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Xtrac Limited, also known as Xtrac Transmission Technology, is a British engineering company founded in 1984 by the former
Hewland Hewland is a British engineering company, founded in 1957 by Mike Hewland, which specialises in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland currently employ 130 people at their Maidenhead facility and have diversified into a variety of markets being particul ...
engineer Mike Endean to make 4WD systems and gearboxes for rallycross and later rally and racing cars. Endean, together with Chris Goddard, who had been working on the electronic components essential to the system, in 1983 developed the first Xtrac 4WD system, for Norwegian rallycross star
Martin Schanche Martin Schanche (born 1 January 1945), nicknamed ''"Mister Rallycross"'', is a Norwegian former racing driver and politician. Biography Schanche was born in Trondheim, as the son of a German WW2 airplane pilot, who lost his life in a plane cr ...
. Schanche had thought up the idea of a changeable hydraulic 4WD system (his 1984 ERC winning Ford Escort Mk3 Xtrac-Zakspeed had a stepless FWD:RWD ratio of 28:72 to 50:50) and financed its development. This 560bhp so-called ''Xtrac No. 1'' was bought by Endean, in the mid-1990s, who raced it himself for many a year in carsprints and hillclimbs. "Xtrac started making gearboxes in the mid to late 1980s for the then-new Group A rally cars from their original premises in Wokingham and then continued to do so after moving in 1986 to a new 20,000 sq ft factory in Finchampstead." In 2000, Xtrac built a bespoke 88,000 sq ft high tech factory in Thatcham, Berkshire, England, and is currently supplying many top level sectors of motor sport, including F1, prototype and GT sportscars, IndyCar, Grand-AM, rally cars and touring cars. In 2010 the company supplied its complete 1044 gearbox, designed and developed in only six months to three F1 teams: Lotus,
Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
and HRT. This is mated to the
Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...
CA2010 engine. In addition to supplying many high-profile motorsport customers, Xtrac has expanded in other areas such as automotive, marine and aerospace. The
Pagani Huayra The Pagani Huayra () is a mid-engine sports car produced by Italian sports car manufacturer Pagani, succeeding the company's previous offering, the Zonda. It is named after Wind, like the previous model (Zonda), the word Huayra came from a Que ...
was a vehicle which used the Xtrac 1007 AMT transmission. In 2019 it was announced that Xtrac would be the sole supplier of gearboxes for the US based
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
Championship, this was due to start in 2021 but with Covid-19 restrictions being in place this was delayed until 2022 In 2020 it was announce that Xtrac would supply gearboxes as part of the hybrid power unit for the
Le Mans Daytona h An LMDh (Le Mans Daytona h) is a type of sports prototype race car that will compete alongside Le Mans Hypercar entries in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship from 2023. It also competes in the Hypercar clas ...
endurance hybrid sport car with Bosch supplying the moter generator unit and
Williams Advanced Engineering Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Racing, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded by former team owner Frank Williams (Formula One), Frank Williams and aut ...
supplying the batteries.


Footnotes


External links


Xtrac website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xtrac Engineering companies of the United Kingdom Automotive motorsports and performance companies Auto parts suppliers of the United Kingdom Automotive transmission makers