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The rear suspension has control arms that are adjustable in profile by the use of different mounting points on the transaxle case, meaning that the antisquat, roll center and camber curve in the suspension geometry can be adjusted. This is typical of a purpose-built racecar. The standard setting from Elan is 20%.
The control arms are long and the inner pivots are not that offset meaning both the front and rear suspensions have gentle camber curves compared to a production car at .5 degree of camber gain per inch of bump. For a car with limited body roll like a purpose built race car this is a common design practice.
The rear calipers are mounted towards the front of the car so they can get more cooling air flow and for a lower polar moment of inertia. The calipers are plumbed to the dual master cylinders with Teflon lined braided steel hoses. One master cylinder is for the front brakes and the other is for the rear.
The brake pedal is moved back and forth between the two master cylinders on a threaded balance bar that has the push rods for both master cylinders on either end. The position of the brake pedal on the balance bar controls the mechanical brake bias as it affects the amount of leverage the brake pedal has on either master cylinder.
The Stoptech NP01 is nearing completion and we will be starting to do the final touches on the chassis and fitting the body next. Stay tuned for the completion of the affordable Prototype and in the meantime be sure to catch up on the first part of our NP01 build and our test drive analysis.
Building the NASA NP01 Prototype – Part 1 | NASA NP01 Test Drive Analysis |