Fuel Cell

I’ve recently been having some thoughts on fuel tanks. The fuel tank ideally needs to stay in the same position as this is good for centre of gravity. The standard position offers naturally good crash protection and doesn’t interfere with the rear suspension. In fact the 106 Maxi cars had a special kevlar composite tank made specifically to do this.

Some of the guys racing 106s have experimented with chopping a fuel tank in half and plastic welding it back together so it is only on the passenger side of the car. For a lot of events you don’t need a full tank of petrol so this is fine. The only consideration in designing an Alloy tank to fit is where the exhaust runs, but it should still be possible to design a 20-25l tank that fits to one side.

If you could design a universal design with outlets that can be blanked off (like with a Mocal catch tank) then it would allow fitment to either side and thus appeal to a broader L/H and R/H car market.