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| It was really hard to see without looking like a spy, but here is the Holinger gear box. We were surprised to see it. Note the high pressure lines and what looks to be a forward facing driveshaft. It was hard to get a view, stick the camera in there when no one was looking and fire off a few frames. |
The All Wheel Drive system is one of the most secret and hard to figure out by looking at parts of the car. Much of it is hidden, shrouded by covers surrounding the center of the car. Like the Millen PM580, the Monster uses an ingenious combination of parts to get a functioning AWD system. An Exedy triple plate clutch and light flywheel feed the power to a Hollinger dog engagement constant mesh 6-speed transmission with sequential shifting. A Holinger is an Australian racing transmission favored by the V8 Supercar and high powered tuner car market. It is a common transmission for GTR guys to use.
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| Another view of the transmission. Like the RMR PM580, instead of using sophisticated and super expensive bespoke transaxle, the Monster appears to use an ingenious combination of some off the shelf parts to make up the AWD drivetrain. |
The power is transferred to the mysterious center differential. We think that this is a planetary gear arrangement with torque split control coming form a set of wet electro hydraulic clutches. From the center diff, power flows via a short drive shaft and torque tube from the center diff to the rear diff.
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| Look at this! The rear diff has an integral hydraulic pump built into the diff housing. You can see it on the top. It appears to take its power from the ring gear. The rear diff is wide and large, could the center diff be contained in here as well? The diff looks like two quick change rear ends with a bunch of space in between them. Lots of room for goodies in there. A heat exchanger lives in back but looks not to get much airflow. The tank above the GoPro camera is for the drysump system. |
The rear diff has an elaborate bespoke machined case with what looks like large integral hydraulic pump built into the casing. The size and beef of the pump and the fittings and lines coming out of it seem to indicate that this is not just a cooling pump but perhaps something that provides hydraulic control pressure to the clutches of an electronically controlled center diff. The pump looks like it takes its drive from the pinion gear. If so the car must be moving for its active center diff control to work.
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| Dry carbon goodness. The rear deck is perforated with many air intakes for heat exchangers and engine intake. |
Although the Monster is supposed to be based on the Suzuki SX4 Crossover Sport Utility, it looks so unlike anything, we are not sure which Suzuki it’s supposed to resemble! The Monster looks more like an illicit coupling of a Daytona Prototype and a WRC car than any sort of SUV! I think it would be safe to say that the only bits of the original Suzuki might be a few engine castings, maybe.
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| There is a Suzuki in there, where it is and what model, we are not sure. The press has called the car a Vitara, an XL-7 and an SX4. To us the Monster looks like none of these. The car’s looks are probably why the rest of the media world seems to have no idea what car the Monster is based on either. We just know that it’s a Suzuki and it’s badass! |
The Monster’s chassis is a tubular space frame which is pretty unremarkable except that it uses a lot of triangulation and we think several main bulkheads, probably important for chassis stiffness on a car with a lot of aero load that could fall thousands of feet off a cliff. The engine is mid mounted and does not use the engine or transmission as a load bearing member. The chassis reminds me of a beefed up Daytona Prototype.
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| You can see a lot of the Monster’s tubular space frame here. Buttresses divert stress around the engine and serve as a mounting point for the rear suspension. The frame also supports the rear wing. |
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| Big front duct takes in air for the forward slanting heat exchanger for the coolant. The duct exits on top of the hood where it contributes to downforce. |
