terms of repacking while the exhaust
note will not change over time. This
also doesn't have any impact on the
engine's power.
Rodin also developed a non-combustible
engine cover. 'Everyone
thinks this is a joke, but on the
original car after about three laps,
the engine cover would catch fire,
because the exhaust pipes were just
too close,' says Dicker.
Safe seat
Another area that's seen a lot of
work is the seat. 'We changed the
seat system and the seat belts,'
says Dicker. 'Those things are really
important, the seat especially, as it's
the interface with the car and if you
don't get that right you never feel
really comfortable. I've spent years
working that system out, to get to
something I really like.'
The seat now comes up high under
the ribcage, so that the driver is
completely supported in the car and
their upper body can be free in the
turns. 'When you pitch the car into
the turns, you can feel it, you are
not subconsciously holding on with
your hands or your arms, to resist
the forces,' says Dicker. 'All this is
important for driver comfort.'
The seat shell is 3D printed in
plastic. 'We have it in various sizes
almost like shoe sizes and it is
moulded into a carbon fibre universal
bucket, which fits snugly inside the
tub; says Dicker. 'The plastic insert
is then spaced out from the carbon
fibre bucket with fins, which helps
stiffen it. This works really well,
except the plastic straight from the
printer isn't very rigid, but we solve
that problem by laying carbon on the
inside of it and now it's completely
rigid. Using this technique we can
accommodate all sizes of driver
and driving position to ensure
they are in the optimum position
in the car. This is a kind of hybrid
3D printing approach and it is
working really well. We would
never get it rigid enough with
plastic alone and it would be a
nightmare to produce if it was
made entirely of carbon, so this
is the best compromise:
Belt up
As part of this attention to detail
in the seating area the belts have
also been the subject of a great
deal of thought. 'We got OMP
to make the seatbelts with the
crotch and lap belts tightening
by pulling up instead of down,
so that the driver could belt
himself in, rather than having to
rely on one of the pit crew to do
it,' says Dicker. 'This is especially
true with the crotch strap, which
is really hard to tighten with a pull
down strap, even with help. These
are small details, but they make a
tremendous difference to the overall
driving experience:
All the steel bolts have been
replaced with titanium items which
are made in house. They have been
PVD'd like the muffler and have
even been laser etched with their
part number.
Rodin has also been experimenting
with carbon wheels, where the rim is
carbon connected to a hollow spoke
3D printed titanium centre. The
centre is bonded and riveted to the
rim. The fabrication and assembly
of this particular approach is quite
tricky, so the current thinking is to
go to an all carbon wheel.
'We've done some work on carbon