The
Jaguar's short front overhang meant the main crash box was
shorter than desired and subsequently the XJR-14 didn't do as well as
hoped in passing the test. But FISA's regulations simply
required
that there not be any damage aft
of the pedal face. And while crash testing of the XJR-14
revealed
a crack in the tub floor that propagated past the pedal face, the
solution was simply for the pedals to be mounted behind the
point
where the damage stopped. 
The
torsion bar suspension allows for a more compact package at the front
of the car. The rocker arm rotates on the
longitudinally
mounted torsion bar. The torsion bar itself is hidden by the
monocoque though is accessible from the front (1). The
torsion bar rotated when the pushrod moved. The bar’s
resistance
to movement was determined by its diameter, wall thickness,
and
length
and thus was the equivalent spring rate.The dampers (2) are mounted horizontally on the top of the tub, transversely across the chassis. The anti roll system (3) picks up off the bellcrank through a pushrod.
“As far as I know it was unique at that time,” says TWR Chief Designer John Piper in regards to the XJR-14's torsion bar front suspension. Ultimately packaging drove the choice of the torsion bars, “it made the pushrod angle better whilst keeping the front nose height low.” This was always important in keeping frontal area to a minimum. Ride height could be altered with just a few turns of a single, centrally mounted, screw jack, and swapping out different stiffness torsion bars could be done “in seconds” making the whole system ultimately more user friendly.
If you look carefully in the image, at upper right, where the bell crank mounts to the tub and extending rearwards, you can see the repaired section of #591's tub.
The
XJR-14's front brake ducting was especially
elegant. "Brake
ducting was always an afterthought on most sports cars with horrible
bits of convoluted hose that only stayed intact for a few laps." says Piper. The traditional
method of using flexible wire
hosing as brake ducting had the drawback of being susceptible to being
dislodged during the race as it was typically attached via hose clamps
and
little else.
Rigid brake ducts fed into the upright/brake calipers but pivoted on elbow joints (white), each machined from a billet of Teflon, allowing for steering input. To allow for flex within the system bellows attached the elbow to the primary feed. The bellows were held in place by a spring. The front pushrod pierced the brake duct though was sealed by rubber skirts on either end.
Packaging
at the front was so tight with the need to accommodate the front wing,
as well as the crash structure, that the brake and clutch fluid
reservoirs
were moved to the front of the side pod, being accessible through a
hatch after the nose was removed.