Performance Parts & Engineering

As the Performance Parts and Engineering (PPE) team makes final preparations for the Bathurst 12 Hour, we wanted to share a bit of background surrounding the Fiat Abarth 695 Assetto Corse pocket rockets we are campaigning at the mighty circuit.

PPE boss Alan Heaphy explains: “The cars came to us straight from Europe, in left-hand drive trim and ready to race in the one make series they run across Europe. They came in white and were stripped out with cages and race seats installed. The package is quite good as it stands, down to the Perspex slide windows, basic coilover suspension system, two-plate LSD and Sadev six-speed sequential gearbox. Over in Europe, it’s a heavily controlled formula, with sealed turbos and ECUs, but we have been able to work on them within the Class F production category for Bathurst.”

The team has added equipment to enhance safety, performance and comfort over the course of the weekend, where Heaphy expects each of the three cars will cover between 1700 and 1800 kilometres. A larger brake package has been added along with gearbox and oil coolers, along with a dry-brake 80 litre fuel cell mounted in the rear boot section for easy filling.

A couple of tweaks have liberated some extra power from the turbocharged 1.4-litre petrol four-bangers, which are now rated at 160kW. Not bad for the smallest engine in the field!

With an all-up weight of around 950kg, the Abarths are expected to punch above their weight for such a diminutive package, especially with the might of GT3 racers sharing the circuit. Thankfully, Bosch Motorsport has agreed to trial their incredible Collision Avoidance System on the Italian racers.

The CAS-M system uses a large cockpit-mounted screen (mounted centrally, so the drivers don’t need to take their eyes off the road) in conjunction with a high-resolution camera and rear-facing radar to pick up what’s happening behind the vehicle on-track.

The cockpit screen houses distance scale which is augmented by a range of coloured arrows which appear above closing traffic. These arrows progress from orange to red as the gap narrows, finally converting to a large horizontal flashing arrow which points to the side the vehicle behind is passing. The system can even separate out groups of following cars, determining the closing speed for each.  CAS-M also works in adverse weather and light conditions (even accounting for headlight glare). “It’s going to be much safer for our guys, as well as the faster cars coming through, especially at the top of The Mountain,” says Heaphy.

Practice for the 12 Hour gets underway Friday morning, with qualifying on the Saturday before the big one commences in the early hours of Sunday. A full wrap up will follow on our site, so stay tuned.