applied using an etch-primersystem.

Ricardo also developed aquick release front bumper andradiator for quick replacement inthe event of a radiator failure ofaccident damage.

The job was required quick-ly, and so Ricardo worked frommeasurements and photo-graphs to produce the new sys-tem which included new, morerobust radiators. It also incorpo-rated quick release coolantlines and modular carbonfibreassemblies.

Case history: PK Sport 911 GT3

THE idea of pulling Ri-cardo’s extensive motor-sport-related resourcestogether was spawned lastyear when business opera-tions manager, DaveMorrison approached theRicardo board with the

suggestion that the com-pany’s motorsport activi-ties be consolidated.

During the early part of2001, a steering committeewas established whichincluded MTC’s GeraldAndrews as chairman,

Steve Saps-ford as techni-cal managerengines, MarkBarge, direc-tor motor-sport trans-missions, Paul

Markwick, director RicardoVehicle Engineering, RussWakeman, technical direc-tor Ricardo Inc, and DaveMorrison, business opera-tions manager. The com-mittee then identified 11champions throughout thewhole company world-wide from existing prod-uct groups.

The motorsport busi-ness is now led by thesteering committee, cen-trally co-ordinated byDave Morrison.

The organisation

Autumn 2001 MOTORSPORT 17

While the motor industry claims tosupport the objectives of theEuropean End of Life Vehicle (ELV)

Directive, it is far from happy with a num-ber of its articles. The industry has eventhreatened legal action because it thoughtits concerns were not adequately addressedduring the Directive’s development.

But there is less than a year beforeEuropean Union member states have totranspose the Directive into national law.Will the auto industry succeed in amendingthe Directive by convincing European legis-lators of its unreasonable demands, or hasit already raised the alarm once too oftenfor new petitions to be credible?

The underlying objective of the ELVDirective is to reduce the waste andadverse environmental effects caused bythe disposal of end-of-life vehicles. Quiteapart from the sheer number of vehiclesscrapped each year, around 25 per cent ofthe waste they generate is deemed haz-ardous. This amounts to around 10 per centof the EU’s total hazardous waste.

Controversially, the Directive requiresmanufacturers to bear at least a significantproportion of the costs of taking back ELVs.Those costs may be increased by theDirective’s restrictions on the use of heavymetals, and by recycling and re-use targets,but as yet no one is sure exactly what thefinal costs will be, and how manufacturers

are to be made liable forthe costs.

The Europeanvehicle manu-

facturers’association

ACEAvoiced itsobjec-tionsearly onin the

development of the Directive, particularlyover technical and economic issues. But inspite of attempts by Germany and theEuropean Parliament to take manufacturerconcerns on board, the proposal was final-ly agreed in a form still not completely sat-isfactory to Europe’s automakers.

So the requirement that manufacturerspay for many of the costs of taking backELVs remains a major issue in the motorindustry. The Directive says that from 1January 2007 manufacturers will have tomeet costs for the take-back of vehicles puton the market before 1 July 2002, butACEA has been advised that this retrospec-tive provision is illegal. Confidential docu-ments are rumoured to show that somepeople inside the EC have similar concerns.

RetrospectionThe main issue is whether or not the retro-spective aspects of the Directive are con-trary to the fundamental principles ofEuropean law, such as a principle called‘legitimate expectation’ – a ruling thatseeks to protect economic sectors fromunfair legislation. Manufacturers claim thisis exactly what is happening with ELVs.They say they have never been obliged totake back vehicles before, and therefore inorder to satisfy legitimate expectations thenew law should apply only to the future,not retrospectively.

However, the European Commissionsays the needs of the manufacturers mustbe balanced with those of other parties,including the public. It also says the so-called retroactive effects are open to differ-ent interpretations. For example, can man-ufacturers be made responsible for recy-cling old vehicles that were not built to berecycled under stringent new laws?

One interpretation is that they are “gen-uinely retroactive”, as they address a com-pleted action – the production and market-

ing of cars prior to the arrival of theDirective. Another is that a manufacturer’sresponsibility for a vehicle does not endonce it has been produced, but continuesthroughout that vehicle’s life. This is the‘non-genuinely retroactive’ aspect. A fur-ther view states that the changes shouldcome into force in 2007, without a retroac-tive element at all, giving manufacturersenough time to prepare.

In spite of one or two dissenting internalvoices, the Commission has argued thatthe Directive is non-genuinely retroactiveand therefore compatible with the existingrulings of the European Court of Justice.Despite threats, there has been no legalchallenge by the car industry to date.

Under European law, a challenge to the

The European recycling directive which from 2007 will require automakers to pay

for the scrapping of their vehicles, has been described as a financial timebomb

threatening car companies with massive costs or even bankruptcy. But, as

Ian Skinner discovers, interpretations of the legislation vary widely and the

industry may have overdramatised the possible impact of the new rules

End-of-life rules: end ofthe road for profits?

18 END OF LIFE Autumn 2001

legality of any legislation can be madewithin four months of the Directive’s finalpublication. Some in the industry claim thatthis did not happen because it would bebad for the environmental image of themanufacturer that initiated the challenge,not because there was no legal basis forsuch a challenge.

BankruptcySome in the industry claim, too, that theDirective will cost manufacturers billions ofeuros, warning that some companies couldbe bankrupted. Estimates suggest the costof taking back a vehicle could be as high as€400, but the actual figure will depend onhow many cars sold before 1 July 2002 willbe taken back from 2007. However, theseestimates could be on the high side: in thedevelopment of its ELV legislation,Germany has assumed what it calls a con-servative figure of €185 a car.

In the Netherlands, the waste licence feeis even smaller. In 1995, when first intro-duced, the fee was €110 a vehicle, but thishas since drooped to €45 – less than 0.25per cent of a new vehicle’s cost. The wastelicence fee is payable only once, when acar is first registered. The fees go into afund to finance the national recycling sys-tem, which is administered by ARN, a pri-vate non-profit company set up by fourDutch motoring organisations in 1993.

An alternative reading of the Directive isthat member states do not have to makemanufacturers liable for the costs of take-back of vehicles at all. This is because thereare four options available when imple-menting Article 5(4) of the Directive, which

allocates the cost burden of vehicle take-back. The first two are that manufacturersare made responsible for all or a significantpart of these costs. A third option is thatmanufacturers must take back end-of-lifevehicles as well as pay all, or a significantpart, of the costs.

The fourth is that manufacturers takeback ELVs, but are not necessarily maderesponsible for the costs. It has beenargued that this is the only option open tomember statesto avoid breach-ing the principleof legitimateexpectations.However, thisoption wouldmake theDirective incon-sistent with itsstated objectives.

Germany,which pressed foramendments tothe proposedDirective because of manufacturers’ con-cerns over costs, thinks it may have foundan answer to some of the problems. Toaddress the problem of producer liability,the proposed German legislation wouldallow a pro-rata accumulation of provisionsso that one-fifth of the total liability wouldhave to be put aside each year from 2002.As this would effectively reduce a firm’sprofits and therefore its tax burden, the gov-ernment argues that it would share the costof the legislation with the manufacturers.

The UK meanwhile is considering mak-ing manufacturers responsible for the take-back of all cars, including those put on themarket before 1 July 2002. It would makemanufacturers pay a proportion of thesecosts immediately, with the proportionincreasing over time.

Some say car makers have historicallyover-estimated the costs of environmental-ly-friendly measures. A report produced twoyears ago concluded that manufacturerstake a ‘worst case’ approach when estimat-ing costs in advance. In reality, technologi-cal innovation usually reduces these costssignificantly over time, and industry oftenadopts a different, cheaper strategy, it said.

Such a conclusion has prompted suspi-cions that the motor industry used a similarstrategy in negotiating the ELV Directive.Arguably, further evidence in support ofthis suggestion arises from the fact thatsome major car manufacturing countries,such as the UK and France, did not objectto the proposal even though both are sup-portive of their car industries and bothhave taken action to protect the industry inthe past. Industry claims that the prohibi-tively expensive ELV plans may threaten

bankruptcies appear to have been largelyignored outside Germany.

Other areas of concern for manufactur-ers relate to the implicit restrictions onvehicle design included in the Directive. Forexample, the targets could limit use oflightweight composite materials used bycarmakers to improve fuel efficiency, butwhich do not lend themselves to recycling.

There are similar restrictions, not yetfinalised, on the use of some heavy metals.

But there are bene-ficial side-effects;manufacturersnow look at theissue of ELVs dif-ferently, askingmore searchingquestions of theirsuppliers to min-imise the use ofhazardous sub-stances, and therecyclability ofvehicles is fastbecoming a much

higher profile issue.Even when all the member state legisla-

tion has been transposed and amendmentsto the Directive have been made, there willstill be scope to limit the Directive’s finan-cial impact. One obvious action would beto ensure that by 2007, of the cars thatwould incur high take-back costs, as few aspossible remain in use. We can expect a lotof heavy lobbying for new scrappageschemes over the next few years. Anothercould be to export old cars to countrieswith less strict environmental and roadwor-thiness standards than in the EU – but thisamounts to eco-dumping, and needs to behandled with care.

The transposition of the ELV Directiveinto national law offers further flexibility,and will give industry another opportunityto have its say on how the Directive isimplemented. From the take-back experi-ence in the Netherlands, it appears thatrecycling cars need not be such a painful orcostly experience, and with some imagina-tion member state legislation should beable to address industry’s major concerns.

If the car industry has indeed overesti-mated ELV costs, the Directive will have lit-tle long-lasting financial impact while sig-nificantly improving Europe’s environmen-tal policy. But if the costs prove an unbear-able burden, then perhaps the motor indus-try will regret having raised a false alarmby exaggerating too often in the past.

Dr Ian Skinner is a research officer at the

London-based Institute for European

Environmental Policy, and a senior

contributing editor to the AW Automotive

Environment Analyst newsletter

Autumn 2001 END OF LIFE 19

‘From the take-backexperience in

the Netherlands, it appears that

recycling cars neednot be such a painfulor costly experience’

Improved fuel economy, lower

vehicle emissions and reduced

manufacturing costs are some

of the benefits expected

from an advanced engine

management control system

by the Ricardo-led AENEAS

consortium.

AENEAS stands for the

‘Application and Evaluation of a

Novel Engine management sys-

tem based on intelligent control

Algorithms and utilising innova-

tive Sensor technology’.

Utilising cylinder pressure

sensors for the first time,

AENEAS covers both gasoline

and diesel engines.The first vol-

ume-production AENEAS-equip-

ped vehicles are likely to reach

the market within five years.

The £2.5m, two-year project

is a collaboration between

Ricardo, DaimlerChrysler and

Swiss sensor technology sup-

plier Kistler, funded 40 per cent

by the European Commission

as an ‘Innovation Programme’

and 4 per cent by the Swiss

Government.The resulting

‘Cylinder Pressure based

Engine Management System’

(CPEMS) uses inexpensive

piezoresistive sensors, robust

enough to survive the harsh

environment of the combustion

chamber, linked to intelligent

engine control algorithms.

CPEMS has shown an aver-

age steady-state fuel con-

sumption reduction of 1.4 per

cent, smoother running

thanks to cylinder imbalance

reduced from 8 to 2 per cent,

and catalyst light-off time

down by 10 per cent.

CPEMS eliminates other sen-

sors on the vehicle, which in

turn will reduce manufacturing

costs by removing components

such as the air mass, knock and

cam sensors. A typical cost sav-

ing could be £11 per unit based

on production of 750,000 4-

cylinder engines.

In this example, the £56 cost

of having four cylinder pressure

sensors with extra ECU hard-

ware is more than offset by

eliminating the £67 cost of a

cam sensor, OBD functions,

knock sensors, air mass meter

and catalyst materials.

DaimlerChrysler and Kistler

developed the ‘silicon carbide

on insulator’ (SiCOI) and ‘silicon

on insulator’ (SOI) technologies

for the piezoresistors. Ricardo

and DaimlerChrysler developed

the control and diagnostics

algorithms jointly, and installed

the Kistler sensors in a

Mercedes-Benz gasoline

demonstrator vehicle.

New algorithms included

spark timing control, air mass

estimation, start control, misfire

detection, and sensor error han-

dling. Ricardo provided overall

project management, prototyp-

ing, sensor and algorithm appli-

cation and test facilities.This

work included a simulation of

the AENEAS engine using

Ricardo WAVE software. Patent

applications for CPEMS are

pending.

Ricardo and the universities of Brighton andCardiff have jointly developed sophisticatedlaser diagnostic technology to help designthe next generation of advanced, fuel-effi-cient, ultra-low emission engines. These newtechniques for understanding the physicsand chemistry involved within the combus-tion chamber will help achieve rapid low-cost development of new engine concepts

The teams have developed new andunique application techniques and calibrat-ing methods to give accurate quantitativeresults. One is Quantitative Laser InducedFluorescence (QLIF). Although LIF is notnew, Ricardo and researchers at the univer-sity of Brighton have developed a novelapproach for calibrating the system andapplying the technique to direct injectionengines.

Using a high-energy laser, QLIF generatesa picture of how fuel and air mix inside theengine, a process pivotal in determining effi-ciency and emissions performance. Theultra-violet laser light shone into the engineexcites the fuel molecules, which then fluo-resce. The returned light is captured on adigital camera equipped with an intensifier,allowing post-processing of the image forcalibration and pinpointing potential areasfor improving combustion.

Another technique is Laser InducedIncandescence (LII), using a high-power lasershone into the combustion zone. The laserburns any soot particles that may be present,which then incandesce, and this light is cap-tured on a digital camera, again equippedwith an intensifier. The brighter the light, thegreater amount of soot present.

Ricardo is using the data obtained todevelop and validate its VECTIS computa-tional fluid dynamic (CFD) code, widely used

throughout the automotive industry, whichnow has the potential to be developed intoa highly sophisticated ‘virtual combustion’system. This allows the combustion andexhaust after-treatment systems to be opti-mised on computer, a process far quickerthan experimenting with hardware. Thisapproach only works if the computer simu-lation gives the same answers as the experi-mental results, which is why Ricardo hasinvested in this research.

Laser technology furthersresearch into combustion

Pressure sensors are combustion control’s future

20 RICARDO NEWS Autumn 2001

The AENEAS enginewas simulated using

Ricardo WAVE software

Autumn 2001 RICARDO NEWS 21

Consumer demands for better

fuel economy, coupled with

pressure on carmakers to

reduce average CO2 emissions

for new vehicles to 140g/km by

2008, could result in diesel sales

eventually accounting for half

of all passenger cars sold in

Europe, according to the latest

Ricardo diesel report.

Four of the top six markets –

France, Germany, Italy and the

Benelux countries – achieved

record levels of diesel sales last

year. Spain already exceeds 50

per cent diesel penetration.

Even the UK, the only European

country to buck this trend over

the past six years, showed

signs of reversing its steady

decline.

“The car buyer’s choice today

is fundamentally an economic

one,” says the report’s author,

Martin Love. “Although the near

30 per cent fuel economy and

CO2 advantage between diesel

and gasoline engines has

always existed, the enormous

improvements in diesel engine

performance and refinement

have tipped the balance in

recent years and are steering

large numbers of the buying

public towards the diesel

option. Diesel pump prices,

which across Europe are on

average 16 per cent cheaper

than gasoline, merely heighten

the financial advantage.”

Overall, diesel penetration

across Europe in 2000 increased

by 11 per cent from the previ-

ous year’s record to 4.76m vehi-

cles, representing a market

share of 32.3 per cent. Both

France and Germany exceeded

1m sales for the first time, but

the largest diesel penetration

was Austria’s 61.8 per cent. And

following six years of decline in

the UK, the only major car mar-

ket where diesel fuel is more

expensive than gasoline, 2000

saw the first signs of a reversal

in this trend with market pene-

tration increasing slightly to 14

per cent.

Advanced technology has

enhanced the desirability of the

diesel engine. Most manufac-

turers apart from the VW-Audi

Group (VAG) now use common

rail fuel injection, but VAG’s

electronic unit injectors provide

relatively high injection pres-

sures and are suited to high

engine power output.They are

expensive to develop, but VAG

justifies this with high produc-

tion volumes and a modular

approach to engine ranges.The

company is the top producer

and seller of diesel passenger

cars in Western Europe and

accounts for more than one in

four (27.4 per cent) sales.

Within five years, the report

predicts, manufacturers will be

able to offer customers the

same number of diesel options

as gasoline variants for each

vehicle. Future developments

will include a trend towards

smaller displacement, higher

power output diesel engines,

which will ultimately use elec-

trical power to boost vehicle

acceleration. New technology

such as the Flywheel Mounted

Electric Device (FMED), which

improves engine starting and

power generation, will help

meet new fuel economy and

emission targets.

The report reviews sales and

production data, analysing

trends by vehicle type and by

manufacturer and for individual

major markets as well as for

Western Europe as a whole. It

also forecasts future marketing

and technical trends.The elec-

tronic report, which costs £275

for a single user licence, can be

obtained from the Ricardo tech-

nical library at Shoreham in the

UK on +44 (0) 1273 794230.

The US arm of Ricardo haspatented a new form of vari-able valve actuation, usingelectrohydraulic control of themotion produced by the enginecamshaft. Designed to improvevolumetric efficiency, intakepumping losses, internal EGR,and combustion stability, thenew builds on previoushydraulic valvetrain controlswith a wider range of authority,reduced mechanical energyconsumption and the ability tocontrol valve motion adaptivelywith changing engine operat-ing conditions.The second development, alsopatented in the US, is a new

design for cylinder-deactivatingrocker arms in gasoline enginevalvetrains. These rocker armswill enable vehicles to turnindividual engine cylinders offduring light-load operatingconditions while still allowingfull power output whenrequired, thus effectively creat-ing a variable-displacementengine. The fuel economy oflarger engines, such as thoseused in SUVs and light trucks,will benefit the most. This seg-ment of the vehicle marketincreasingly needs fuel-savingtechnology as fuel costs riseand fuel consumption regula-tions become more stringent.

Good fortune, and not a little skill andtactical expertise, helped the Ricardoteam snatch second place in the finalof the Industry Sailing Challenge.“We thought we should finish in thetop five," said the Sunfast 36 yacht'scaptain, technical director PaulMcNamara, "but to come second isright at the top of our expectations."

The final consisted of two sprintsaround markers in the Solent, fol-lowed by a race around the Isle ofWight. "We came up to sixth fromeighth just before the line in the firstheat," says McNamara, "and finishedsixth in the second heat after losingfifth. The National Grid and DuPontteams came first and second both

times, so we had to beat them by agood few points."

A strong lead at the start of thelast race faded away to fifth place,but the team was back to fourth bythe Needles. "This was the criticalphase," said McNamara, "and as thewind got higher we were back inthe lead. National Grid pulled pastat the end, but we got second. Andwith the weighted scores, we camesecond overall.

"There was no-one lost over-board, no seasickness and no break-ages. We did rip the spinnaker afterthe first heat, but managed to mendit with tape and a freebie hotelsewing kit."

Report heralds boomin diesel auto sales

Ricardo Inc notches uptwo valvegear patents

Strong second place forRicardo sailing team

Diesel car sales in Western Europe

22 RICARDO NEWS Autumn 2001

Ricardo partners Jaguarfor X-type AWD system

The Jaguar X-type com-pact luxury sports saloonwas launched earlier this

year to widespread public andmedia acclaim. This new product takes the Jaguar mar-que into much larger marketsectors than those of the existing product line-up whilemaintaining core Jaguar brand values.

Development of the X-typewas an extremely rapid pro-gramme, and its success is atribute to Jaguar and its engi-neering partners. One of themost distinctive engineeringfeatures of the X-type is its allwheel drive (AWD) system,which was the focus of theengineering support providedby Ricardo.

Longtime partners

In many respects Ricardo wasJaguar’s natural engineeringpartner for this project. TheRicardo Driveline and

Transmissions Systems group(developed from the FFDevelopments Ltd teamacquired by Ricardo in 1994)has pioneered the develop-ment of 4x4 drive systemssince the 1970s, and has beena partner to Jaguar in this areafor many years.

Ricardo started engineeringsupport of the Jaguar X-typeprogramme in 1997. “We car-ried out some initial conceptstudies to assist Jaguar inidentifying alternative AWDconfigurations and hardware”,says Howard Marshall whomanaged the programme forRicardo. “In particular, studieswere carried out to investigateappropriate transmission anddriveline mounting strategiesto minimise structure-bornenoise and vibration.” Ricardoalso made significant use ofCAE analysis tools in thedesign and performanceanalysis of the AWD system to

ensure that the system provid-ed the highest level of firstprototype performance

according to Jaguar’sdemanding timescales.

Fast-track hardware

Prototype transfer boxes forthe AWD system were manu-factured at the RicardoMidlands Technical Centre, andfulfiled Jaguar’s expectation of‘fast-track hardware’. A signifi-cant number of vital earlydevelopment miles were accu-mulated on these units,enabling Jaguar to maintainits rapid programme timescales.

Once nominated, Ricardosupported Jaguar’s productionsupplier to effect a smoothtransition of the early support phases into full-scale manufacture. ■

Jaguar’s first four-wheel drive

system brings new abilities to the

compact-executive car sector.

To help it do this, the company made

good use of Ricardo’s expertise