• New Picchio Daytona Prototype
• The DP2 n. 03 chassis
• DP2 engine
• Last developments of new Daytona Prototype

In n. 003 chassis, soon to be completed, and in the n. 004 in the pipeline, Picchio did several changes in aerodynamics, chassis, bodywork, power plant and cockpit comfort engineering. The front aerodynamics has been modified in order to obtain a greater loading, even if the drag has been mantained to the same value. The water radiator has been also re-designed so to improve its performances. The rear aerodynamics has also been changed: the previous design was optimized to get a greater loading. The chassis has been re-designed to integrate the semi-stressed engine: this allowed to obtain record results of bending and roll stiffness, while the weight has even been reduced, what the factory is very satisfied about. The engine-gearbox assembly now is 1 inch lower and the oil coolers have been put into the rear of the car. In the last designing work, the engineers put a special effort to clear heat flows from the engine compartment: the flows will be entirely channelled outside, with the result of significantly reducing the engine compartment temperature. The improvements made on front, rear and roof aerodynamics make both the pedal area and the cockpit cooler, getting a positive feedback on drivers’ performance during a race. The technical staff tried several types of shock absorbers out and so did with different suspension assets, improving the roll and pitch behaviour. Every car will have the power steering installed. And from the style side they brought several changes: Picchio got so many improvement points (more than 100) to the DP2, that the car must be referred to as a new model, whose name will be DP3.

In the Picchio’s garages the n. 03 Picchio Daytona Prototype chassis has been almost completed. The car was designed complying with the Grand-Am regulation and has been built in 2002. Although the general structure is the same, as the regulation states, the engineering staff brought several significant improvements in order to have a further structure adjustment and improve the accessibility and the driver-friendly side. The engine power plant to mount is still under decision of the tecnhical staff, even if the car is designed to have no problems in switching from one engine type to another, just by changing the connections between the engine points and the ones on the chassis. The third Daytona Prototype will be sold by next November.

The engine systems candidate for installation on the next Picchio Daytona Prototypes are three. One of them is the V8 BMW engine, installed on the Picchio DP2 competing at the Grand-Am 2003 Championship, which demonstrated such a great reliability until now that even the factory is impressed. Furthermore, in United States persists a strong interest for the V8 Maserati engine. There are, though, also negotiations going on for a Toyota-engined Picchio, among whose engines the Lexus’ V8 4300 engine would be chosen. This engine, rather robust and of proven resistance, would be a great choice for endurance competitions like the USA ones. But if the choice may be difficult from the technical side, there is no problem for installation: whichever is the engine chosen, the Picchio maintains the possibility of mounting all the three engines on its chassis, by simply changing the connections between the engine junctures and the chassis ones. One of the advantages given by Picchio is actually the chassis flexibility and its manageability with the different power plants.

• The Picchio Project For The New CN2
• The new CN2 drawings
• FIA Crash Test For The New CN

After the experiences it had on track during the past two years, the Picchio factory gained experience and collected data which enable it to revolutionize the concept of open-cockpit racing car: because of this the factory, even having a Cn class model already developed, courageously rejected the currently running production program, to jump definitely to a superior level of sport cars conception.
Regarding this, the experience in the States was of fundamental importance above all, because it allowed the factory to glimpse, within an already very far developed plan, the guidelines of a future and more innovative way to proceed.
For doing this, at Picchio they decided to redefine the lines of planning according to a perspective with an intention to be ten years forward: that’s how the working plan for the new open-cockpit Picchio Cn took shape.
A factory plenary meeting was called, whose result was determining a precise project, as GM F. Di Pietrantonio says: “The new Picchio Two-seater Cn2, as our standard is, will be beautiful and innovative.
The specification of the project prescribes that the following targets are to be hit:
- Maximum competitiveness
- New and technically advanced aerodynamics
- Control of weight under the regulations’ stated minimums
- Extreme safety systems on the crash
- Revolutionary price, hold within 40.000 – 50.000 €.
We think that with this programmatic meeting we managed to coordinate the many resources put into the field, so to have a positive start-up of the whole project.
To make it brief, the projecting and producing mechanism has been started: from now on I will only have operative meetings with the singles figures in charge of production departments.”
The engineers actually have got the task of coordinating the work among the different departments.
About the new Cn2 is important to hear the aerodynamics chief of department opinion: "The car we’ve got in mind to design will have a high aerodynamics efficiency able to ensure a high air load but also a good top speed.
The intention is to avoid aerodynamics appendixes, so that the car body has got a complete negative lift.
Particularly we will carry out a detailed study on the underbody flows.
We think the internal flow analysis is essential, because it gives an important contribution to the aerodynamics analysis of the whole car in general.
From the research and development instruments point of view we will use widely some CFD software we have; after that, we’ll pass to wind tunnel tests and later on to the track.
We are confident about the positive results of our tests.”
The car will hit the track in the spring of 2004 for the Italian Prototypes Championship and will obviously have full conformity with the FIA Regulation for Cn class Sport cars.
The engineer in charge of the power plant installation will have also a vital task: “The engine we’ll install is a Honda 2000 cc, with about 230 hp reliability.
In order to pursue one of the main project purposes, as to say the control/knocking down the costs, Picchio will develop the engine in collaboration with a preparer, whose choice is yet to be made within a list of names”.
But what will be the new Cn2 design?
We asked the designers: “The car will be inspired to the Picchio family feeling for the bodywork.
Moreover, we work and constantly keep in contact with the aerodynamics department, so our style choices are made after meetings with the two groups and after having shared opinions and the respective needs and goals.
The bodywork will be innovative for complying with some functional need never explored before now.
Regarding the pure style we anyway can say that we’ll design a typically Italian-style and spirited car.
We are noticing, in facts, that the design of many cars, from the north of Europe above all, is evolving towards very geometrical shapes.
We’d like to design a car which is much less cold instead, more catching and enthralling.

The work for the Picchio CN2 project go on with the satisfaction of engineers and technical staff. Last march, the factory begun to manufacture the open-cockpit car with a four-cylinders 2000 engine and the first shakedown is scheduled for spring 2004. Its strong points, according with the general Picchio guidelines and aims, will be maximum competitiveness, a new and highly evolved aerodynamics, lightness and crash safety, and also a smashing price. Apart from the technical side, the car will be carefully styled, since aerodynamics and designers work side by side and collaborating. Starting from the white sheet and after calculating the surfaces mathematics on the bodywork, the style department released the new drwings for he car. After this work, Picchio, as usual, realised also a model to better appreciate the aerodynamics and 3-D features. So they milled a small dimensioned model through the Computer Aided Manufacturing method: it has got the main lines of the new car. A wind tunnel test is also scheduled to be held soon, in order to get a further aerodynamics cleanup.