,
 |
The six speed transaxle is a proprietary Lola design. I think it was designed by the Ricardo Group as it is not an uncommon practice for the chassis builder to also supply the transmission. The transmission case is a very stressed member; the rear suspension and the thousands of pounds of downforce generating bodywork are mounted directly to it. |
 |
You can see the axle driven AC pump on top and the crankcase and transaxle breather tank on the bottom back here. Yes these cars have AC, I will get to that later. The transaxle is semi automatic with the shifting and engine torque reduction computer controlled and pneumatically actuated. |
 |
I wish we could have gotten pictures of the car's suspension when it was more together. The Lola B1/66 chassis has a very complicated suspension operated by a push rod linkage. Each end of the car has 3 shocks, six in total. One shock per wheel to control roll and a third shock for bump. This way the spring rate and damping for bump, pitch, squat and roll can be adjusted independently. Pretty slick, especially for a car that is heavily dependent on aerodynamics. Only some of the suspension linkages are shown here. |
 |
You can see the alternator here with its ring gear driven power take off pulley, This gets the weight low and rearward. The starter is right on the other side of the bellhousing. |
 |
The suspension pick up points on the transaxle are adjustable for roll center and camber curve. This is a Lola trademark. Adjustable suspension geometry is a signature of an Eric Broadley design. I would do it too in a car like this, especially one that has very different street and long course aero packages. |
 |
The Dyson car has carbon carbon brakes. Big buck but light and long lasting. The marks on the edge of the rotor are heat paint that changes color at a certain temperature. This way the team can know just how hot the rotors are getting, this is especially critical on a street circuit like Long Beach that is super hard on brakes. |
