Malcolm,
Fast Facts 10 and 11 (Speed Record Club newsletter) gave some info on the
Kenwood Cleanliner, including some basic technical data, and I suspect you
already have that, but for good orders' sake, here are the basics:
___
FF10 07/1993
The Japanese have shown a great deal of interest in Bonneville in the past
few years, witnessed by the fact that even that most American of
streamliners, the famous Larsen & Cummins 115 car, now bears the legend
Mooneyes of Japan. But of all their activities, the one currently getting
most attention is the project led by Satoru Sugiyama aimed at wresting the
electric LSR away from the Battery Box. When Nelson Kruschandl completes
Bluebird 9 Electric, Satoru's car will certainly be it's biggest threat, in
every sense of the word, since the device weighs in at over 8000lbs and is
33ft long. Satoru Sugiyama and his automotive company Madhouse have been
involved in a variety of racing projects over the years, but his desire to
race at Bonneville led to a 1990design for a lakester powered by a 1200hp
turbocharged Nissan V6 GTP engine. Despite it's Japanese powerplant, the
vehicle was not sufficiently different to attract any support from potential
sponsors. What was needed was an approach radical enough to attract the
attention of companies thinking more and more in terms of their effect on
the environment. Hydrogen and Propane were considered before settling on
battery electric power. Electronics giant Kenwood were soon persuaded to
support the car, which now bears their name, while a co-sponsor arrived in
the form of Fuji Electric, bringing with them the motive power for the
project, one of their motors used in the famous Bullet Train.
Motive power is usually the start point for any Bonneville contender and a
major influence on the overall chassis design. The Bullet Train motor chums
out 480kw of power or about 600hp, having first been converted to run on 117
x 12 volt DC car batteries, rather than the AC current usually drawn from
overhead cables. With additional batteries to drive the various support
systems, the weight of the total power train would definitely be an
important factor in chassis design, as would the strict SCTA/BNI safety
rules. This is a point worthy of note for any of you out there considering
your own projects. It doesn't matter how much you've spent and how far
youve come, if you want to run at their meet, you build according to their
safety rules, unless of course your name's Art Arfons, whose last Green
Monster featured some seriously lightweight tubing. One of the benefits of
being a legend I guess.
Satoru worked on seven different wind tunnel designs before selecting a long
narrow body with a Cd of 0.26 allied to good stability. Although only 32
inches wide and 36 inches high at the top of the canopy, the eight battery
compartments, engine compartment and drivers cockpit, gave an overall length
of 33 feet! Given the aforementioned safety requirements and the loadings
placed on a long, narrow chassis by all this weight, Satoru entrusted
fabrication to Mike Ruth of Pro Chassis, Hacienda Heights, Califomia. Mike
used 1 1/2 inch 4130 chromemoly tubing with the floor of the battery
compartinents further stiffened by the use of 0.125 inch chromemoly sheeting
. Wishbone and torsion bar suspension is used all round, while the ENKEI
forged aluminium wheels are kept from falling off by a Summers Bros. heavy
duty axle and NASCAR type hubs at the business end driving a Coleman sprint
car quick change diff, in front of the the Bullet Train motor which is
mounted right in the tail. Satoru sits in a front end mounted on Coleman
hubs and spindles with JFZ brakes and a Deist chute to slow him down.
Instead of a conventional throttle, a semiconductor control unit provided by
Fuji Electric handles the problems of using 1000 volts and 520 amps from the
series connected batteries in only three minutes. Once push started to
about 60 mph the semiconductor unit takes over, delivering the current in
pulses to take the vehicle smoothly up to seed. System meltdown would be a
real possibility without this pulsing capability , but even so, high
temperatures will be generated, so a C02 cooling system is fitted along with
venting for the H2 gasses. Once discharged, the batteries are changed for
the next run and then recharged using the portable generator. Covering all
of this is a carbon flbre body with a honeycomb core, made up from nine
interlocking panels.
So much for the theory, but what about the practice? Electric vehicles are
not exactly new to LSR attempts, but not since 1968 when the Autolite
division of Ford turned up with the Lead Sled driven by Jerry Kugel to claim
a record of 138mph, had so much interest been shown in a non-combustion
engine car. Totally disproving the theory that, if it looks good it is
good, the Kenwood Cleanliner tumed up at Bonneville 92 with it's attendant
hordes and promptly failed to deliver! A number of runs trickling down the
salt at walking pace were not what Satoru or his backers had in mind
However, the basic concept looks sound and the engineering is clearly first
class, so we can only assume that this is a temporary setback brought about
by that enemy of all projects - time.
The completed chassis was shipped to Japan at the end of June to have it's
electrics and body fitted before being shipped to Bonneville in early August
for it's very public first test. Rest assured they'll be back next year
with the problems ironed out, enabling Satoru to have a shot at joining the
200mph Club and maybe even pushing on to the car's theoretical design limit
of 250mph.
FF11 10/1993
>From Japan, the Kenwood Cleanliner awaits decent salt and a solution to it's
technical problems from last year.
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Other than that I have never found.
Arie
List Members in USA
Can anyone provide information on the US built "Kenwood Cleanliner"
electric streamliner. Visited the salt sometime about 1992 or 1993. I am
told the full value of the project was $80m and that it stuttered 10 yards
when it tried to move and went no further. What are the facts?
Malcolm Pittwood, Derby, England.
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