RE: McMurtry Spéirling takes FOS Hillclimb record

[anonymous-user]

J4CKO said:

Interesting Max that you think it was perhaps pegged back a bit.

it's early days yet and i'm sure the team don't want a very public crash when they find the (very difficult to find) limit, so yes, i think its safe to say it's a way off its ultimate capability

J4CKO said:

I wonder if it loses downforce, its like your Hoover and they have to stick a new bag in it ?

It will absolutely loose downforce as road speed climbs because the required mass flow of the suction fan will increase at least linearly with speed, thanks to the swept area of a porous tarmac (and probably far more steeply due to sealing issues). It's why its got massive traction off the line because at zero speed the fan has time to suck most of the air out the gap under the car, but as it starts moving more and more air arrives into that gap in any given unit of time, so suction must reduce.

J4CKO said:

What do they do with it now ? Is there a market for a massively fast, single seater Batmobile lookalike ? Im sold, its fantastic, its British, just not sure what the motivation was/is ? Showcase, road car ?

I imagine they can sell a couple to rich people as a new "toy" but really this has no commercial validity. DF for the road is un-usable and dangerous, and a single seat car is simply not what consumers want because it just doesn't fit with peoples lifestyles

[DannyScene]

I've been excited about this car since Max was on BTG podcast, absolutely chuffed for them to break the record, what a great advert for the advancement of electric cars and technology

Everyone banging on about it being electric and souless, I'm not sure for a record breaking machine it really matters, road cars yes, track only specials no (personally)

Wil it become a road car as they said, I highly doubt it but I look forward to watching this mental little thing smash more records moving forward

[FourWheelDrift]

Zumbruk said:

One day there's going to be a *big* accident at the FoS. And that'll be the end of the hillclimbing as it presently exists.

In 2000 there were fatalities when a Lotus 63 driven by John Dawson-Damer crashed into the finishing line and on into the trees killing the driver and marshal Andrew Carpenter.

[otolith]

Max_Torque said:

Incidentally for me, this is the car of the show:



Because rather than design the ultimate car and not quite manage to go as fast as it perhaps should, he has taken a completely unsuitable car and made it far far faster than should be expected:

https://youtu.be/mpxP2FEM3HY?t=2109

7 seconds slower than the electric missile, 500% more entertaining !!!

The gear noise on the interior audio footage suggests that it has the electric missile beaten in the "most annoying whine" category as well as the "bashed with the ugly stick" award.

[esotericar]

Welshbeef said:

How long will this record last? I’ll wager one year and things may keep falling marginally year on year as EVs get better and better.

Have to be safety concerns. That thing was so fast, if it had a freak mechanical failure at speed and shot off the course, the consequences don't bear thinking about. The straw bales would prove a token measure, I would think.

The idea that you'd have something going up the hill significantly faster yet with the existing safety measures, well...

Suspect with these mega performance EVs they are going to run into conflict between safety and keeping the relatively intimate feel in terms of how close the crowd are situated to the course and the low-key straw bale barriers.

[Terminator X]

Unreal said:

Jon_S_Rally said:

leglessAlex said:

Soooo... like horses and steam trains then?

Petrol ain't going anywhere for a long time I think, I'm pretty optimistic about it.

As for this run, it's awesome and congrats to McMurtry, but as others have said it leaves me a little cold which is a shame. The Pagani Huayra R on the other, Jesus Christ that's a run I could watch (well, listen to) again and again.

Well yes, but that was kind of the point. ICE cars becoming the preserve of the wealthy doesn't sound like a very bright future to me, even though it is some way off and won't effect me that much.

ICE cars will be produced until at least 2030 so it's fair to assume they'll still be going a decade later. After that, they'll still be in use, selectively, just like horses and steam engines. If they're relegated to the level of traction engines, so what? It won't affect most people alive today. I'm pretty optimistic for the medium term, not least because there are an awful lot of very rich individuals who will ensure their hobby continues to be enjoyed. I'm also not sure how poor people are supposed to get about when there is no electric equivalent of a £1000 short MOT you can fix on your drive banger. It's a nice pipe dream that everyone can be swanning about in environmentally friendly EVs in a couple of years but anyone with a brain knows it can't happen.

Of course, the EV bubble may have burst like the diesel bubble by 2030, and people could be celebrating a new record set by a hydrogen powered car and the banning of EVs on environmental grounds. Perhaps it will hiss rather than whine. Funny how quickly things can change.

VHS vs Betamax etc no different. Petrol vs diesel vs EV vs hydrogen vs as yet unknown tech etc.

TX.

[MotorSpeak]

This video has a slightly longer intro showing the build up of fan pressure prior to launch. https://youtu.be/0mpeywXDa9s

[fantheman80]

otolith said:

Max_Torque said:

Incidentally for me, this is the car of the show:



Because rather than design the ultimate car and not quite manage to go as fast as it perhaps should, he has taken a completely unsuitable car and made it far far faster than should be expected:

https://youtu.be/mpxP2FEM3HY?t=2109

7 seconds slower than the electric missile, 500% more entertaining !!!

The gear noise on the interior audio footage suggests that it has the electric missile beaten in the "most annoying whine" category as well as the "bashed with the ugly stick" award.

Each to their own...but I think your on the wrong website

[rampageturke]

Unfortunately not enough range for pikes peak I think. And relying on the fan up that hill may be an issue because the tarmac surface isn't that good.

[otolith]

Max_Torque said:

I imagine they can sell a couple to rich people as a new "toy" but really this has no commercial validity. DF for the road is un-usable and dangerous, and a single seat car is simply not what consumers want because it just doesn't fit with peoples lifestyles

Not sure that they are planning to punt them out on PCP to couples + 2.4 kids though? Stuff like this - the new Gordon Murray creation, the Valkyrie, the Evija, even stuff that sells in the thousands like the aggregate sales of McLaren or Ferrari - it's all irrelevant. What's relevant to consumers and the industry is utterly boring family crossovers.

[otolith]

fantheman80 said:

otolith said:

Max_Torque said:

Incidentally for me, this is the car of the show:



Because rather than design the ultimate car and not quite manage to go as fast as it perhaps should, he has taken a completely unsuitable car and made it far far faster than should be expected:

https://youtu.be/mpxP2FEM3HY?t=2109

7 seconds slower than the electric missile, 500% more entertaining !!!

The gear noise on the interior audio footage suggests that it has the electric missile beaten in the "most annoying whine" category as well as the "bashed with the ugly stick" award.

Each to their own...but I think your on the wrong website

Not the wrong website, the adaptive technology is on your own computer, the Pistonheads website works for sighted people too.

The noise - well outside isn't too awful, purposeful if not musical, and pretty uncouth, but that gear noise inside would have me wearing ear plugs (as I suspect the driver is).

[Zumbruk]

FourWheelDrift said:

Zumbruk said:

One day there's going to be a *big* accident at the FoS. And that'll be the end of the hillclimbing as it presently exists.

In 2000 there were fatalities when a Lotus 63 driven by John Dawson-Damer crashed into the finishing line and on into the trees killing the driver and marshal Andrew Carpenter.

Didn't know that, thanks. I look at the footage and worry that someone's going to have a mechanical failure and go into the crowd like the 1955 Le Mans accident.

[Pommy]

Complaining about EV's and the Goodwood Hill run seems a bit silly given that literally was the most exciting hill run ever seen

[Zumbruk]

otolith said:

Max_Torque said:

I imagine they can sell a couple to rich people as a new "toy" but really this has no commercial validity. DF for the road is un-usable and dangerous, and a single seat car is simply not what consumers want because it just doesn't fit with peoples lifestyles

Not sure that they are planning to punt them out on PCP to couples + 2.4 kids though? Stuff like this - the new Gordon Murray creation, the Valkyrie, the Evija, even stuff that sells in the thousands like the aggregate sales of McLaren or Ferrari - it's all irrelevant. What's relevant to consumers and the industry is utterly boring family crossovers.

Troo dat, but these things aren't designed to sell as profitable cars, 'per se', they're designed as engineering showpieces to say "Look what we can do".

[JD]

rampageturke said:

Unfortunately not enough range for pikes peak I think. And relying on the fan up that hill may be an issue because the tarmac surface isn't that good.

What are you basing your expert assessment on?

Surely not the fact it has a larger battery than the current Pikes Peak record holder?

[CanAm]

ghibbett said:

Just to put the "it's absolutely tiny" into context, it's still bigger than a Caterham 7.*

• just!

About the same size as a Frogeye Sprite, but (despite its narrow looks) over a foot wider!

[GroundEffect]

GTEYE said:

threespires said:

Could it match an F1 time round Silverstone?
I'd love to see Chilton try it next weekend.

Would the battery last long enough?

For one lap? For sure.

[otolith]

Zumbruk said:

otolith said:

Max_Torque said:

I imagine they can sell a couple to rich people as a new "toy" but really this has no commercial validity. DF for the road is un-usable and dangerous, and a single seat car is simply not what consumers want because it just doesn't fit with peoples lifestyles

Not sure that they are planning to punt them out on PCP to couples + 2.4 kids though? Stuff like this - the new Gordon Murray creation, the Valkyrie, the Evija, even stuff that sells in the thousands like the aggregate sales of McLaren or Ferrari - it's all irrelevant. What's relevant to consumers and the industry is utterly boring family crossovers.

Troo dat, but these things aren't designed to sell as profitable cars, 'per se', they're designed as engineering showpieces to say "Look what we can do".

Yep - they are going to sell them, but it looks as if they are after a wider business model than that.

https://mcmurtry.com/about-us/

[georgefreeman918]

Four Litre said:

Jon_S_Rally said:

The run was mega. Really impressive, and you can see that it's lack of width really helped it.

Like someone said above though, it does make me a bit sad in a way. I watched a video of the top ten fastest cars up the hill over the weekend, and most of them were EVs. All very impressive in their own way but, when I heard the 911 GT3, I just couldn't help but feel a bit sad. Not taking anything away from the engineering of the electric stuff but, when you hear something like the Porsche screaming up the hill, it makes me realise just how much of my love of cars comes from the ICE. I'm sure some will think that makes me a luddite, but there we are.

Still, well done to all involved with this. Just a shame it looks like one of those squashed up caricatures of a car that were popular a few years ago

Funny you mentioned that as I felt the same way. I kind of skipped through a lot of the EV stuff as it just leaves me cold. Hearing the GT3 cheered me up a bit though. The McMurty was astonishing to watch, I guess as it looks so strange it got my attention.

I cant see myself getting the same excitement from EV's. I guess that I will be reading 'classic car' in a few years time

For exactly the same reasons, I wasn't in awe at the AMG Project One. It made virtually no noise and was rather dissapointing, however I am sure absolutely mega fast and a riot to drive!

[Midgster]

galaxie500 said:

Adam West era Batmobile was electric too!
Just listen!
https://youtu.be/b5xt2z07ebk

The nerd in me needs to tell you the Batmobile was actually turbine powered with "atomic batteries"