Gordon Murray Design - T.33 + T.50

[Edge]

Está engraçado, não deixa de lembrar um Smart futurista com genes da Renault, mas fico desiludido pois esperava ver um rasgo de coragem e que o projecto final adoptasse o esquema dos 3 lugares do T25...

[TommyTosser]

Com specs destas, só se pode ficar contente. esperemos que o projecto ande para a frente. Gostava muito de ter um.

Será um 1000cc com 70 a 80cvs, com caixa de dupla embraiagem, num carro que pesa menos 100kgs que um smart...

[crash]

´Também concordo que deveriam ter apostado nos 3 lugares, já que este Yamaha Motiv é bastante maior que os protótipos do Gordon Murray, pelo que, presumo, houvesse espaço para tal.
Seria definitivamente um elemento diferenciador, sobretudo o apelo da posição de condução central, mas compreendo o risco que isso possa acarretar em futura carreira comercial. Assim, como encontramos a presença de portas convencionais. Os receios de molhas épicas para entrar e sair do carro também podem ser esquecidos.

Esperemos que a Yamaha aprove e coloque À venda quanto antes.
Se é 5cm mais estreito que o actual Smart, deverá ter 1.5m de largura. O que é estranho, dado as origens japonesas da Yamaha. Seria mais que lógico colocarem algo no mercado japonês que obedecesse aos critérios dos kei-cars.

Mas assim sendo, considerando as specs apresentadas e dado o posicionamento algo "posh" que procuram, o mais certo é a Yamaha querer dar o salto global para o mundo dos automóveis.

Não me convence totalmente do ponto de vista estilistico, apesar da imagem geral agradável e aparentemente mais "clean" que aquela que encontramos no seu óbvio rival, o Smart. Apesar de achar que o Smart tenha uma identidade visual bem mais marcante.

A traseira e a vista 3/4 desta é realmente o melhor aspecto do carro. Mas a frente, sobretudo ópticas, e a forma como as rodas encaixam na carroçaria parece precisar de mais uns "ajustes". Mas dado a ausência de prensas para criar os paineis, até que a estética está a par de propostas contemporâneas que recorrem a outros métodos para obter o mesmo tipo de formas, e acho que afasta os receios infundados da estética de "working-prototype" que o T25 apresentava. Como tinha dito, e tendo em conta que estes paineis de carroçaria nem sequer tÊm função estrutural, a definição da pele do carro poderia assumir contornos e superfícies bastante distintos.

Como já tinha dito antes, a maior relevância deste projecto passa por aquilo que não se vê, nomeadamente todo o sistema produtivo, o chamado i-Stream, que permite à linha de produção livrar-se de uma série de onerosas máquinas e ferramentas, reduzindo custos de produção e até dimensão física das fábricas.

O carro em si promete uma experiência de condução mais rica e envolvente que a do Smart. Mais leve que este em 100kg (deve ficar-se pelos 700), é mais estreito e baixo, mas promete elevados niveis de rigidez estrutural, baixo centro de gravidade, direcção não assistida para um muito "british steering feel" e suspensão independente à frente e trás.

Os 70-80cv estimados para a versão a gasolina, em conjugação com o baixo peso e a caixa de dupla embraiagem, devem-no tornar numa coisinha bastante espevitada em acelaração pelas ruas de qualquer centro urbano.

Dado o olho pormenorizado do sr. Murray, confesso que tenho as expectativas algo em alta, caso isto chegue à linha de produção.

E caso se torne uma proposta válida, curioso saber se todo este sistema produtivo poderia ser aplicado a coisas maiores, como um seg. C.

Esperemos que a Yamaha decida avançar com isto, e que chegue até À nossa costa, lá pra 2016 como previsto

[TommyTosser]

O 'salto' para um dois lugares faz todo o sentido, é seguro de um ponto de vista de vendas, O aparecimento de um carro de 3 lugares seria um risco demasiado grande para uma empresa que não tem nome directo no mundo automóvel. Tal como o sistema de abertura que foi trocado por algo convencional.

Se, e insisto, se tiverem coragem para avançar para produção vai ser algo muito especial.

[FernandoZero]

Não percebi, a partir das fotos da Autocar, o que há de revolucionário no método construtivo. Pois o que vi neste Yamaha foi uma estrutura de tubos de aço, como se fazia nos anos 50, recoberta com paineis de plástico. É esse o método iStream? Ou a construção destes protótipo nada tem a ver com os métodos desenvolvidos pelo G. Murray? Até porque as imagens da mula de testes do T.25 mostrava um plataforma de aço, aparentemente, estampado. Alguém que perceba do assunto poderia esclarecer, sff.

[JRodrigues]

Mais um carro com condutor central do Sr. Murray. Mas não como pensávamos





Pensado para países em dias de desenvolvimento (para não dizer 3º Mundo), com especial incidência em África. Monta-se em 12h por 3 pessoas, ou seja, é o IKEA dos automóveis.
Neste momento procuram-se investidores para arrancar com o projecto.
Gordon Murray continua um passo à frente quando se fala de automóvel.

http://www.motor1.com/news/97791/global-vehicle-trust-ox-worlds-first-flat-pack-truck/

[FernandoZero]

Projetos ultra-low-cost destinados aos países do antigo terceiro mundo, como os Africar e FAF, foram muito populares desde os anos 50 mas pouco a pouco deixaram a cena automobilística. E nenhum projeto deste tipo resultou em um carro produzido em larga escala. Todos fracassaram

Este projetos vieram na esteira dos movimentos de independência em África e Ásia como tentativas de criar industrias locais. A premissa era criar modelos de concepção muito simples, funcional e versátil e de fácil fabrico e reparo a partir de insumos locais e com força de trabalho com pouca qualificação.

Mas com o advento da mundialização da economia no início dos anos de 90 fez estes projetos perderem o sentido. Pois a chegada da indústria automóvel a estes países ocorreu por meio de acordos entre as grandes fabricantes de automóveis com os governos locais ou por meio de sociedades destes mesmos fabricantes com grupos particulares de investidores. Foi mais viável um fabricante tradicional fechar acordos para exportar ou fabricar localmente modelos de concepção antiga do que uma fundação criar do zero um novo projeto para atender demandas locais específicas. Para funcionar o fabrico e venda de automóveis precisa ser uma empresa lucrativa e não um projeto de inclusão social.

Outra barreira é que estes projetos concorrem, na relação custo x benefício, com os veículos usados. Nos países a que destinam este tipo de projeto é mais barato comprar e manter um carro ou camião usado.

E um fator importante é o maldito status . A Tata fez pesquisas e entendeu parte do falhanço do Nano ocorreu por que muita gente não queria ser vista dirigindo aquele que ficou conhecido como o automóvel mais barato do mundo, os vizinhos pensariam "Está muito mal de vida o gajo para andar nesse caixote baratuxo"

A funcionalidade nunca é o principal fator motivador para aquisição de um automóvel. A compra de um automóvel representa busca por status e ascessão social. Mesmo naqueles países mais pobre. Aliás, nos países do antigo terceiro mundo o consumo é um marcador muito importante de distinção social.

Assim, nestes moldes, acredito que este projeto OX será um falhanço como tantos outros projetos antigos do tipo. Ficará para a história apenas devido a paternidade notória.

[FernandoZero]

Só agora vi que os painéis que revestem o chassis tubular são de chapa de madeira (!).
http://oxgvt.com/specs-ox-all-terrain-vehicle/

"Body: Engineered Laminated Panel Mechanically Fastened"

Trata-se de tipo de chapa composto por várias camadas mais finas coladas e prensadas e que aqui no Brasil recebem a alcunha de Compensado.

Assim a semelhança com o Africar não é apenas em ser um produto low cost, visto que o Africar tinha carroçaria construía em madeira:



A morfologia deste pequeno camião remete ao antigo Stier-Puch Hafliger:



O OX é bem maior é verdade. Mas não tem porte dos Pinzgauer:




Há no Kenya Mobius II, da Mobius Motors, um pequeno TT que guarda algumas semelhanças com o OX,como o chassi tubular e a tracção a frente:





Mas o conceito construtivo é radicalmente disitinto: o Mobius é produzido à moda antiga, todas os tubs do chassis são dobrados e soldados manualmente. Enquanto o OX, de acordo com conceito iStream, tem o chassis totalmente fabricado por robots e apenas a montagem dos componentes mecânicos e dos painéis externos é feita manualmente.

[FernandoZero]

Este conceito de kit-car com carroçaria de painéis contrachapados pode dar origem a uns brinquedos interessantes.

Gostava de montar em casa um Voiture Maximum eléctrico. Seria bem giro

[crash]

Com os chineses a darem boa conta de si em África, não sei até que ponto esse projecto ainda fará sentido.
Sou fã de projectos que tentam fazer mais com menos, mas como se viu com o Nano da Tata, se o carro fica associado a imagem de pobre, e todo ele o expressa, pode afastar mais pessoas do que atrai.
Pode-se estar no fim do mundo, onde os sinais de civilização são escassos, mas depois de se ter contacto com o que os outros têm, e que, pelo menos, parece muito melhor, eles não vão querer a criatura que parece básica ou até amadora.

Já tive a ler sobre esse camiãozinho, e como seria de esperar do sr. Murray, parece estar excelentemente concebido, considerando aspectos de design como a questão de acondicionamento e transporte, que pouco se fala ou pior, até é por vezes negligenciada.




Le Corbusier foi grande no mundo da arquitectura, e também tinha paixão por automóveis.
Essa criatura era a visão dele para um automóvel minimalista, mas funcional, ou não fosse ele o pai do Funcionalismo. Daí o nome, Voiture Minimum.

Considerando a altura que foi desenhado, meio da década de 30, onde se dava os primeiros passos na compreensão da aerodinâmica, apesar da aparência estranha, este concept já apresentava soluções nesse sentido. Inclinação da frente, composta por uma superfície única que inclui o párabrisas, e tecto em arco, em alusão à gota de água.
Le Corbusier afirmava que o seu Minimum serviu de inspiração ao Carocha e 2CV, mas acho que a Tatra poderia não concordar.

Apesar de ter sido desenhado cumprindo as mais rigorosas leis da secção dourada, procurando as proporções mais perfeitas possíveis, a ausência de modelação afasta-o grandemente da estética automóvel da altura.
Basicamente todo o corpo do carro não é mais que uma extrusão pura do perfil. Um contraste violentíssimo com outras propostas da década, que também integravam as novas lições da aerodinâmica.
Nos outros podíamos observar fluidez nas linhas, generosos raios a servir de transição na orientação das superfícies, elegância e dinamismo.
Le Corbusier parece ter desenhado uma das suas máquinas de habitar, mas com rodas em vez de fundações e pilares.
Compare-se até o posterior Carocha com este.

Por outro lado, graças aos painéis verticais e altura generosa, dizem que é bastante espaçoso para os 3 ocupantes.
Não deixa de ser curioso este resultado básico e simplista, quando o homem possuía uma paixão enorme pelos belos e intrigantes Voisin, até sendo o dono de um.

[JRodrigues]

http://www.automobilemag.com/news/mc...-new-supercar/

Qual o truque que trará na manga?

[topspeedPT]

McLaren F1 Designer Teases New Coupe, Looks Promising Already

The two-seater coupe will be sold under the IGM brand and aims to offer some of the most advanced aero ever seen on a road car.


Gordon Murray, the man responsible for the creations like the McLaren F1 and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, is starting his own car company from the ground up. The revived IGM nameplate – which first made its debut on the Murray-designed "T.1" IGM Ford Special in the late 1960s – will be the marque moving forward for the new vehicle.

The coupe will reportedly be inspired by the same engineering principles that drove to the development of the McLaren F1: light weight and driving pleasure. The sports car will be built for contemporar driving conditions, and will incorporate some of the "most advanced aerodynamics" ever on a road car, says the company in a release. The body will be built using a new version of Gordon Murray Design’s iStream Superlight production process.

The iStream Superlight process uses high-strength aluminum instead of steel or carbon fiber found on previous iterations of development. The iStream is said to be 50 percent lighter than most modern vehicle chassis’, but even more rigid and durable. The iStream process was first previewed on Murray’s own T25 city car, and the Yamaha Sports Ride concept that debuted just a few years ago.

"The new manufacturing business significantly expands the capabilities of our group of companies,” said Murray. "With our first new car, we will demonstrate a return to the design and engineering principles that have made the McLaren F1 such an icon."

[amalgamut]

Se vier com lugar central (e toda a associação que isso vai trazer), o pessoal até vai ter orgasmos. Assim como as vendas.

[crash]

Será bem mais modesto do que se imagina.
150 cv e deverá ser muito levezinho, segundo a Autocar.
Basicamente o sr. Murray está à procura dum sucessor para o seu Smart Roadster.
E acho muito bem...

Basicamente, parece ser o recuperar do concept que fez para a Yamaha

[amalgamut]

Bah...

[JN1984]

[marelo]

Será bem mais modesto do que se imagina.
150 cv e deverá ser muito levezinho, segundo a Autocar.
Basicamente o sr. Murray está à procura dum sucessor para o seu Smart Roadster.
E acho muito bem...

Basicamente, parece ser o recuperar do concept que fez para a Yamaha

Adoro este conceito, pequenos carros, leves, acessíveis e divertidos de conduzir. Enfim, coisas que hipoteticamente estejam ao alcance do meu bolso

[JN1984]

Adoro este conceito, pequenos carros, leves, acessíveis e divertidos de conduzir. Enfim, coisas que hipoteticamente estejam ao alcance do meu bolso

Como o novo Alpine?

[RespectRequired]

McLaren F1 Designer Teases New Coupe, Looks Promising Already

Este desenho não aparenta ser nada modesto. Tem muitas linhas do novo Project One.

[JRodrigues]

Mais novidades..

[JRodrigues]

O sucessor espiritual do McLaren F1 - 980 kg / V12 atmosférico (Cosworth) / 650cv / 3 lugares (condutor posição central) / caixa manual

• Designed to the same exacting engineering standards as the driver-focused McLaren F1; improves upon its iconic predecessor in every way
• Mid-engine and rear-wheel-drive layout; famed central driving position and H-pattern gearbox all key to a matchless experience behind the wheel
• All-new V12 to be the highest-revving engine ever used in a production car; produces unrivalled power-to-weight
• ‘Fan car’ technology delivers the most advanced aerodynamics yet seen on a road car
• Unique carbon fibre tub and a focus on minimising the weight of every component underpin ‘lightweighting’ strategy – overall weight is just 980kg
• New model will set new standards for supercar packaging, providing driver and two passengers with exceptional comfort, safety, practicality and luggage space
• Only 100 exclusive models to be produced costing in excess of £2m (before taxes); deliveries from early 2022.

Gordon Murray Automotive, sister-business of visionary vehicle design and engineering company Gordon Murray Design, has announced details of its first vehicle – the T.50 supercar. Conceived as the spiritual successor to the Murray-devised McLaren F1, the T.50 will be the purest, lightest, most driver-focused supercar ever built.
The development of T.50 is at an advanced stage, with full production and customer deliveries set to commence in early 2022. Just 100 owners of the T.50 will experience Murray’s vision – a supercar inspired by his 50 years at the pinnacle of Formula One and automotive industry engineering and design.
Professor Gordon Murray CBE, Chairman of Gordon Murray Group, said: “An unflinching dedication to lightweighting, highly-advanced active aerodynamics and world-leading standards of advanced engineering will ensure the T.50 rewrites the supercar rulebook. Our experienced team is applying the same uncompromising approach to design and engineering that shaped every facet of the F1, and they are able to deliver substantial improvements over that car in every meaningful way.”
The engineering planning, plus all interior and exterior styling of the new vehicle has been carried out by Gordon Murray Design. It will be manufactured in the UK by Gordon Murray Automotive – a new company first announced in late 2017 at the One Formula exhibition. The event celebrated 50 years of Murray’s career in motorsport and automotive design and engineering, plus it previewed plans to build a limited-run supercar – the T.50. Every race or road car penned by Murray so far has featured a ‘T’ designation; and the T.50 will be the 50th in a highly illustrious line.
The T.50 breaks from performance-car convention, just as the F1 did in 1992. It weighs significantly less than any other current supercar. It has the most advanced aerodynamics of any road car, and it relies on design and engineering excellence to deliver the purest, most driver-focused performance and dynamics of any road car since the F1.
It will be powered by a compact and light, naturally-aspirated, all-new V12 engine. The unit will be capable of an extraordinary 12,100rpm – unparalleled in a V12 road car – and 650hp to deliver unmatched power-to-weight. However, Murray says: “I have absolutely no interest in chasing records for top speed or acceleration. Our focus is instead on delivering the purest, most rewarding driving experience of any supercar ever built – but, rest assured, it will be quick.”
The T.50 adopts the same, iconic three-seat format that Murray pioneered for the F1, with the driver benefitting from a central ‘jet-fighter-style’ driving position. The new car builds on the F1’s highly-advanced aerodynamics, taking Murray’s ground-effect innovations to an all-new level with intelligent management of underbody airflow coupled with a 400mm fan at the rear. The fan actively controls underbody airflow – a feature Murray famously premiered on the Brabham BT46B Formula One ‘Fan Car’. This approach allows the upper surfaces of the car to retain purity and beauty, eschewing the exaggerated scoops and spoilers familiar in the segment and equipping the T.50 with the most advanced aerodynamics of any road car.
All engineering, design and styling of the T.50 is by Gordon Murray Design and the car will be manufactured by Gordon Murray Automotive at a new, purpose-built facility in Surrey, UK. Furthermore, all major components will be bespoke and UK-sourced, including the powertrain, body and chassis. This will be a true British supercar.
The T.50, by Gordon Murray Automotive will be priced in excess of £2 million before taxes.
T.50 IN DETAIL
Setting new standards in lightweighting, the T.50 supercar weighs significantly less than any existing supercar
“Automotive enthusiasts and road-test editors have discussed the concept of ‘peak supercar’ for some time,” says Murray. “The reality of chasing top speeds only adds weight, notably through ever-more powerful engines, which increase the requirement for larger, heavier ancillaries. We are taking a very different approach.”
Ingrained in the approach of the Gordon Murray Automotive product development strategy is a fastidious commitment to minimise weight – in every component. “This is the key to achieving enhanced performance and dynamics, and refocusing the supercar on the driver and the thrill of driving. We’re not interested in simply chasing numbers, and never will be,” asserts Murray.
Gordon Murray Automotive will produce the world’s lightest, most driver-focused supercar through sophisticated use of advanced carbon fibre engineering and this fanatical dedication to purging the vehicle of every unproductive gram.
The T.50 supercar will weigh just 980kg – around a third lighter than the average supercar – making it, by far, the lightest supercar ever.
With a clear driver-focus, the external proportions are highly compact (smaller than the footprint of a Porsche 911 at just 4,380mm long and 1,850mm wide) to optimise handling, while the interior is nonetheless spacious and comfortable for three, with ample dedicated space for luggage.
The most advanced aerodynamics of any road car
In rewriting the supercar rulebook, Gordon Murray Automotive set out to equip the T.50 supercar with the most advanced aerodynamics of any road car. The new model will feature intelligent under-body active aerodynamics, which employs continuous, dynamic and interactive underbody ground-effect systems to optimise the driving experience.
Uniquely, the supercar will feature a 400mm ground-effect fan, similar to that on Murray’s famous Brabham BT46B Formula One ‘Fan Car’. The Gordon Murray Automotive team has established a new technical partnership with a Formula One team, which will make its rolling-road wind tunnel available to develop the aerodynamics of the T.50.
With all of the car’s intelligent aerodynamic sophistication housed beneath the car, the upper surfaces are free from unsightly wings, outlets, vents and bulges, safeguarding the purity and beauty of the exterior design. The sense of drama, even when stationary, is amplified by the striking dihedral doors that hark back to the F1 – where they first appeared on a supercar.
An engineering work of art with bespoke powertrain and running gear
Through exquisite engineering, every part of the T.50 is refined to create the purest, most focused supercar ever made – “We expect this to be the last, and the greatest, ‘analogue’ supercar ever built,” says Murray.
The T.50 features a bespoke, mid-mounted, all-new V12 engine that has been designed, developed and built exclusively for Gordon Murray Automotive by Cosworth Powertrain.
The V12 3.9-litre ‘Cosworth Gordon Murray Automotive’ engine will rev to an unparalleled 12,100rpm and develops 650hp and 450Nm torque. Paired with the car’s extraordinary lightness (980kg), it achieves a power-to-weight of 663hp/ton exceeding that of any other naturally-aspirated sports car designed for the road.
The V12 Cosworth GMA engine delivers more power from four litres than the F1 produced with 6.1 litres in 1992, an achievement aided by the inclusion of roof-fed ram-air induction, which increases horsepower to around 700hp.
Cosworth Managing Director, Powertrain, Bruce Wood, said: “We are tremendously excited to be part of the T.50 supercar project, and to have the opportunity to work alongside Gordon Murray Automotive. It is a real privilege to play such a key role in the T.50 with an all-new V12 3.9-litre engine, designed, developed, manufactured and assembled by Cosworth’s industry-leading powertrain division.
“Developing an engine that delivers superlative performance, while meeting stringent emissions targets, is a challenge that demonstrates Cosworth’s unique capabilities. To be so intrinsically aligned with a supercar that puts engine performance, response and light weighting at the very heart of the driving experience is the ultimate accolade and underscores Cosworth’s reputation and capabilities as a leading OEM tier one powertrain partner.”
The Gordon Murray Automotive team was focused on producing the purest driving experience so rejected the use of turbos or electrified powertrain assistance, instead applying attention to engine response.
Murray adds: “By working with the team at Cosworth Powertrain we have created the greatest naturally-aspirated engine ever designed for the road. It is the highest revving, highest power density, lightest and fastest-responding naturally-aspirated V12 ever made for a road car.”
Power is transferred to the rear wheels via a bespoke, lightweight six-speed transmission designed in conjunction with British transmission technology specialists Xtrac. In the furtherance of maximum driver reward and low weight, Murray has specified the T.50 with a newly-designed and developed ‘H-pattern’ six-speed gearbox – deliberately eschewing the twin-clutch solution favoured by many supercar makers. The brakes, also developed specially for the T.50, shed speed through a combination of lightweight monobloc alloy calipers and new technology carbon-ceramic discs.
Applying the same driver-focused engineering principles that shaped the F1
The T.50 supercar is the spiritual successor to the ground-breaking F1, and is being developed with the same unwavering focus on engineering purity and quality.
“Just as with the F1, we have no specific targets for acceleration, top speed or lap times,” explains Murray. “The F1 was fast because it was light and relatively small. The T.50 will deliver performance and dynamic characteristics simply out of reach for other supercars not least because of its low weight. Once again, I have focused on the complete driving experience, not horsepower or top speed.”
The central driving position provides a perfect ‘jet-fighter-style’ visibility, while analogue instruments and driver-centric controls are positioned to provide an even more intuitive and immersive driving experience than the acclaimed F1.
Armed with the same mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive set-up, the new T.50 supercar has perfect weight distribution and will boast incomparable vehicle dynamics and driver feel. Despite the car’s performance capabilities, it is far from a stripped-back racer. The T.50 is an ‘everyday supercar’ capable of GT-style cruising in spacious comfort with room for driver, two passengers and luggage.
“I designed the F1 as a sort of super GT car – absolutely road-focused with no plan to go racing, which is why the car set new standards for packaging and luggage space. The T.50 design has the same focus and betters the F1 in every area – ingress and egress; luggage capacity; serviceability; maintenance and suspension set-up. Also, driver-selectable engine maps ensure a driving mode to suit every situation,” concludes Murray.
-Ends-
Technical specifications

General
Body type	Two doors, three seats, Grand Tourer Supercar
Engine	Cosworth-GMA 3.9l 65° V12 N/A twin-cam
Weight	980kg
Length	4,380mm
Width	1,850mm

Motor and transmission
Type	Naturally aspirated V12
Displacement	3,980cc
Layout	Rear mid-engine
Maximum power	650hp
Maximum torque	450Nm
Valves	Four valves per cylinder
Fuel system	Petrol pfi aluminium fuel tank
Maximum engine revs	12,100rpm
Engine details / overview	Dry sump lubrication
Variable valve timing
Highest-revving road car engine (no flywheel / lightweight clutch)
Structural chassis member
Ram-air induction system
Cutting-edge materials and coatings
All light alloy (including magnesium and titanium)
Transmission	Bespoke lightweight six-speed transmission
Light alloy casing
Limited-slip differential
Lightweight clutch
Gun-drilled drive shafts

Chassis and body
Drive type	Rear-wheel drive
Chassis	Primary structure handmade sandwich-panel carbon monocoque, including semi-structural powertrain utilising high-modulus adhesive
Body	Carbon composite panels
Occupant architecture	Central driving position – three seats

Suspension and brakes
Front suspension	Rod / operated rising rate; double wishbone; anti-roll bar
Rear suspension	Rod / operated rising rate; double wishbone – inclined shear axis; powertrain mass damper
Brakes	Carbon-ceramic discs
Aluminium floating disc bells
Monobloc light alloy calipers
Low boost assist / ABS

Steering

LSPA rack and pinion

Wheels

Forged light alloy

Aerodynamics

Active ground-effect with full-width diffuser and fan-assisted underbody airflow – brake balance foil

[JRodrigues]

Vou seguindo no Youtube um canal de uma garagem onde estão a preparar um Escort MKI à medida do Gordon Murray. A atenção ao detalhe (tanto do preparador como do Murray) é incrível. Foi tudo pensado, desde o capot até ao motor Cosworth.

Para quem quiser acompanhar:
Lista de reprodução

[JRodrigues]

Entrevista ao Gordon Murray no podcast oficial da F1 :

[topspeedPT]

[amalgamut]

E.......já devem estar todos vendidos. Sejam eles quantos forem e custem o que custarem.

[topspeedPT]

[topspeedPT]

27 things Gordon Murray told us about the T.50

Everything you need to know about his McLaren F1 successor, in his own words






1 - It’s the first true successor to the McLaren F1

“I don’t think anybody truly understood the McLaren F1 formula. And I don’t think anybody’s done a McLaren F1 since the F1. Honestly, I really don’t. It’s for lots of reasons, the most logical one is that it was absolutely a clean sheet of paper car. Nothing was carry over, and one of the reasons why it became iconic is that every component is engineering art. And as light as it could be.

“If you’re Ferrari or McLaren, or even the smaller guys like Koenigsegg or Pagani, you’ve already got a powertrain, you’ve got driveshafts, you’ve got an engine, a gearbox, you’ve got hub carriers, wheel bearings, wishbones, an air-con system. If you want to do a new car and you want it to be commercially successful, you’re going to use all that stuff.

“OK, the Aston Martin Valkyrie is bespoke, but its targets are so totally opposite. The Valkyrie is designed to beat a F1 car or go around the circuit quicker than anybody else. Full stop.”






2 - The McLaren Speedtail almost killed it

“We almost stopped the whole project when McLaren announced the Speedtail. I got the team together, we’d only just come up with the concept, and McLaren announced a three-seater, central driving position sports car. I told them ‘be prepared to stop because McLaren is surrounded by F1s, they have the template right in front of them, they can sit in it, drive it, measure it, scale it.’ And then when we saw it. We went ‘fine’, the project’s on again because it couldn’t be more different.”



3 - It’s an anniversary present to himself

“I suddenly realised at the end of 2016, beginning of 2017, I’d been in cars for exactly 50 years. It started as a low-key party for me and the company and some of my mates, a little exhibition and a few drinks. And then we started putting it out there and Bernie said, ‘you can have all the brands in it, there’s 15 brands’. McLaren said you can have your three world championship F1 cars and you can have all the variants of the F1. Before we knew where we were, we had 42 cars.

“So that happened in November ‘17 and that was the time I started thinking ‘nobody’s really done an F1’. So as we head towards turbos, hybridisation and then full electric at some point, why don’t we do one – it’ll probably be the last great analogue motor car.”






4 - The T50 is benchmarked against his Alpine A110

“For the F1 we benchmarked the Honda NSX because that was the best ride and handling compromise I’d ever driven at that point. Up until now, the best handling car I’d ever driven was a Lotus Evora - that’s including all the supercars - and then I bought my Alpine and it’s even better.

“So we benchmarked that, put it on the rig and measured torsional rigidity. It’s fantastic to drive - passive dampers, coil springs, double wishbone suspension and an absolute rigid focus on weight. I wish I had a manual ‘box and it’d even better.”






5 - The design is all about purity

“I’m getting a little bit sick and tired of these supercars that appear with huge holes in the side and back - the BMW i8 was the first one - and they tell you it’s all about moving air from here to there. Give me a break, really.

“I wanted to get back to something like the F1. You know it’s 30 years old when you see it, but it’s retained a certain balance, it’s proportions are good. It’s aged, but it’s aged gracefully. This time around the proportions are the same, because the architecture is identical. Actually, it’s 15mm wider for crash regs and it’s 60mm longer, but it’s still a smaller footprint than a 911 and I’ve managed to keep it clean.”



6 - The interior is pure analogue and (almost) a screen-free zone

“Everything was analogue on the F1, and this is even more so. There’s not a touchscreen in sight. On the F1 the instruments were all stainless steel, hand etched, hand painted. The rev counter needle was machined from aluminium, the hub was an aluminium machined part and glued together, and I used a stepper motor so it looked like an old rev counter and trailed just a little.

“For the T.50 I’ve found a military switch with the most delightful click and zero play. And, I mean zero play. I measured them all in the spindle. So if you want anything to do with the engine, the aerodynamics, the windscreen wipers, it’s all click, click, click. There are two screens for information, but I’ve buried them so far behind the rev counter until you switch something on, you can’t see them. And the rev counter… I’m getting a watch company to make that.”






7 - Gordon’s Cosworth V12 has nothing to do with the Valkyrie’s Cosworth V12

“Ours has nothing to do with the Valkyrie engine (pictured) whatsoever, apart from fantastic background knowledge. I went out to three people for the motor and we went with Cosworth. I’ve worked with them before, my first Grand Prix win was Cosworth, and after doing the Valkyrie they must have learned a hell of a lot. So we’ve got the next generation. It’s got a lot more titanium in it, it’s 60kg lighter than the F1’s engine.

“If you want to boast that you’ve got one horsepower per kilogram, you need a big engine, and electric motors and batteries, and suddenly you’ve got a 1,250kg car. And then you need wider tyres, and bigger brakes, and bigger driveshafts. Keeping things light is a virtuous circle.”



8 - Gordon originally wanted a 3.3-litre V12

“Originally I wanted a 3.3-litre V12, but to be quicker than anything else out there, to be up there with the very best power-to-weight ratios, we needed it to be under 900kg. We spent a month trying to trim everything and we couldn’t do it. So then we went to 3.6, and we still couldn’t make the sums work. You have to be realistic on the weight because beyond a certain level you can’t make the wheels any lighter or the brakes any smaller. So we ended up with 3.99 - I wanted it to be under four litres for sure, and that meant the total weight had to be under 1,000kg.”



9 - The engine doesn’t just rev high, it revs fast

“It’s the lightest road V12 ever made, and it’s the highest revving. I didn’t set many targets for Cosworth - one of them was weight, the other was revs. The current record is the LCC Rocket, which is 11,500 rpm and Cosworth’s initial calculations - for four litres, conventional valve springs - said maybe 11,600 rpm. I thought ‘no, let’s go for it. 12, it has to be more than 12.’ And they’ve done it.

“I went through every F1 experience in my head, asking myself what do owners still talk about? One of them is engine pickup in neutral. I know it’s boys toys stuff, but if you put the F1 in neutral and blip the throttle, it just goes. If you didn’t know you’d say it was a one litre engine, honestly, and that picks up at 10,000 revs a second.

“I said to Cosworth, you have to be better than 10,000. In January I got an email saying, ‘I think we’ve met your targets. 28,000 revs a second’. Even as an engineer, my head can’t go there. That’s idle to 12,000rpm in under 0.3 of a second.”



10 - It has two distinct engine maps

“We’ve got an analogue switch where you’ve got map A, which is driving to work, going on a rally with mates, taking somebody to school or whatever. That runs out at what we call ‘Ferrari’ revs, so about 9,000 to 9,500 rpm, but it moves all the torque down the bottom so the thing is just drivable. You’ve still got 600bhp and 9,000rpm and everything down the bottom end.

“Then imagine you’ve got your mate in the car and go ‘you want to hear 12,200?’ Click, and it remaps the thing completely. I couldn’t do that with the F1 - it had a throttle cable so the map they did at BMW was the map you got. If you moved the throttle from here to here then the engine did ‘A’ and it would never do ‘B’. This is a whole new ballgame.”



11 - It’s going to sound spectacular

“Yes we’ve got exhaust valves on the T.50 but 90 per cent of the sound will be intake. One of the things that F1 owners talk about endlessly is the growl from the V12. But it’s nothing to do with revs, it’s to do with throttle opening, which is fantastic because when you’re cruising and you’ve only got the throttle open a bit it’s relatively quiet in the cabin. But when you’ve got a passenger and you give it any sort of throttle, it just comes alive.

“That is the intake pulse from the ram intake above your head coming back. I thinned the roof panel down on the F1 so it acts as a loud speaker, and I tuned the thickness in the same way people tune exhausts, to pick up the resonance. And we’ll do the same thing on this new car.”



12 - It nearly didn’t have a manual gearbox

“I have an admission… I was going to use a sequential manual gearbox up until last summer. And then when customers started coming in I was lobbied to make it an H pattern. I went ‘really?’, and now we’re getting compliments. We’ve only had one customer out of all the cars sold ask for a paddle-change ‘box. They’ll have to go for the track car, that gets paddles.”



13 - The gear lever should be something special, and the linkage will be exposed

“The F1’s lever is aluminium, and because it’s so short I wanted a really chunky look. It’s extremely thin wall aluminium, machined from solid on the F1. I styled it myself, it was a bit 90s.

“This time around I want a skinny look, I want to differentiate it. I’m trying to make everything look lighter, as well as be light. It’s titanium, but very spindly with a simple round knob on the top.

“With the F1 when customers had a service done and saw the mechanism of the gear change, how everything is so beautifully hand machined, they couldn’t believe it was hidden. Once you bolt it into the tunnel, you can’t see it. So this time, I’m tempted to leave it out on display so you can see everything.”



14 - The steering is assisted, but only at very low speeds

“Manual steering, it’s a pain in the arse for parking, but once you get going you just can’t beat it, however good you get with hydraulic or electric assistance. The problem with designers is that if you know you’ve got power steering, you don’t get the basic parameters correct because you know you can work around them.

“I have very strict rules for the steering geometry. If you keep it within those, it’s going to give you just beautiful feedback. No kick back. For the T.50 we’ve designed it as a manual steering, so we’re well within all those parameters. It’s a pain in the bum, but if you try hard enough you can get it right.

“Once you get above 10 or 15mph the steering changes to manual. We’ve got a new patented system which kicks in for parking and then kicks out again, but the clever thing is it’s all designed to work around what is essentially a manual steering setup.”






15 - It will be comfier than you think

“The F1 is quite soft, I bet the natural frequency is below most fast German saloon cars these days. The T.50 is also very compliant. I mean the F1 is basically a Sports GT - it’s got luggage space, air-con, it’s got a sound system. The T.50 will be the same.

“I’m hoping people are going to be using this car properly because it’s got more luggage space than the F1, a bit more cabin volume, a bit more interior stowage, better air con, better lights, better brakes, better gear change. I’ve tried to make it do everything the F1 did but slightly better.”



16 - Top speed will be lower than the F1, but who cares?

“We’ve got a lot more downforce on this, which kills the top speed, but we’re not aiming for top speed. It’s got to do 220mph+ probably, but who cares?

“With the F1 people said: ‘you must’ve known it’s going to do 240mph?’ I calculated it would do 235mph to pick the sixth gear ratio and it ending up doing 240mph, but it was always going to be a quick car. The new car is light and it’s powerful, it has a better power-to-weight ratio than a LaFerrari, it’s got a better power-to-weight ratio than a McLaren P1 GTR. So, I mean, what more do you want? If it does 0-60mph in 2.9 or 3.5 seconds, who cares?”



17 - The track version will allow some tinkering

“One of the reasons I’m doing the track car, is I hope people will leave the road cars pure. If they want to play, come and stick some more wings on the track car. I think every one of the 25 track cars we’re building will probably be different.

“I’m making them adjustable and part of the deal is you get two or three days at a track with me, and we set the car up for you. If you’re uncomfortable with the level of downforce, for example, we’ll knock some off and re-spring the car.”



18 - The T.50 could go racing

“It’s still very early, but we’re talking to the ACO and the FIA. We’re interested in their hypercar series, or whatever it would fit in. The problem I’ve got is the current weight limit is around 1200kg. So to put over 300kg worth of steel on the car is dangerous, really. So if they want us in there, we’re going to have to come to a balance of performance compromise where maybe we run less power but we run lighter. I honestly don’t know yet, but we wouldn’t be able to run the fan.”



19 - It definitely won’t have carbon wheels

“I wouldn’t touch carbon wheels with a barge pole… they’re just too dangerous. With an alloy you can give it a good old gouge, one and a half millimetres deep, and you’re fine. With a carbon wheel if you break through one layer of fibres with a scratch or a stone or a lever or anything, the failure mode is catastrophic.

“There’s no such thing as crack propagation with carbon. One minute it’s fine, then the next it’s in a thousand pieces. We could find 1.2kg on the front and 1.6kg on the rear with carbon, but it’s just not worth the risk. With forged aluminium we’ve hit our weight target.”



20 - The tyres aren’t enormous or bespoke

“The other thing about the car, because it’s 980kg and there’s not ridiculous amounts of downforce, the tyres are reasonable. They’re 235 at the front and 295 at the rear.

“We’re working very closely with Michelin, and that’s all we need. It uses standard tyres, they’re not £25k a pop, or anything silly. Also, narrower tyres means more feedback, less inertia and quicker acceleration.”






21 - When Gordon explains aero, it makes sense…

“One of the problems with any downforce, whether it’s fixed wings or ground effect, is the downforce goes up with the square of speed. So something like a Valkyrie is going to have to run hugely stiff springs to just support itself at 170mph.

“So really where you want the downforce is having fun at 70, 80, 90mph, and when you get to 150mph or so you actually want to bleed it off because you just get uncomfortable. You’re down on the bump stops. You’ve got no ride height left. And then at 200mph it’s ridiculous. Any one of the supercars suffers from the same thing.

“So to counter that we’ve got a reasonable amount of downforce, but we can enhance it or lose it with the fan. That’s the basic premise. So in auto mode, when the fan’s off, you’ve just got a conventional ground effect car like McLaren, Ferrari or Aston.

“The other auto mode is braking - we monitor car speed and deceleration and when it decides you need assistance, the wings pop up to 45 degrees. And the fan spools up to maximum speed, about 3000rpm, and valves in the diffuser open. That removes all the dirty air, the boundary line, which forces the air to follow this really aggressive diffuser. And that’s boundary load control, that’s the trick, and we double the downforce. Braking from 150mph that means you can stop 10m shorter, which is a hell of a lot.”



22 - The ‘High Downforce’ aero mode is for wet B-roads, not just track attack

“So it’s slippery, it’s wet, you want to have a bit of fun on a back road… it’s another analogue click to access the High Downforce mode. The spoiler comes up by 10 degrees, the fan spools up to about half speed and we open the diffuser valves, which gives us around 30 per cent more downforce. And that’s downforce you can make work at lower speeds - 50, 60, 70mph.”



23 - But the coolest aero mode is definitely ‘Streamline’…

“This is where it gets fun. Imagine you’ve got a long straight, you’re doing 90, 100, 120mph wherever you happen to be, and you want the car settled down. You select ‘Streamline’ mode, the spoilers go to minus 10 degrees, which reduces the base suction behind the car. The fan goes up to absolutely maximum speed, but we leave the diffuser valves shut.

“Instead of taking air from underneath the diffuser, the fan takes all the air from the flanks so in plan we have a long-tailed car. On top of that, because the fan has so much air going through it, we fill the trailing wake with the output from the fan, creating this virtual long tail - we effectively add a metre on to the back of the car.

“That reduces overall drag by 10 per cent so the whole car settles down, you get wheel travel back, the car feels steadier, you get better fuel consumption, it’s quieter and calmer. If you were driving to the South of France, you’d probably leave it in Streamline the whole way.”



24 -… actually, no, it’s ‘Vmax Boost’

“When you’re going really quickly and you want to get another little whoosh, you click the Vmax Boost mode and we switch around 30bhp from the integrated starter generator so it feeds straight back into the crankshaft, leaving the fan to run off the normal battery for a couple of minutes. It’s not hybridisation, it’s completely different.

“The thing I loved in the F1 was coming onto a straight at about 70mph in third. You could get to 200mph really quickly, then you trail the throttle at 200mph and bang it back again and it still gives you a big kick in the back. People loved that, I wanted to do something similar.”



25 - OK, final answer, it’s the show-off ‘Test’ mode

“Because the F1 was the first car with active aero, I had a test mode. So when you stopped at the lights or had your mates around you could go into test mode and the various bits popped up and back. With this test mode, we open the valves, it fires the fan up to absolutely maximum speed and the flaps pops up to 45 degrees. It’s theatre.”



26 - The T.50’s timeline looks like this

“The first gearbox arrives next month, and the first engine arrives in April. So we build up our first prototype - we’re calling it George - around May, June. We’ll be running in June, which means we’ll be running full prototypes around September. I have literally just signed off the production tooling for the first bit of the monocoques in fact. We’re targeting first deliveries at the start of 2022.”



27 - It’s nearly sold out… but not quite

“We started the project in February 2018, it really picked up momentum last summer. Then we went on sale very, very quietly and the first big chunk of cars sold on the spec alone, exactly like the F1.

“We’re making just a hundred road cars and 25 track cars. We’ve done it in three thirds if you like. We’re in the final third already so now it’s process time. I like to meet everybody, or at the very least have a few conversations on the phone if they can’t get here.

“We’re in a position now where we’ve got much more interest in the remaining cars than we’ve got cars and it’s about processing the people, how quickly we can see them. I don’t have a sales team, it’s just me and Pam, my PA.”

[TILT]

Sou fã do Gordon Murray e acho absolutamente genial este carro. Engenharia pura. Um carro feito por quem gosta de carros para quem gosta de carros.

[VSilva]

"Espetacularidades" à parte, estou muito curioso em ver como vai abrir a porta, que vai até meio do guarda-lamas dianteiro.

[Fabulous]

Motor Cosworth