Truck racing offers ccelerated testing
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by Brian Weatherley 3.ckwall Lane, London SE10 ght seem like an unlikely site a major commercial vehicle mponent testing centre, but ick Racing Development's .:ation close to the Blackwall nnel clearly doesn't discour,e major companies like Iterpillar, Knorr Bremse, and indix from using it as part of sir product development proammes.
Cynics and readers with an • ersion to truck racing might insider the fact that US engine akers and German brake and iaroox manufacturers aren't 2,lined to devote large sums of oney and time to frivolous intures.
What's more, Daf, MAN and ercedes have all used truck icing as a testbed for their iro-3 engines, particularly the el systems and cylinder :ads.
ndurance testing
1Ds C12-powered Super Race uck is considered a unique atform for (literally) acceler:ed product performance and idurance testing by Caterliar, which is keen to increase penetration in the UK truck arc—not least through xlen, At its heart eats a standard aterpillar C12 engine, but with the latest ADEM III Euro-3 engine electronics.
The new generation ECU provides enough processing power to monitor engine performance beyond the usual engine mapping like engine temperature, fuel-air ratio and fuel consumption (a litre per kilometre on the 1,600hp/5,000Nm race-tuned engine, in case you were wondering).
Data collected during racing is not only used for ensuring peak performance on the track; its also sent to Cat's Peoria HQ in America for engineering analysis.
Among the areas of interest to Cat is TRD's use of the CV's highly accurate engine speed control function (Super Race Trucks have a strictly enforced 100mph top limit), which has implications for the speed limiter and cruise control operation on Cat's road-going truck engines.
TRD's desire to track the smallest operating parameters on the C12 led it to discover previously under-utilised processing power within Cat's own engine management system. As TAD manager Henry Gracia explains: "With the old ECM we discovered 17 switches that nobody knew existed...that's 17 more opportunities for extracting data on the engine."
Getting as much air as possible into the race engine is a major task and TAD is trialling a variety of turbochargers on the C12. "We've got two Borg Warner turbochargers that use three different components," Gracia reports.
"We're using marine turbines with turbine housings specially machined to fit them and the front part comes from Cat's own nine-litre engine, so in effect we're putting as much air into the C12 as an 18-litre. We've done all the development work ourselves."
Prototype
But the most interesting aspect of the C12 is its prototype tuned inlet manifold, specially manufactured by Caterpillar. "It allows us to run a higher volume of air into the engine than a standard manifold but at the same time reduce the turbo boost pressure," says Gracia. "By tuning the pipes to a certain length we've created a unique resonance."
Old-time operators of MAN will recall the pulse tuning on its old 12-litre engines.
Last year TAD suffered its first-ever engine failure. For the 2001 season ft will be using a triple steel plate laminated head gasket that could be adopted on production C12s. The Cat diesel also features a new air compressor from Bendix. "It's 13kg lighter and 27% more efficient," says Gracia. "We've been testing it since Nurburgring last year and it will become the standard on the Cat C12, which currently has twin compressors."
With weight saving just as critical to truck operators as truck racers, hauliers should note that from August TAD will be testing lighter (by 4kg) braking calipers from Knorr Bremse on standard SB600 discs, while the adoption of a carbon-fibre torque converter on the gearbox has shaved 28kg off the weight of the race truck's ZF Ecomat automatic box.
Braking
On the braking front TAD has produced its own dual-circuit hydraulic-over-air system, which not only gives a more progressive feel than an all-air system; it offers an above-average brake bias without the need for full Electronic Braking Control (EBC).
While the truck racing boom has been and gone in the UK it continues to generate major crowds on the Continent as well as significant television coverage through satellite channels such as Sky Sports.
Benefits
But, while TRD's recent wins on the track clearly help Cat get its name over to potential customers, Gracia has no doubt about the longer-term benefits of high-speed testing for engine and component manufacturers.
"It would take them a lot longer—that's why they see the value of it—apart from brand awareness there's a genuine development value in it," he says.