X

Triple Eight Racing Engineering HQ

To introduce its new Norton 360 v4 software suite, Symantec took us through Triple Eight Race Engineering's HQ in Brisbane.

Craig Simms
Craig was sucked into the endless vortex of tech at an early age, only to be spat back out babbling things like "phase-locked-loop crystal oscillators!". Mostly this receives a pat on the head from the listener, followed closely by a question about what laptop they should buy.
Craig Simms
ctriple-eight_1.jpg
1 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

To introduce its new Norton 360 v4 software suite, Symantec took us through Triple Eight Race Engineering's HQ in Brisbane.

Nestled in an industrial zone, Triple Eight is a V8 Supercars engineering team, with the likes of Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup on its driving roster — and a heck of a lot of trophies.

Outside Triple Eight's headquarters, in an industrial zone in Brisbane.

ctriple-eight_2.jpg
2 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

A couple of the huge trucks used to transport the cars around.

ctriple-eight_3.jpg
3 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Cookies are very serious business at Triple Eight. The staff has an in-house kitchen, with lunch being provided each day.

ctriple-eight_4.jpg
4 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Triple Eight's cookies have won many awards. Actually, these are for Bathurst, and the entire office is littered with trophies of varying size and style, from glass shards to surfboards. Triple Eight wins a lot, including one constructors' championship, two drivers' championships and three Bathurst 1000 victories.

ctriple-eight_5.jpg
5 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Jamie Whincup describes the Abu Dhabi racing track, the first destination on the V8 Supercar tour this year.

ctriple-eight_6.jpg
6 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

You can't escape an open plan office. Downstairs is the work area, which is like a giant garage — unfortunately, we had to be careful of what we shot due to sensitive research and equipment lying around, so this is as exciting a shot of the office as you'll get...

ctriple-eight_7.jpg
7 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

...except normal offices don't have gear like this just lying around.

ctriple-eight_8.jpg
8 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Ian, an engineer at Triple Eight, works on a car design in Autodesk Inventor. The software allows not only design, but stress testing of the design. An average roll cage will end up being around 70kg in weight, the total chassis around 120kg.

ctriple-eight_9.jpg
9 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

A neck brace and tethers, which attach the driver via the helmet to the seat, keeping the driver in place during impact. Good car design and safety gear like this kept Jamie alive after an 8

ctriple-eight_10.jpg
10 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Milling a part for one of the cars. As well as using them internally, Triple Eight sells the parts it manufactures, even to competitors.

ctriple-eight_11.jpg
11 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Another of the milling heads, with several different bits. A common misconception is that Holden delivers the cars to Triple Eight and they're modified — Triple Eight actually designs and builds around 96 per cent of its cars from the ground up.

ctriple-eight_12.jpg
12 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

A control panel we'd love to have by our bedside, if it didn't remind us so much of being in a hospital.

ctriple-eight_13.jpg
13 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Inside the biggest of the CNC (computer numerical control) milling machines Triple Eight owns. There are at least four of them littered about the place of varying size and costs, totalling to around a million dollars of equipment.

ctriple-eight_14.jpg
14 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

More bits! After the CNC milling program has been designed upstairs, it's fed into the machines below and a prototype is made using cheap materials. When it's confirmed that the piece has been milled correctly and fits how it should in the car, the real thing is made.

ctriple-eight_15.jpg
15 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

The CNC mills make amazingly complex parts such as this, which started life as a solid slab of aluminium.

ctriple-eight_16.jpg
16 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

The chassis being built on top of the roll cage, held in place by a jig. The jig helps Triple Eight to keep to within 1mm tolerances — that is, from paper to reality, the car is only allowed to be 1mm longer than the original design. A lot of the frame is aluminium — by 2012, Triple Eight hopes that 50 per cent of its frame will be able to be recycled.

ctriple-eight_17.jpg
17 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Standing in the sub-assembly room. Here is where all the components are put together, and it also acts as the quality assurance room, where things are tested and if they need to be, retired.

ctriple-eight_18.jpg
18 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Jamie's steering wheel. The buttons are used for custom functions; one limits the car to 40km/h for the pit lane, another locks the front wheels to hold the car in place on the starter's line while the car is revved up. There are two paddles behind, which allow Jamie to either talk to the pit team, or get a drink from the hose fed into his helmet. Jamie currently has a mix of Gatorade and water; Craig Lowndes just has water.

ctriple-eight_19.jpg
19 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Jamie gets a firm grip on his gear stick.

ctriple-eight_20.jpg
20 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

The front of Jamie's car. We weren't allowed to snap engines or wheels, so this is all you can get of the exterior, folks. By the time the car is finished, about AU$500,000 of materials will be in there.

ctriple-eight_21.jpg
21 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Inside Jamie's car. Mmm, looks snug.

ctriple-eight_22.jpg
22 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

We can only assume this attaches to the helmet, as part sensor, part drink line, part Matrix jack-in.

ctriple-eight_23.jpg
23 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Quite a few car functions have been moved down to the console, rather than placing them on the steering wheel and cluttering things up.

ctriple-eight_24.jpg
24 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

The view from the other side. Anything that's not essential is stripped away. Eventually a screen will be mounted which can feed Jamie back a lot of stats, but generally he leaves those to the pit team. The only thing he keeps his eye on is the ghost lap counter, to make sure he's on time or beating it.

ctriple-eight_25.jpg
25 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

There are over 40 sensors littered about the car, feeding back information to the pit team; not including the driver!

ctriple-eight_26.jpg
26 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

One of the few things that can be customised for the driver — foot pedal height!

ctriple-eight_27.jpg
27 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Well at least we can take full body shots of this car, even if it is radio controlled.

ctriple-eight_28.jpg
28 of 28 Craig Simms/CBS Interactive

Unlike the track car, Whincup's own car is actually road-worthy. However, it is still a Ford from when Triple Eight was on "the other side".

More Galleries

My Favorite Shots From the Galaxy S24 Ultra's Camera
A houseplant

My Favorite Shots From the Galaxy S24 Ultra's Camera

20 Photos
Honor's Magic V2 Foldable Is Lighter Than Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra
magic-v2-2024-foldable-1383

Honor's Magic V2 Foldable Is Lighter Than Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra

10 Photos
The Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus Looks Sweet in Aluminum
Samsung Galaxy S24

The Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus Looks Sweet in Aluminum

23 Photos
Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra Now Has a Titanium Design
The Galaxy S24 Ultra in multiple colors

Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra Now Has a Titanium Design

23 Photos
I Took 600+ Photos With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Look at My Favorites
img-0368.jpg

I Took 600+ Photos With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Look at My Favorites

34 Photos
17 Hidden iOS 17 Features You Should Definitely Know About
Invitation for the Apple September iPhone 15 event

17 Hidden iOS 17 Features You Should Definitely Know About

18 Photos
AI or Not AI: Can You Spot the Real Photos?
img-1599-2.jpg

AI or Not AI: Can You Spot the Real Photos?

17 Photos