The partnership, which began in Q3 2021, has seen leading British composite design and engineering consultancy, DEXET Technologies, apply decades’ worth of Formula One and low-volume supercar production expertise to an all-new challenge: the sub-1,000 kg Squalo.
The carbon fibre monocoque chassis possesses construction technology only seen thus far in the rarest of hypercars. The monocoque is designed to be manufactured in three parts for prime accessibility and maintenance.
The forward section of the carbon monocoque chassis contains the engine and transmission, meanwhile the middle tub houses Squalo’s occupants, a brand new individually specified interior, and the fuel cell.
The third, and one of the most innovative parts - the rear subsection - supports the rear suspension and power distributing differential. The three chassis subassemblies are bolted together to form a rigid structure, providing optimum feedback to the driver, with maximum precision.
Unlike GTO Engineering’s series of Revival cars, which in part use a donor vehicle for registration and sit on a period steel tube chassis, Squalo will be all-new and registered as a brand-new vehicle. As such, its team has been pushing technology and engineering to the limit as it approaches the vital testing of the monocoque and showing it to media and customers alike.
Twyford-based GTO Engineering’s in-house technical team – headed up by chief technical officer, Alexander Aucken – has been working alongside DEXET’s design, material, and testing engineers, to combine their expertise and help deliver on GTO Engineering’s promise of a lightweight, two-door, narrow-packaged driver’s car homologated for major markets.
Both GTO Engineering and DEXET Technologies are currently working to achieve the next milestones. Defining and freezing the ergonomics of the interior using the recently revealed 3D-printed Squalo buck is the next immediate step, which will further allow DEXET to complete the design of the central carbon fibre tub.
Once all the structural parameters are set, the engineers at DEXET will analyse the full chassis and bodywork with finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software.
FEA gives engineers the ability to inflict real-world stresses and strains onto the computer-designed chassis model, allowing the team to modify, hone and perfect the digital version before creating something physical. CFD on the other hand will show how fluid, air for example, will flow over the bodywork, giving GTO Engineering and DEXET Technologies real insight into Squalo’s aerodynamic performance.
