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Select a marker on the digital model: the technical choice and design values of the system appear alongside. Data from our 2026 Design Specification Sheet.
The car's systems, marker by marker
What is new on the #17
Two choices on the #17 are out of the ordinary: a fabric-covered body, and a floor and nose made of flax composite, tested on track.
A fabric-covered body
Fabric covering is another way of making bodywork. The students developed and built it themselves.
Flax in the floor and nose
The floor and the nose are made of flax composite, a plant fibre.
Tomorrow, a flax crash box
Next step: develop and validate a flax crash box to replace the aluminium one, and so reduce the car's environmental impact.
The flax composite floor
The flax fabric and its honeycomb core are stacked on the mould, then sealed under a vacuum bag. The air is drawn out, the resin flows right through the stack and the part comes out in one piece. We design the parts and prepare the manufacturing, but the resin injection is subcontracted: it is not done at the school.
Our future
We think about our future. We love motorsport and many of us want to make it our career. For that future to exist, motorsport has to change and become far more environmentally aware. That is why we are interested in flax fibre, a plant-based alternative to conventional fibres.
Three partners support us on this work: DIATEX for technical fabrics, Wisteur Performance for mapping and flex-fuel, and Franck Tison, an entrepreneur, on the flax supply chain.
The figures for car no. 17
These values come from our competition technical sheet. Where a figure is marked as simulated, target or measured, that distinction is kept.
The technical choices made
| System | Architecture / component | Key 2026 data |
|---|---|---|
| Chassis | 25CD4S steel spaceframe, TIG welded | 30×2 mm and 25×1.5 mm tubes · measured bare mass 46 kg · simulated torsional stiffness 775.68 N·m/° (target 850). |
| Suspension | Double wishbone, direct acting on the upper wishbone | Hoosier 20.5×7.0-13 · Evo Corse X3MAZero 13×7 rims, ET20 · static camber −2.5° · motion ratio 2.36:1 linear. |
| Engine | KTM 690 LC4 single-cylinder, E85 | 692.7 cm³ · compression 12.7:1 · 31.48 kW at 7,500 rpm · 43.6 N·m at 6,500 rpm. |
| Intake | Naturally aspirated, mechanical throttle | 19 mm restrictor · 7 L plenum · 195 mm runner · 53 mm throttle · Bosch 0,280,155,968 injection at 3 bar. |
| Exhaust | Dedicated header and silencer | Primary Ø42 mm · collector Ø53 mm · effective length 1,273 mm · stainless silencer 244 mm, Ø36.5 mm. |
| Cooling | Two side-mounted single-row aluminium radiators | Airflow given as 148 cfm on the design sheet. |
| Wiring harness | MaxxECU LV distribution + safety loop | Protected AUX relays 80/25/15 A · BSPD/BOT/E-Stop/LVMS loop · 6 AWG starter · 18 AWG signals · Yuasa YTZ14S 12 V / 11.2 Ah battery. |
| ECU & data acquisition | MaxxECU Sport + Arduino Mega DAQ | Twin-spark ignition · 22-2 VR wheel with no cam sensor · advance 0.5 to 50° BTDC · MCP2515 CAN, SD and RF at 100 Hz · Bosch knock sensor. |
| Brakes & hubs | Ventilated steel discs + Wilwood GP200 | Ø190×4 mm · 2-piston calipers Ø31.8 mm · master cylinders Ø17.8 mm front / Ø19.05 mm rear · 44.05 / 22.14 bar at 1 g · SKF HBU3E hubs. |
| Pedal box & cockpit | Glass-fibre bucket seat, mechanical/hydraulic controls | Ø230 mm aluminium/PLA steering wheel · motorcycle shifter via linkage + push-pull cable · OEM hydraulic clutch · drivers 1,780 to 1,840 mm. |
| Transmission | 520 chain + Quaife QDF7ZR differential | Final ratio 2.81:1 · 132.37 km/h in 6th at peak-power rpm · Lobro ORT Ø100 mm CV joints. |
| Bodywork & floor | Diacov, flax composite and flax/PET sandwich | Flax composite nose on a foam mould · aluminium firewall + heat shielding · flax fibre / PET foam sandwich floor. |
| Aerodynamics | No aerodynamic package declared | The 2026 sheet gives N/A for downforce, drag, Cl, Cd and active devices. |
No points to win. 600 to lose
Scrutineering earns nothing in the rankings: it is a technical inspection, passed or not. But until it is passed, the car cannot start any track event, which is 600 of the 1,000 points on offer. The scrutineers check more than 150 rules on the car, from the chassis to the harness: it is the highest step of the competition, and the first one a team faces.
The six scrutineering checks
A check is an inspection stage the car must pass before it is allowed to run. At Silverstone there are six, taken one after another. A car that fails one fixes its fault, then queues up again.
- 01
Chassis
The scrutineers examine the structure: tubes, roll hoops, bracing and their mountings, driver protection and cockpit templates. Everything must comply with the rules.
- 02
Safety
Helmets, suits and drivers' equipment, and the two fire extinguishers: everything that protects the driver in an accident is checked.
- 03
Engineering
The rest of the car, system by system: harness, steering, brakes, electrical circuit, fuel. The driver must also be able to get out of the car in five seconds or less.
- 04
Tilt
Fully fuelled and with the tallest driver on board, the car is tilted to 60 degrees on a table: no leaks are tolerated, and all wheels must stay on the table.
- 05
Noise
A sound meter measures the exhaust: 110 dB(C) maximum, 103 dB(C) at idle. The scrutineers then check that every kill switch does stop the engine.
- 06
Braking
The driver brakes hard on a straight: all four wheels must lock and the car must stop straight. The brake light is checked at the same time.
What the #17 was pulled up on this year
At its first inspection, the #17 received four correction requests, on two of the six checks: Chassis and Technical. All of them concern workmanship: a mounting, a bond, the routing of a strap and a brake light. None calls into question the design of the chassis or of the powertrain.
| Date | Inspection | Point raised | To rework |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19/07/2026 | Chassis | Critical mountings: main hoop bracingThe plenum is rigidly mounted on the main hoop bracing. | FittingRework the plenum mounting on the hoop bracing. |
| 19/07/2026 | Chassis | Driver protection: anti-intrusion plateFailed the compression check: a better bond of the plate is required. | ProcessRedo the plate bonding, then repeat the compression test. |
| 18/07/2026 | Engineering | Harness: lap belt anchorageThe strap touches the seat between the driver and the anchorage point. | FittingReroute the strap so that it no longer touches the seat. |
| 18/07/2026 | Engineering | Low-voltage circuit: brake lightThe brake light does not come on. | ElectricalGet the brake light working again. |
The car in detail
The #17 up close: chassis, suspension, engine and dampers.
One adjustable damper per wheel
Single-body coil-over dampers, actuated by rods from the wishbones. Preload, rebound and compression are adjusted separately: they are how the car's behaviour is tuned between two sessions.
The method behind the #17
Digital model, engine scanned in 3D, calculations, workshop, traceability of every part: how we design and build the car is on the Engineering page.
Interested in a system?
Several of our departments are looking for expertise, a manufacturing resource or a measuring tool. That is often where a technical partnership begins.