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All posts in “future”

SCG 007 hypercar to swap twin-turbo V6 for twin-turbo V8

Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus began the long tease to its SCG 007 LMP1 hypercar with a set of sketches in June 2018 that clearly incorporated cues from the SCG 003. Refining that original sketch for 18 months produced a longer, smoother design with pontoon-like front fenders and a rear wing seamlessly integrated into a more tapered rear end. The first powertrain mentioned for the 007 was a twin-turbo V6 with 800 horsepower and a 200-hp hybrid component. In the WEC’s Hypercar class where SCG will try to win Le Mans outright, regulations cap maximum combined output at 740 horsepower, and electric assistance can only power the front wheels above 80 miles per hour. Late last year, Jim Glickenhaus told us SCG decided to shed the hybrid portion, since “We can make max allowed HP from our ICE, and our powerplant will be lighter and less complex.” A new announcement last week means the end of the V6, too, SCG partnering with French engine developer Pipo Moteurs on a “whole new custom V8 twin-turbo engine.”

Pipo Moteurs opened for business in 1973, and has a track record of wins mainly in World Rally Championship with teams like Peugeot and Ford, and European hillclimbing with BMW. We expect the 007 to mark the first time SCG takes a V8 into top-level racing; the SCG 003 road car was powered by BMW’s 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8, but the road car housed a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 from Honda.

SCG plans to get the 007 down near the WEC’s minimum weight of 1,100 kilograms (2,425 pounds). Evo reports that the first wind tunnel tests are finished, the engineering program scheduled to continue through to summer 2020. Subsystems should enter production in August 2020, the first shakedown runs happening a month later. The math so far shows the hypercar regulations enabling laps times of three minutes and 30 second around the Circuit de la Sarthe, about 15 seconds off the best qualifying lap for the pole-sitting Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 Hybrid at Le Mans last year, 13 seconds adrift of the fastest lap set during the race by the second-place Toyota.

Next year’s a long way away, though. The hypercar class only has three entries for the moment, Toyota, SCG, and ByKolles scheduled to run after Aston Martin dropped out, and many wonder if that will be enough to keep a top-level worth running. The ACO and IMSA announced a new class to integrate the former’s LMP1 with the latter’s DPi into a new category possibly called LMDh, the first race the 2022 Rolex 24 at Daytona. Lamborghini had been examining a hypercar entry and Peugeot had committed, but Peugeot pulled out after the LMDh announcement. Being able to race internationally and run Daytona, Sebring, and Le Mans with one car is a huge lure to automakers. It’s not clear yet if the hypercar rules can be shoehorned into the new category, of if ACO will want to try.

Assuming the 007 makes it to Le Mans at some point, SCG will produce at least 20 roadgoing versions to satisfy homologation rules, priced around $2.1 million, roughly the same price as the SCG 003.

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April 27, 2020 / Comments Off

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Gordon Murray’s T.50 gets a soundcheck and a website

Gordon Murray Automotive isn’t slated to begin building the T.50 supercar until late next year, with deliveries scheduled for early 2022. Thankfully for us, the next step on the march to that goal is a website and a soundcheck of a portion of the 3.9-liter V12 which will power the three-seater coupe (watch that video here). We say “a portion” because Cosworth — the engineering firm developing the mill — put just three of the 12 cylinders on the dyno to verify emissions output and ensure the components can handle 12,100 rpm, said to be 300 rpm short of a 12,400-rpm “hard limit” redline. That figure is 1,400 rpm beyond the north wall of the 6.5-liter V12 Cosworth built to propel the Aston Martin Valkyrie. Murray told TopGear that the air pulses sucked into the ram-air intake above the cabin will result in magnificent sound. The English engineering legend tuned the thickness of the roof panel on the McLaren F1 to enhance the engine sound, and he’s done the same thing on the T.50. Based on the short snippet of the dyno run, the free-breathing V12 will excite blood and bone.

Output checks in at 650 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque, meaning ten hoses more than the 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S but 184 lb-ft less. Unlike just about every other supercar out there today, the T.50 will weigh no more than 2,161 pounds, a stunning spec that’s 1,475 pounds less than the Turbo S, 899 pounds less than the Lotus Evora 400 Lightweight, 180 pounds less than an entry-level Mazda MX-5 Miata Sport. The V12 will utilize two engine maps, one that loads up torque at the bottom of the rev range for potting about town, dropping the redline to about 9,500 rpm and horsepower to roughly 600, the other unlocking every rev and joule. A 48-volt mild hybrid system powers the 15.7-inch rear fan and active aero panels, and employs a small electric motor to add 30 ponies in certain aero configurations. Power in the 100 units of the T.50 road car is sent to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual with an exposed linkage; the 25 units of the T.50 track-only car will use paddle shifters.

The coupe serves up five aerodynamic maps, two automatic and three driver selectable. Auto mode moves the under-floor and diffuser panels and active rear spoilers automatically as needed. Braking mode — as on a Bugatti Chiron or any McLaren — stands up the rear spoilers and powers the fan to suck air from under the car, improving downforce and therefore traction. Selectable High Downforce mode is made for the track and wet roads, boosting downforce by 30% over Auto mode. Streamline goes the opposite direction, closing aero inlets to reduce drag by 10% compared to Auto mode, and it “activates the fan at high speeds to extend the trailing wake of air behind the car, in effect creating a virtual long-tail.” VMAX mode starts with Streamline and kicks in extra boost from the 48-volt system to get to about 680 hp. Murray said the T.50 tops out somewhere around 220 miles per hour.

The carbon-intense supercar has moved into wind tunnel testing in Silverstone, using the Racing Point F1 team facility. At the same time, Gordon Murray Automotive is finishing its customer experience and service center in Dunsfold, England next to the factory that will build the T.50. Have a listen to the engine and imagine what’s to come for what it’s designer calls the “last and the greatest analog supercar ever built.” We also recommend checking out TG‘s piece on the car, where Murray admits that driving dynamics have been benchmarked against the Alpine A110, power steering will only work at low speed and in parking lots, the V12 flips from idle to 12,000 rpm in 0.3 seconds, and the rear tires are just 295-section (911 Turbo S rubber is 315-section out back).

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March 28, 2020 / Comments Off

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Aston Martin confirms 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 for Valhalla

When the Aston Martin Valhalla hits the scene in 2022 (hopefully), it will be powered by an all-new 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 engine that will be fortified and electrified in a hybrid configuration that we don’t yet know much about. Interestingly, Aston Martin says the V6’s hybrid element will be tuned and sized for each specific vehicle in which it’s installed. In the Valhalla, the dry-sump engine will be mounted directly behind the passenger compartment, and its so-called ‘hot V’ design will allow for relatively compact dimensions. And compact also means lightweight — the automaker says the complete engine weighs less than 440 pounds.

Just the fact that the British automaker is investing the engineering effort to produce a new engine is significant. The company hasn’t engineered its own in-house powertrain since 1969, when Tadek Marek’s 5.3-liter V8 engine found its way under the hood of Aston Martin’s aptly named DBS V8. The new 3.0-liter V6 is codenamed TM01 in Marek’s honor. With that in mind, we expect this powerplant to serve in various Aston Martin models for a number of years.

We look forward to further details in the future, especially the all-important horsepower and torque figures. In the meantime, feel free to peruse the high-resolution image gallery above, where you’ll see intricately milled castings along with the engine undergoing dyno testing and running red hot with the lights down low.

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March 23, 2020 / Comments Off

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The Apex AP-0 is a 649-hp EV that weighs 2,645 pounds

Apex Motors sounds like a brand new name in the game, but the Hong-Kong-based company’s been around for more a few years and through a few transformations. In 2015 a maverick outfit of car designers banded together under the name Elemental to reveal the RP1, powered by 1.0-liter and 2.0-liter EcoBoost engines. By 2017, the 1,278-pound coupe could produce 2,205 pounds of downforce and was running Goodwood. By 2019, the Elemental RP1 had turned into the even-more-evolved Apex AP1, putting out 400 hp from a 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder and blitzing from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.5 seconds.

The brand new AP-0 is the follow-up. As the naming scheme suggests, it takes the top spot in the lineup ahead of the AP-1 by having battery-electric power, a single electric motor turning the rear axles with 649-hp and 427 pound-feet of torque, a 320-mile range on the WLTP cycle, and a 0-60 time of 2.3 seconds. Top speed is 190 mph.

Just as remarkable, and even more unusual for an EV, the whole package weighs 2,645 pounds. Compared to a McLaren 720S, the AP-0 is 4.5 inches shorter but 3.4 inches wider, and while the Apex gives up 61 hp and 131 lb-ft to the Englishman, the AP-0 weighs almost 500 pounds less than the 720S. Compared to performance EVs, the Apex weighs about 1,380 pounds less than a Tesla Model 3 Performance, 1,700 pounds less than a Rimac Concept 2, and almost 2,500 pounds less than a Porsche Taycan Turbo S.

The Apex packs a floor-mounted, 90-kWh lithium-ion battery that consumes 1,213 pounds of its curb weight. When plugged into the right CCS charger, the pack can refill 80% of its charge in 15 minutes; on a standard Type 2 charger, filling up from empty takes eight hours.

The chassis and bodywork is entirely carbon fiber, a central carbon tub and modular spaceframes laid on a rigid carbon spine connect the front to the rear. Outside, the Le Mans-like fin houses a retractable LIDAR system up front and a cross-shaped taillight in back. Built as a road-legal racer for gearheads and sitting just 3.7 inches off the ground, there’s an adjustable pushrod suspension with automatic ride-height adjustment, 14-inch carbon ceramic rotors with six-piston calipers in front and four-piston in the rear, and a pair of 19-inch center-lock wheels up front paired with 20-inchers in back.

Behind gullwing doors, the carbon, aluminum, and leather interior makes every occupant feel like a racer with a single-seater-style, reclined and feet-up seating position. Three displays for the driver sit atop the instrument panel behind a square steering wheel. To help drivers make the most of track days, Apex says the AP-0 can “gamify the way drivers can learn new racetracks and deliver the ultimate immersive racing experience” through augmented reality projection. The software-based “instructor” can be improved through over-the-air updates. To ensure the instructor knows what it’s talking about, Apex said it wants to build an FIA-approved race track, followed by a racing academy, around its Hong Kong HQ.

The ambitions only begin there. When off the track, that LIDAR unit is intended to provide Level 3 autonomous capability at launch, with the company saying Level 4 potential is already built in. More handily, the AP-0 will come with automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and lane keep assist. That’s all down the way, though, the AP-0 not scheduled to enter production until the latter half of 2022, costing around $195,000 for U.S. buyers. If all goes well from here to there, Apex plans to build up to 500 units per year in Britain, what it calls its second home, on the way to introducing a wider lineup of offerings.

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March 14, 2020 / Comments Off

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Cadillac Blackwing gets ticket to Italy, to go to work in a supercar

Some necessary cost-cutting at Cadillac led to switching the new CT4, CT5, and Escalade to older platforms. The revised architecture plan meant Cadillac’s newest top-tier products couldn’t fit Cadillac’s newest top-tier engine, the 4.2-liter twin-turbo DOHC V8 known as Blackwing. That engine would serve limited duty at full power in the now-dead CT6-V, and at reduced output in the CT6 Platinum V8 trim before ending its bright, brief domestic life. But the story isn’t over, the rebirth of Blackwing coming from a most surprising locale: Turin, Italy.

Before the canceled Geneva Motor Show, Hagerty spoke to Paolo Garella, CEO of Manifattura Automobili Torino; that’s the company better known as MAT, makers of the New Stratos and contract engineering house for boutique screamers like the Aspark Owl electric hypercar, Apollo Intensa Emozione, and SCG003C. Garella told the outlet, “We have an agreement with General Motors” for a supply of Blackwings, which would be developed and built at the General Motors Propulsion Engineering Center (PEC) in Turin. Since 2005, the PEC has been used to develop GM’s global diesel engines and electronics. MAT’s plan is to put the V8 into a new limited-run car MAT is creating from its own design.

Then another surprising turn: Belgium-based global auto supplier Punch Group bought the PEC, with plans to work with GM on projects in progress until at least the end of 2021. Nothing changes as far as MAT is concerned, except perhaps a chance for an even closer collaboration with Punch Turin.

The V8 once hand-built at the Performance Engine Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky, made 550 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque in its most powerful form. Of course we’re looking forward to the Blackwing-powered vehicle MAT comes up with; the prospect of a V8-powered supercar with a modern mill is the best kind of news. Just as much, though, we’re looking forward to what’s possible with the Blackwing in a high-performance application freed of OEM constraints. The 4.2-liter LTA Blackwing shares its architecture with the 5.5-liter LT7 V8 in the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R racer and headed for the Corvette Z06, the big differences being turbos mounted between the cylinder banks on the Blackwing, whereas the boosters hang outside the banks on the LT7, and the Chevy engine uses a flat-plane crank.

It’s a moonshot, but if the Blackwing proves its might and popularity over time, and sees continuous development, perhaps the engine could one day be recalled to service with a different car at its original brand home.

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March 9, 2020 / Comments Off

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Maserati MC20 appears in artsy, blurry teaser

Maserati said it’s entering a new era. Judging by these teaser shots of the a camouflaged MC20 prototype supercar, it’s clear Maserati plans to strut its way into that new era con il coraggio and braggadocio. Maserati took its future flagship to the Piazza degli Affari in Milan, for a set of mostly blurry photos in front of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s sculpture called “L.O.V.E.” Maserati called the artwork “a symbol of Italian audacity in international contemporary art,” for the sake of clarity, we’ll call it a giant marble bird flipped at anyone who might ask, “You talkin’ to me?”

The MC20 is thought to be built around the carbon chassis laid up for the 4C, stretched lengthwise and across to create an overall larger package. We can’t tell much about the real masterpiece in the photos, but it is clear the MC20 prototype has shed its gawky bodywork borrowed from the Alfa Romeo 4C to slip into something more comfortable. A very Maserati nose leads with a large grille and sits prominently ahead of the other bodywork. Behind that, an Italianate supercar form combines plenty of intakes, deep side skirts, a seamless rake to the backlight, and a short rear overhang.

In back, powertrains developed at Maserati and for Maserati should make all sorts of lusty noises. The top powertrain is expected to be a hybrid V6 with three electric motors and around 600 horsepower, there’s hearsay about an all-electric model, and rumors of a turbocharged V8 won’t die. The only gearbox mentioned so far is an eight-speed dual-clutch shooting power to the rear wheels. Autoevolution believes the hybrid engine will translate into a sprint to 62 miles per hour in around two seconds and a top speed beyond 186 miles per hour, just the kind of giddy-up one would expect from a challenger aimed at the Lamborghini Huracán Evo. If anything, 600 hp sounds conservative seeing as the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA gets 540 hp from its 2.9-liter turbocharged V6 without electric help. The MC20 will take on Lamborghini’s championship-winning finest on the track, too, the MC20 — for Maserati Corse 2020 — surely headed for an FIA entry in track-only form.

For now, the MC20 continues its driving program to prepare for its debut in May. The coupe version should come first, going on sale in Europe late this year and in the U.S. sometime next year, followed by a convertible variant.

March 7, 2020 / Comments Off

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Koenigsegg bringing a new hybrid 2+2 to Geneva?

Koenigsegg hosted its global dealer network for a shindig at its Angelholm, Sweden, headquarters last month. During the event, the hypercar maker tweeted an image of employees standing next to five Koenigsegg models under black sheets. It was thought these represented the cars Koenigsegg will bring to next month’s Geneva Motor Show. At least one of those five is rumored to be the Jesko-based Mission 500 concept, the rocket that CEO Christian Koenigsegg will use to challenge the top speed record. The Supercar Blog credits sources for information on another of the five, it supposedly being a hybrid 2+2 called the KG12.

If the rumors are close to true, the extra two seats — and we use the words “seats” generously — wouldn’t be the only break with Koenigsegg tradition. TSB‘s insider says the heart of the KG12’s hybrid powerplant will be a 2.0-liter, three-cylinder engine engineered with the carmaker’s camless FreeValve system. Combined with an electric motor or motors, total output is thought to be around 1,500 horsepower. If such a thing shows up at Geneva, predicted to be on display under a glass engine cover, it will be in the running for the wildest and most innovative propulsion system at the show.

Design standards like the wraparound windshield and dihedral synchro-helix doors are expected to make the cut, but those doors might be longer than usual so as to provide better access to whatever fits in the back seat. TSB writes that the KG12 will cost around €1.4 million ($1.5 million U.S.), with deliveries to begin in 2022 and production limited to 300 units.

One big question is whether the KG12 is, or has anything to do with, the affordable Koenigsegg supercar that’s been on simmer in the background for a few years. A year ago, reports said the car would come to this year’s Geneva show. However, the least expensive Koenigsegg has been imagined with the firm’s naturally-aspirated V8 paired with hybrid assistance, getting something like 1,050 hp, and a price tag of anywhere from €600,000 to €800,000 ($650,000-$850,000). We’ll have an answer in two weeks.

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February 18, 2020 / Comments Off

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Czinger preparing 21C hybrid hypercar for Geneva debut

Kevin Czinger — with a silent C — has spent the past 11 years that we know of trying out various automotive concepts in Southern California. The Yale Law School graduate who built hot rods as a youth in Cleveland co-founded Coda Automotive in 2009, which tried to get off the ground with a re-engineered Chinese sedan converted to an all-electric powertrain. Coda went under in 2013. In 2014. The next year, Czinger started Divergent 3d, which revealed the Blade supercar in 2015. Czinger’s point with the Blade was to convert automakers to novel production techniques, the Blade’s chassis and body created with 3D-printed aluminum alloy. In 2019, Czinger formed an eponymous company taking the Blade as the inspiration for the Czinger 21C hybrid hypercar. In a previous interview with Road and Track, which deserves a read, Czinger said, “We’re looking to combine computing power, science, and additive manufacturing into one system.”

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The 21C could be that blend, having clearly come a long way from the Blade. We don’t know much about the coupe, Czinger preferring to wait for details until its debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month. The moody reveal video shows off the suite of hypercar cues like diminutive overhangs, the fulsome fenders, angry LED headlights, plenty of vents, center-lock wheels twirling around giant carbon ceramic rotors and beefy calipers, a serious wing hanging off the back, and what looks like a top-mount dual exhaust. Tandem seating — passenger behind driver — carries over from the Blade, and the copious exposed carbon fiber bodywork hides plenty of 3D-printed components. The brace connecting the carbon fiber steering column housing to the instrument panel, for instance, looks a prime culprit for additive manufacturing. The full-width roller coaster brake light ensures everyone behind the 21C will remember what they’ve just seen.

The powertrain is an unknown beyond the descriptive that it’s a “strong hybrid” developed in-house to deliver “dominating performance.” Strong would be the correct word if the video can be trusted; at the 0:28 mark, the digital rev counter shows a redline beyond 10,000 rpm. We’ll know more come Geneva.

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February 14, 2020 / Comments Off

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Lister Storm II hypercar teased, with a switch from V12 to electric

Two years ago, the revamped Lister Motor Company dished out sketches for a Storm II hypercar. The name was a nod to the 1993 Le Mans race car and road derivative created by another incarnation of Lister in 1993, which housed a Jaguar XJR-9-derived 7.0-liter V12 amidships producing 546 horsepower. The tentative plan in 2018 was for the Storm II to get a Jaguar-derived 7.8-liter V12 spooling up something like 1,000 horsepower and pointing its snout at the likes of McLaren, Pagani, and Koenigsegg. That was all so two years ago, though. Lister CEO Lawrence Whittaker recently tweeted another image of the Storm II, this time a profile drawing, with the captions, “A glimpse into the future of Lister … the Storm II,” and, “Lister EV super car research.” The EV part is what matters here, Whittaker apparently changing tack on the powertrain and the competitive set.

The side shot offers a look at the vanishing point rear end, a look calling to mind either a truncated McLaren Speedtail, or Speed Racer’s Mach 5 with the fender fins combined into a single shark fin down the centerline. Our best attempts to enhance and enlarge make it seem there’s a deployable spoiler behind the shark fin. The backside’s other big prominent feature is a deep diffuser. In the photo, the carbon fiber floor extends beyond the trailing edge of the bodywork, almost never seen on a car outside of a race track, and even then that car is most likely on a trailer. That makes symmetry, the carbon fiber front splitter jutting beyond the yellow-rimmed intake at the other end.

Original specs were for the V12-powered Storm II to hit 60 miles per hour in under 3 seconds, on its way to a top speed beyond 250 miles per hour, all for a price starting at £2 million ($2.6M U.S.). Lister’s hometown competition, the Lotus Evija, has restrained its top speed references to something “beyond 200 mph,” and the just-announced Apex “hyper-EV” runs out at 174 mph. The Rimac C-Two and Pininfarina Battista, though, have proved Lister’s trio of targets achievable with far less aggressive looks. We won’t be surprised if Lister has a terminal velocity in mind well beyond the Rimac’s 258 mph.

We hope Lister can show us something more than another rendering come 2022. For now, the company seems busy building the F-Type-based LFT and F-Pace-based LCP, various versions of the continuation Lister Knobbly race cars, and selling classic and performance cars out of its new dealership in Blackburn, England.

February 14, 2020 / Comments Off

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This sounds like the flat-plane crank V8 Chevy Corvette

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January 21, 2020 / Comments Off

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Ferrari Roma platform to underpin Purosangue SUV, as product roadmap takes shape

To create the Roma, Ferrari started with the platform used for the Portofino convertible. Engineers strengthened and lightened the architecture and made it modular, so that it will support the company’s range of front-engined vehicles included in CEO Louis Camilleri’s near-term product roadmap of 15 new vehicles over the next three years. Auto Express reports one of those products will be the Purosangue SUV – or FUV, Ferrari Utility Vehicle if you heed the carmaker’s marketers – expected to debut in 2021 before going on sale in 2022 or 2023. The breadth of possibility built into the platform means it can swallow Ferrari’s range of V8 and V12 engines, as well as the coming V6, plus plug-in hybrid equipment and all-wheel drive mechanicals.

Although observers figure a V12 Purosangue will grace the lineup eventually, models with smaller engines braced with hybrid assistance are expected first. The V12, in fact, is unlikely to get a hybrid form if Ferrari can help it, the brand’s marketing manager saying, “To be honest, electrifying a V12 means creating, very probably, a heavy and big car. So electrification ideally should be coupled with smaller engines.” Absent Ferrari’s righteous 6.5-liter V12, Ferrari’s head of technology says there will be other ways the vehicle codenamed “175” distinguishes itself from V8-powered super-SUV competition, but wouldn’t clarify what those ways are.

We’ll guess the people-hauler slots into the company’s GT vehicle classification alongside the GTC4Lusso, Portofino, and Roma. In the next decade, the GT category grows with a new supercar that marks “the return of an elegant model” cued off classic, mid-20th-century Ferrari Gran Turismos, as well as a battery-electric car after 2025. The Sport Range includes the 812Superfast and 812 GTS, 488 and 488 Pista, and SF90 Stradale. The Icona line kicked off with the Monza SP1 and SP2, and will expand with “timeless design[s] of iconic Ferraris reinterpreted with innovative materials and state of the art technologies.” One-offs like the F12 TRS, SP12 EC and SP38 form the Special Series. The carmaker’s entire range will be split across two modular platforms, one for front-engined placement, one mid-engined.

At the pointy end of the product roadmap, it’s thought Ferrari’s already begun development of its LaFerrari successor. Said to use a naturally-aspirated V12 without electric help, it will produce less output than found in the 986-horsepower, hybrid-V8-powered SF90, while at the same time Ferrari says the new model will be faster than the hybrid-V12-powered LaFerrari. Due sometime after 2022, the new small-run screamer will focus on lightness, controllability and aerodynamics.

December 26, 2019 / Comments Off

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New C8 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 engine rumor posits 900 horsepower

Let’s just go ahead and plan to feast on C8 Chevrolet Corvette rumors for the next few years. Two new reports have come out that drop new info on the ZR1 and gobs of details about what could turn into multiple hybrid Corvette models. Starting with Motor Trend, the magazine cites “a senior official at GM” for confirmation that the coming ZR1 will produce “an even 900 hp” from a performance-oriented hybrid powertrain. Displacement of the gasoline engine component remains a mystery. MT writes that the “ZR1 will build on the Z06’s all-new engine” with a block anywhere from 4.2 to 5.5 liters of displacement, but the potential vibration issues make the larger end of that range unlikely if the rumored flat-plane crank is involved.

Motor Trend sticks by sister publication Automobile‘s story that the Z06 will use an 800-hp twin-turbo engine based on the naturally aspirated 5.5-liter V8 in the C8.R. Countering that, Muscle Cars & Trucks believes the Z06 will go down to around 600 hp and use a naturally aspirated V8, with only the ZR1 getting the two turbos.

MT didn’t get any specs on the ZR1’s hybrid component, but Bozi Tatarevic happened upon internal GM documents that potentially fill in a swath of the picture. In a lengthy report for Jalopnik, Tatarevic suspects there could be “both a hybrid ZR1 and a hybrid base model Corvette.” The documents, along with cutaway models of the mid-engine sports car, show how the front area could house a single electric motor driven by a 1.94-kWh battery pack and power electronics packaged in the center tunnel. The e-motor, which is listed as running through an open differential, would produce about 114 peak horsepower and more than 880 lb-ft of torque after an 8:1 reduction gear. Being oriented toward performance, a pawl clutch would disconnect the motor and gear reduction from the front axle for better fuel economy. Said to be offered in coupe and convertible forms, the base Stingray with the LT2 V8 and hybrid system would throw something in the “mid-to-high 500 HP range if not more.”

Paperwork appears to show the motor would be mounted low enough in front for the Corvette to retain its frunk. In order to fit the shaft through the space currently occupied by the front dampers, the hybrid system will require split yoke dampers akin to those used on AWD versions of the Tesla Model 3. It’s possible magnetic dampers will be standard fit, as well as an electronic limited-slip differential running through a 3.797 final drive. Wheel sizes for what we’ll figure is the ZR1 would increase an inch front and back to 20 and 21 inches, respectively, with respective tire sizes of 275/30 and 345/25. According to codes in the document, carbon-ceramic brakes would be standard.

We only have a few more years to figure out where all these pieces go, so while you wait, check out Tatarevic’s in-depth report for cutaway images and loads more details on issues like weight balance and benchmarking against the Acura NSX.

November 27, 2019 / Comments Off

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New Porsche hypercar could use F1-spec hybrid powertrain

Not long after the Porsche 918 Spyder went out of production in 2015, the automaker began internal debate about what kind of powertrain it would use in the follow-up. Four years later, the debate is ongoing. In 2017, Porsche voiced its desire to move its hypercar game on with a battery-electric powertrain, beyond the hybrid 918. The problem — echoed by McLaren — was that battery technology wouldn’t make such a BEV possible until at least the middle of the 2020s. In 2019, the same issues remain, with solid-state battery tech not progressing as quickly as hoped. Autocar reports that Porsche could switch to Plan B in the meantime, that being an as-yet-unused 1.6-liter V6 hybrid engine Porsche Motorsport developed in order to return to Formula One as an engine supplier.

Porsche has been mentioned as a potential new F1 entrant for years, but uncertainty at the Volkswagen Group and in the F1 rulebook compelled the German sports car maker to walk away from the opportunity, opting for Formula E instead. However, after leaving LMP1, 40 Porsche engineers from the Le Mans effort began working on a six-cylinder version of the 2.0-liter four-cylinder hybrid from the 919 Hybrid. That work turned into the creation of a 1.6-liter V6 hybrid along the lines of an F1 engine but without “the complex and expensive” MGU-H unit that converts exhaust heat into electrical energy. Motorsport chief Fritz Enzinger says that engine is still in development, having got as far as running on a test bench for “analysis with regard to series production relevance.”

There’s no info on the hybrid component yet, but Stefan Weckbach, who oversees Porsche’s EV projects, said the company could turn to its partnership with Rimac for that aspect.

Even though Porsche has a motor ready, the board hasn’t decided on whether to go electric or hybrid, and sports car boss Frank-Steffen Walliser says he doesn’t care what kind of powertrain goes into the car as long as it can tick off a 6:30 lap time at the Nürburgring. So according to Autocar, what kind of bodywork might surround this powertain “remains at conceptual stage, with an introduction unlikely before 2023 at the earliest.” We don’t think the 917 Concept from 2014 would be a bad place to start. If Porsche goes with the 1.6-liter hybrid, though, the market would get a clearer competitor to the Mercedes-AMG One, and the platform could provide entries to the ACO’s new so-called Hypercar class in the World Endurance Championship and to IMSA’s Daytona Prototype class.

November 26, 2019 / Comments Off

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BMW M boss gets closer to confirming a standalone M flagship

We’re leaning ever closer to official confirmation of a standalone screamer from BMW’s M division. Auto Express spoke to brand boss Markus Flasch during the L.A. Auto Show, the German saying, “I can think of doing standalone M-cars – I like the idea, and I think we’re going to do something in this direction.” Under further questioning, specifically about whether M might have an SUV in mind for the putative offering, Flasch replied, “I don’t know. … Well I do know, but I’m not saying yet!” Other sources inside the Munich automaker apparently told Auto Express “a new car could be seen by 2021″ and bring some sort of electrification with it.

This represents noteworthy movement from BMW’s position in June, when Flasch told Australian outlet Car Sales, “We are investigating M variants that may also be standalone, that don’t have a predecessor.” At the time, a company insider said everything was in “a very early stage” of examining body styles, and Flasch said qualified the push by saying a potential model may be a product of M division, as opposed to based on a BMW offering.

The 2021 dates carries significance because 2022 marks the M division’s 50th anniversary as an independent company. If M plans to debut something roadworthy and with production intent before the end of 2021, prototypes are no more than a year away. That means BMW has decided on the fundamentals and will be sorting out how to make them work together. The plug-in hybrid Vision M Next sounds like a long shot, though, even if BMW design chief Damagoj Dukec would like the 600-horsepower show car to get the nod, saying, “We have a heritage of bringing art cars and race cars together with M. I am convinced that this [Vision M Next] is the right way.” Flasch, however, explained that the halo “doesn’t necessarily have to be a mid-engined supercar,” only that “it has to stand out from the crowd.”

Closer to production reality, Flasch also said an electrified M car is “not too far away.” At the same time, he cautioned that adding electric aids is no panacea; “electrification is not rocket science, and it’s not the game changer [in] that people think it’s an easy answer to every question.”

November 21, 2019 / Comments Off

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Peugeot to contest Le Mans in 2022 with new hybrid hypercar

Peugeot is the third OEM to put its hand up for the new, so-called hypercar class in the World Endurance Championship, after Aston Martin and Toyota. The French manufacturer last competed at La Sarthe from 2007 to 2011 with its diesel-powered 908 HDi FAP, beating Audi in 2009. It quit the sport in 2012 to deal with dire financial issues, parking its brand new 908 HYbrid 4 LMP1 car (pictured) on the eve of the season opener. The announcement by parent company PSA Group put the return in 2022, giving it an even decade out of the sport before coming back with a racer that might make more waves on the street than on the track. Homologation rules require class entrants to build and sell 20 production versions of the race car, and Peugeot hasn’t built a production supercar in, well, ever.

We’re not sure how much building it’ll be doing here, either. Even though Peugeot Sport will play a key role in this effort, Sportscar365 reported in October that the French carmaker was looking at a “customer-based hypercar built by ORECA and run by Rebellion Racing.” Oreca and Rebellion are LMP-category stalwarts with OEM experience; the 47-year-old French team Oreca ran Toyota’s TS030 Hybrid in 2012 and has designed Rebellion’s cars, while the nine-year-old Swiss Rebellion team ran Toyota engines in its LMP car for the first four years of its existence. It’s possible the future Le Mans runner will campaign will be a technical partnership between the three outfits, a “semi-works effort run under the Rebellion banner.” Furthermore, the collaboration could start with Peugeot-branded engines supplied to the Rebellion R13 LMP1 car grandfathered into the series’s inaugural season that begins next summer.

As for Peugeot’s official debut, it’s not clear if the 2022 date means the first WEC race in the calendar year, or the 2022-2023 WEC season. The endurance racing calendar starts in September and overlaps calendar years. The 2019 season commenced in September, the first race in 2022 will be the fifth round of the current season. Peugeot promises more details in early 2020.

For the moment, Glickenhaus and ByKolles —run by former Formula One team boss Colin Kolles — are the other two manufacturers planning to compete at the top level in the new class in 2020. Porsche and McLaren have made noises about it but nothing’s come of it yet, and Lamborghini said in August that it’s looking closely at the regulations to gauge an entry.

Proud to announce our participation in the world’s premier endurance racing championship WEC from 2022 with a Hybrid Power Hypercar. Stay tuned, more to come at the beginning of 2020! @peugeotsport pic.twitter.com/u3KqDkKA0G

— Peugeot (@Peugeot) November 13, 2019

November 13, 2019 / Comments Off

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Gemballa issues progress report on its in-house supercar

In June this year, Gemballa owner Steffen Korbach announced the German tuner was “planning a thoroughbred super sports car with a unique, aggressive design and engine power considerably over 800 horsepower.” This would be a departure for the Baden-Württemberg company that has spent nearly 40 years fettling products produced by its Stuttgart neighbor, Porsche, just 12 miles away. Korbach said Gemballa needed investor financing to carry out the project, a call that’s seen some success. Having secured initial funds, the company’s decided to release more information as it commences the technical planning phase.

Potential customers and investors are likely to have seen initial drawings of what’s promised to be “uncompromising, radical, pure, and luxurious,” which we’ll assume are the new images we have here. There’s been quite a bit of reshaping since the last black and white image of a more compact and harder-edged mid-engined rocket. That car gave off Zenvo vibes up front and design thesis track car concept vibes in back. The new visuals loosen up with more curves stretched out over a longer body, and substantial aero work has been done up front. The B-pillar has sprouted a pair of scoops, the jutting diffuser has been tucked under tail. The rear wing arises organically out of the bodywork instead of being appended like a Time Attack appliance, and check out that multi-level and multi-part surfacing on the cross-member. Expect loads of carbon fiber.

We don’t have specs on what kind of engine will make use of the jet stream of air inhaled through those side vents, Gemballa saying for now that there’ll be an internal combustion engine with at least 800 horsepower and no hybrid assistance. Korbach again, taking a shot at electric vehicles: “We’re now concentrating on building one of the last pure sports cars, a modern classic with an outstanding appearance and performance. A pure Gemballa car needs petrol and sound. Not all new trends are cool.” It’s possible there’ll be a manual transmission option sited between the engine and wheels, part of “state-of-the-art drive and aero technology.” No matter, when combined with the lightweight body, Gemballa’s aiming for a 0-62 mile per hour time of under 2.5 seconds, and 0-124 mph in “around 6.5” seconds.

The tuner hasn’t just torn down and muscled up everything from the Cayman to the Carerra GT, it’s sorted through the internals of the Mercedes-McLaren SLR, McLaren MP4-12C, and Ferrari Enzo. All of which is to say Gemballa knows how a supercar is built. If all goes well, a prototype takes the stage early next year — we won’t be surprised at a Geneva Motor Show reveal — with production slated for 2022.

October 30, 2019 / Comments Off

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De Tomaso P72 gets a 5.0-liter Ford V8 with 700+ horsepower

All the comments the Hong Kong-based Consolidated Ideal TeamVentures (CIT) have made about resurrecting the De Tomaso brand have stressed the company’s focus on staying true to De Tomaso’s intentions and the values of his car company. The first proof of that came in CIT deciding to pay homage to the practically unknown De Tomaso P70 with the P72, instead of going for the slam dunk with a Pantera facsimile. The second proof comes in the choice of engine for the P72: Ford’s 5.0-liter Coyote V8 further developed by De Tomaso and Roush Performance. From De Tomaso’s first road car, the Vallelunga, to his last, the Guarà, he used Ford engines.

Final output figures will come in north of 700 horsepower and 608 pound-feet of torque thanks to a Roots-type supercharger. Yes, that’s less grunt and gumption than one gets from the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, a coupe that costs one-tenth the P72’s 700,000 euros ($842,000 U.S.). But the men behind the project say blinding power figures are “irrelevant to ethos of this project and what we are trying to achieve.” In the words of general manager and chief marketing officer Ryan Berns, “In our opinion the market is now over-saturated with commercially driven ‘limited edition’ models primarily marketed on performance metrics. We have grown tired of this notion and thus took a contrarian approach with the P72.” The point with this car, rather, is “the provenance and the overall experience as a brand and for our clients.”

We can’t judge all of that yet, but the engine looks good on paper. Roush Performance tweaked the two four-lobe rotors in the supercharger for faster operation, better airflow and thermal efficiency, and less noise and vibration. The supercharger provides the power and response De Tomaso wants, along with regulation compliance in the U.S. and Europe. Yet the engine’s still in development as De Tomaso works to reduce the apparent presence of the supercharger, stressing an “old-school American V8 soundtrack” and the naturally aspirated spirit of the Sixties. Roush also added dry-sump lubrication, and it’s planned that the engine’s redline will lie beyond 7,500 rpm. Power gets sent to the rear axle through a six-speed manual gearbox, and we’re told to expect an audio clip soon of the “symphonic exhaust system” that exits atop the rear deck. If done right, the sound “brings one back in time as if they were on the starting grid at Le Mans in 1966.”

Miller Motorcars is the U.S. dealer for anyone still interested, but it seems this is a matter of snoozing and losing; De Tomaso will only build 72 examples of the P72 – hence the name – and the car already has more than 72 people standing in line for the chance to buy.

October 30, 2019 / Comments Off

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Factory Five developing new supercar with 755-hp LS V12

Factory Five has produced its mid-engined GTM supercar for more than 10 years, that car using C5 Chevrolet Corvette internals wrapped in a steel tube frame chassis and original composite bodywork. The Massachusetts-based company is working on a replacement now, coming to SEMA next month as an engine and chassis, due for debut in February 2020. Called Project Romulan, the chassis is a stretched and widened version of the Gen 3 Type 65 Coupe, otherwise known as the Shelby Daytona Coupe kit car the company sells. Yet whereas the kit car normally uses a Ford-sourced V8, Project Romulan gets a General Motors LS3-based 9.5-liter V12 with LS7 type heads made by Australian company Race Cast. The output: a turnkey 755 hp and 694 lb-ft on pump gas.

And those numbers aren’t the wildest part. Hot Cars reports Project Romulan comes with a “Star Trek” backstory by way of Gaydon, England. Seems Factory Five benchmarked its supercar specs against the Aston Martin Vulcan. The Vulcan, remember, was a track-only car limited to 24 units, each powered by a 7.0-liter V12 with 820 hp and 575 lb-ft, although a few were converted to road-legal status. In “Star Trek” lore, when most of the once-violent and emotional Vulcans gave up their warfare for logic, as per Spock, a Vulcan faction quit the planet and settled planets Romulus and Remus. One coin, two sides.

The 580-cubic-inch LS V12 will rev past 6,000 rpm, and Factory Five turned up the engine it calls “our mini Merlin” just a touch for a couple of Facebook videos. It’s mean. And even with an extra 4.5 inches across the chassis and nine more inches of chassis length, the fit is snug. Race Cast also provides the ECM and harness for the motor, Factory Five worked up custom bits like the oil pan and coil mounts. The tuner says the engine “will be available as one part number for anyone building this kit once it’s released.” Compared to a Coyote V8, the LS V12 will put about 140 more pounds on the front — 444 pounds for the Ford V8 vs 584 pounds for the Race Cast iron block V12 — but double-adjustable Koni shocks will do their best to make the weight worth it, and a serious set of Wilwood brakes will manage stopping.

Factory Five says the super coupe will get a finished carbon fiber body with a new, modern design that needs no additional work. Assuming all goes well, after the February debut, production will begin later in 2020.

October 28, 2019 / Comments Off

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Lamborghini Squadra Corsa previews 830-hp hypercar and racing Urus ST-X

At the conclusion of last year’s Lamborghini Super Trofeo series, the Sant’Agata Bolognese carmaker’s Squadra Corse division unveiled the SC18 Alstom. That was a one-off, customer-commissioned, extreme track car based on the Aventador SVJ, and the first wholesale creation from the racing department. At this year’s series finale in Jerez, Spain, it teased a limited-run hypercar and an evolution of the race-bound Urus ST-X. The hypercar proves a rumor from earlier this month, when a poster at the McLaren Life forum said he was “Going to spec next week and test drive the SVR V12 track version of AV,” that AV standing for Aventador. Lamborghini says the track-only car, designed by the company’s Centro Stile department, will debut next year.

The rumor had posited the hypercar as a ne plus ultra expression of the Aventador’s 6.5-liter V12, and that seems to be the case. Engineers extracted 830 horsepower from the naturally aspirated engine, 70 hp more than found in the SVJ. In place of the road car’s seven-speed, single-clutch ISR transmission, the unnamed hypercar uses a six-speed Xtrac sequential gearbox, and a mechanical limited-slip differential can be adjusted by the driver for preload. The standard Aventador chassis has been reworked around that powertrain for aerodynamic and safety reasons. The front structure’s made of aluminum, a more pliant — and less expensive — material to deal with in case of incidents on the track. The engine’s been wrapped in a steel cage in order to increase torsional and bending stiffness. Airflow improves thanks to dual intakes on the hood, an airscoop over the cockpit, and a stonking rear wing.

The Urus ST-X has undergone a few changes since its debut last year. The Verde Mantis SUV has been lightened by about 25 percent compared to the production version with “a lighter structure,” a vented carbon fiber hood and rear wing, and a racing exhaust. The cabin’s luxurious appointment are replaced by a roll cage, racing seats, and a fire suppression system. Scheduled to make its race debut at the end of October 2020 in Misano, Italy, the first pilots to get a chance behind the wheel will be winners of the four classes in the Super Trofeo series.

October 28, 2019 / Comments Off

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New Ferrari Patent Is Intriguing

An interesting patent has come out of the Ferrari wheelhouse: a new engine layout. It has been reported by AutoGuide that they recently uncovered a possible four-cylinder engine for Maranello.

The concept itself isn’t a big deal as lots of vintage Ferraris had four-cylinder racing engines in the past, but it’s the way that it’s designed. Basically, they have an electronic turbine that works to reduce turbo lag and(!) to control exhaust pitch. Now, that’s the intriguing part,

[…] But whereas most exhaust valves operate by being either ‘on’ or ‘off ‘, the turbine wheel allows for greater differentiation in tone. Due to the generator that stores energy away, the engine won’t suffer a dip in performance if the electronic control unit slows the turbine wheel down in order to deliver the desired exhaust tone.

We posted the detailed patent application and it’s quite a read, to say the least. To sum things up, what we’re looking at here could be the next Ferrari four-cylinder or half of a hybrid V8 that has a way of controlling exhaust sound. Let’s see where the future takes us on this one.

July 21, 2018 / Comments Off

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