Having an in-house design and engineering facility and a vast experience of motor sport, ADR is well placed to take on engineering projects.
The Riversimple Hydrogen Car Project
The Riversimple Hydrogen Car
When British entrepreneur-engineer Hugo Spowers, the originator and driving force behind RiverSimple discussed this project with us we recommended that race car designer Andy Thorby should design the car. Subsequently ADR fabricated and machined some of the parts and assembled the car in our Silverstone unit.
The car was launched on the 16th June 2009. Click here to see the BBC’s press release.
With a shell made of carbon fibre composites, and having no combustion engine, gearbox or transmission, the car weighs only 350kg. It cruises at 80kph with an energy efficiency equivalent to 300 miles to the gallon in the urban cycle and has a range of 200miles on one filling of hydrogen. It not only meets current demands for environmental sustainability, but will exceed existing industry standards.
Riversimple aims to release 10 prototypes in 2010 in a UK city, where its partner - gas supply company BOC, will install the necessary hydrogen stations.
The company hopes to have the vehicle in production by 2013. Click here to visit the Riversimple Website
Mazdaspeed Le Mans Project
This was our longest running project. Approached by Mazdaspeed Tokyo in 1983, ADR took on the role of running their European racing programme, which at that time consisted of races at Le Mans and Silverstone. Initially the cars (models 717, 727 and 737) were designed in Japan and used the two rotor Wankel engine, but in 1985 the company decided a new, more competitive car was required.
Our role in the design and development of the new car was to help select a designer, to source and to arrange manufacture and machining of critical parts, to oversee wind tunnel testing and to provide racing feedback for the car’s ongoing development.
We recommended Nigel Stroud, the former March/Hesketh/Lotus F1 designer to design the new car, vetted and selected engineering companies to manufacture and machine the critical parts, and employed a model maker, using the MIRA wind tunnel facility at Nuneaton on a regular basis. The result was the Mazdaspeed 757, which was powered by a new three rotor Wankel engine.
After this our involvement increased, the team now providing all the race team personnel and racing the car in Europe, America and Japan. Nigel Stroud continued to develop the car with input from ADR's wind tunnel activity and race feedback, the final evolution being the 787B that won at Le Mans in 1991 driven by Betrand Gachot, Johnny Herbert and Volker Weidler.
Other Projects
Having an in-house design and engineering facility and a vast experience of motor sport, ADR is well placed to take on engineering projects. The numerous projects we have undertaken since 1975 include:
- Race and road car development
Working in association with manufacturers and teams
Bobsleigh
Designing winglets for the British Four Man Bobsleigh
Eco-Marathon car
Manufacturing and assembling the vehicle
Race engine development
Assisting in the development of the HKS - Mitsubishi Formula 3 engine
JCB Dieselmax
Manufacturing and supplying the Ice Coolers for the JCB Dieselmax land speed record vehicle
Aircraft and Defence
Supplying components and cooling systems for light aircraft, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and even Airships. Producing Fuel, Oil and Water tanks, and fabricated parts for a wide variety of Military Vehicles.
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The Docking Group
- ADR is a member of the Docking Group, which includes Docking Engineering - designer and manufacturer of advanced cooling systems, and Earls Performance Products UK - designer and manufacturer of a comprehensive range of high performance hose and fittings. Both companies supply products and services to a broad spectrum of motor sport including F1, F3, A1GP, Indy and Champ Car, World Rally Championship, Touring Car and British Superbike teams as well as vintage, historic and classic vehicles.
Docking cooling systems have played a role in winning major championships, including the World Sportscar, World Touring Car, DTM and the World Rally Championships, and classic races including the Le Man 24 Hour, Daytona, the Indy 500 and the Paris-Dakar Rally, recognised as the toughest of the "off-road" road events.
In addition to our in-house design and precision fabrication facility we provide full engineering support for all projects we undertake.
 
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