Latest news with #hillclimb
Top Gear
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Meet the Mannic Beattie: a 600bhp jet-engined hillclimb hero built in a shed
Interview This hillclimb specialist is a record-breaker with a unique turbo. Here's how owner Nic Mann built it in his garage Skip 8 photos in the image carousel and continue reading Nic Mann hands me a turbine blade. This, he says with a gleam in his eye, was originally part of the Rolls-Royce Olympus 593 turbojet that powered Concorde. Nic worked on that fearsome engine during his time at the aerospace giant in the 1970s, and remains transfixed by turbines. So much so that he's used one to circumvent the lag in his hillclimb special, the Mannic Beattie. Except that 'special' doesn't even get close to describing this thing. Nic is supremely modest but his creation is close in spirit and execution to an F1 car. The kicker is, he designed, engineered and built it in his Berkshire garage for about £20k. Advertisement - Page continues below A beloved statesman of the hillclimb scene, Nic transformed his mother's Morris Minor in phases until it was running a turbocharged V8 with throttle modulated nitrous injection to the tune of about 550bhp. It was hooked up to a Jaguar XJ6 driveline and its torque outputs would regularly overwhelm the gearbox. Nic ran a 30.07s up Shelsley Walsh in the Moggie in 1986, only half a second slower than World Rally champion Hannu Mikkola in a works Audi Sport Quattro. Photography: Huckleberry Mountain You might like He sold the Morris in 1990 and used the funds to start the next project. Nic wanted to create a record breaker, and inspired by the Mallock U2 single seater, all the usual parameters came into play – go big on the mechanical grip while reducing the centre of gravity, optimise the weight distribution, minimise the effects of lateral weight transfer. It would be all-wheel drive, have a flat floor and huge wings. After which, Nic headed down a more idiosyncratic path. The engine is a four pot 1.7-litre Cosworth BDT (a staple of many a fast Ford, including the Group B RS200), canted over at 25° on the intake side to help the centre of gravity. That was good for about 400bhp, which meant Nic needed forced induction to make the numbers he wanted. And that meant lag, which he didn't want. Enter a compact gas turbine, originally used as an auxiliary power unit in helicopters. Advertisement - Page continues below Watch the car in action and you'll detect a distinctive whooshing sound as Nic prepares to launch himself up a hill. That's the turbine, spinning at 90,000rpm. It's started by compressed air using an external starter but only after the main engine has been fired up. An ingenious but complex solution, my head spins almost as fast as the turbine as Nic explains how it works. Basically, it runs separately from the ICE and delivers air to it at a constant pressure independent of the main engine speed. Ergo, zero lag, and an overall power output of 600bhp (give or take). The transmission is from the Ford Sierra XR4x4, a tidy setup that features epicyclic transfer gear and a viscous coupling. The front and rear diffs are from a Lotus Elan, the front suspension uprights a MkII VW Golf GTI, the rears from a Ralt single seater. Nic fabricated the chassis from CDS steel tubing, and laid up the composite panels on the front wings himself. Yep, that's homemade carbon fibre. The big aero parts are made of sheet aluminium, the sidepods of birch plywood. You'll detect a whooshing sound, that's the turbine spinning at 90,000rpm When Nic became acquainted with former BAR and Ferrari F1 aerodynamicist Willem Toet, himself a successful hillclimber, it helped finesse his instincts on downforce. He also verified his thinking using F1 grade computational fluid dynamics tools (thanks to Miqdad Ali). Which is how Nic's home brew racer ended up with a blown rear diffuser that helps drop the ride height by 40mm at 140mph, a high rake stance not dissimilar to the 2021 Red Bull RB16, and an aerodynamic centre of pressure that would get Adrian Newey's attention. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox. At 100mph, it produces well over its own weight in downforce, Nic says, so somewhere in the region of 750kg. The car has also set and broken all sorts of records, and holds the Shelsley specials record with a time of 25.47 seconds. That the man is still chasing tenths at the age of 73 is just as impressive. 'But it's time to hand it over to someone else, which is one of the reasons I'm talking to you,' he says a little ruefully. 'If anyone gets in touch, let me know.' Top Gear is happy to help...
Auto Car
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Auto Car
Real range anxiety: Driving London to Land's End in 1921
Indeed, many competitors floundered, but there were several impressive performances too, like that by VG Lloyd, who 'astounded everyone with his speed' in his two-cylinder Carden. Notably, Lionel Martin 'romped up the hill' in his new production Aston Martin (he had co-founded the company in 1913 to build hillclimb specials; Aston was a course in Buckinghamshire). Several had to shed passengers to reach the top, while others fouled the hill by hitting the wall at the hairpin. Some even managed to clear it while avoiding a comrade's stricken car. One did it on a flat tyre. From there on to Land's End, there was little to really concern the drivers. Forty-two made it to the finish – and we were surprised to see among them HJG Smith's 10hp Eric-Campbell (a small firm that briefly made cars at the Handley Page aircraft factory in London), as he had broken a tie rod on Porlock so effectively was steering with one wheel. He won a gold medal along with 22 other worthy competitors. We concluded: 'The general consensus of opinion was that a better trial had never been, or one to which more merit was attached to a reward, while, as to sport, no man could wish for better.' Since then, more notoriously difficult sections have been added, most famously Beggars Roost (in 1922) and Blue Hills (in 1936), and the Land's End Trial continues to challenge the best trials drivers and cars. Long may it continue.
