Analyzing and Driving the NASA/Elan NP01: The Ultimate Affordable Prototype

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The engine gets a large plenum short runner intake manifold with a throttle body angled to benefit from ram air via the roof mounted scoop.
You can see the dry sump pump and low profile oil pump pan here. 
The transaxle is a six speed Sadev S75 unit with sequential shifting.  The transmission case is load bearing and the rear suspension bolts right to it, a common practice for most purpose built race cars. 
ACT provides the light weight 8 lb flywheel and clutch unit.  The clutch is designed not to have the lowest possible inertia but instead to have a very long service life while being as light as possible under the constraints of long life.
In the NP01, the engine is a semi stressed member for structural efficiency. Production car engines often don't do well when made part of the chassis so on the NP01, the engine is surrounded by a structural cradle coming off of the main chassis the bolt to the bellhousing, rear bulkhead.  This large casting not only acts like the bellhousing but also as a major part of the chassis. 
As you can see, it is very fast and easy to remove the entire drivertrain from the car with just a few bolts.  The NP01 is designed to be easy to work on from the ground up.

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