September 19, 2006 First details have emerged for the Brammo Rogue GT; the first V12 supercar designed and built in the USA. Brammo Motorsports has partnered with Ryan Falconer Industries to bring the famous Falconer V12 to the automotive marketplaceand the launch version of the car will use a naturally-aspirated 10 litre V12 engine tuned to deliver 850bhp and 1,000 Nm of torque. The Rogue GT will weigh in at 1315 kg and have a top speed in the 225-230 mph range, running through Xtrac’s new transverse transaxle six-speed transmission system which is designed to handle high levels of torque of up to 1,100Nm. But wait, there’s more - the Brammo/Falconer V12 engine can deliver a power output of up to 1,100 bhp in normally aspirated, and up to 1,600bhp (1,200kW) when turbocharged or supercharged, so it’s quite possible that the Bugatti Veyron’s days as the world’s fastest road car are numbered.
Beyond that, the details are thin, though a fair amount of information is available on the new Xtrac road going transmission which has been built to optimise packaging, weight and efficiency without resorting to expensive and time consuming exotic materials and processes.
Adrian Moore, technical director of the British transmission design and manufacturing specialist Xtrac, is participating in the Global Powertrain Congress being held this week at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi Michigan.
“There are a number of manufacturers around the world producing high performance supercars, the majority of which have the same configuration of a mid-mounted longitudinal engine and a rear-mounted transaxle,” says Moore. “Traditionally the transaxle is longitudinal in configuration resulting in a considerable mass behind the rear axle line which may be considered a constraint to optimum vehicle performance, the vehicle styling and space for the rear crash structure.”
“In recent years there has been more of a demand for higher engine outputs in supercars to further increase the vehicle performance, this requirement coupled with the constraints of a conventional longitudinal transmission resulted in Xtrac identifying a need in the marketplace for an optimum package high torque capacity transverse layout transmission. For the purpose of this project Xtrac has defined a supercar as a high performance vehicle manufactured in very low volumes of perhaps only a 100 vehicles or so produced over a three to five year production life cycle.”
The first application for the new transmission is to be the Brammo Rogue GT, though Xtrac’s pedigree almost guarantees the system will work perfectly. Xtrac is the world’s leading supplier of racecar gearboxes with 24 Formula One World Championship Titles, 20 CART Titles, 14 Indy 500 Victories, 20 Touring Car Championship Titles, 22 World Rally Championship Titles, 8 Le Mans/Daytona 24 Hour Victories, and 13 Dakar Rally Victories plus a host of other assorted titles ranging from NHRA Drag Racing Championship Title to a handful of AMA motocross and supercross Championships.
