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Raptor Racing Cars - Overview At Raptor, we race the cars we design and build – that’s how serious we are about off road racing. We believe there’s no better proving ground for testing the reliability and durability of our products than the Australian Off Road Championships. Our philosophy is simple - build quality cars that outperform the competition with superior handling rather than with brute horsepower. The net result is an off road vehicle that is more stable, easier to drive and requires less horsepower to be competitive.
Raptor at Millicent 2006 AORC - photo courtesy Sean McTigue Our aim is not to reinvent the wheel - rather to play our part in the evolution of off road racing in Australia. A new approach Raptor is the creation of Greg Harris, a competitor in off road vehicles for the past 20 years. With several years' experience in the design of military off road vehicles, Greg confirmed that conventional off road racing designs lacked refinement in their suspension arrangements. For the past six years he has developed a design approach to A-arm suspension, which he believes, far exceeds the performance of most designs both in Australia and overseas. The outcome has been the creation of a family of indigenous off road vehicles which perform better and cost less than more fancied imports. Superior handling The ability to control the amount of wheel travel in an off road vehicle determines how well it handles. All Raptor designs have undergone extensive computer analysis to determine the optimum suspension setup, paying particular attention to roll centre heights, ride height and spring rates.
Suspension geometry analysis Design pedigree Raptor racing cars are the most technically advanced Australian-designed buggies money can buy. They are designed using Pro Engineer, a 3D modelling program which allows components or an entire vehicle project to be designed and analysed before any fabrication begins. In conjunction with SusProg3D, a suspension analysis tool, a vehicle's optimum handling configuration can be built into the design with absolute confidence. The process of building a Raptor goes through four main phases: 1. 3D modelling design and suspension geometry setup 2. Failure analysis (computerised stress testing of 3D model) 3. Fabrication using the best available materials and workmanship 4. Track testing
Failure analysis of front suspension arm The Cars Super 1650 / Prolite Raptor The original Raptor, designed in 2000 and first prototyped in 2003, is equivalent to the new Super 1650 class. Three of these variants have been built and are currently being raced at state or national level. The best result this Raptor design has achieved is 1st place in Class 2 (on debut), Finke Desert Race 2006 AORC. Raptor's new Super 1650 / Prolite is larger than the original Raptor design and incorporates several design enhancements. For further information, please click here. Pro Raptor Raptor currently has two Open Class designs on the drawing board, one with the conventional rear engine configuration plus a radical new front engine design. The rear engine design is expected to be ready for the 2008 AORC season, with the front engine variant following in 2009. For further information, please click here. Team Raptor Racing Team Raptor Racing made its debut in the 2006 AORC season. For further information regarding the 2006 and 2007 seasons, please click here. |
