Thursday 20th June 2024

McMurtry Spéirling smashes Hockenheim record

No other closed-wheel model - Mercedes-AMG One included - can live with the million-pound fan car's hot lap

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We’re accustomed by now to the McMurtry Spéirling doing eye-popping things (its record-breaking run at Festival of Speed will live long in the memory of any who witnessed it) but with the company now intent on raising awareness in Europe - as it seeks buyers who can afford the £895k plus taxes the ‘hyper-track’ Pure model actually costs - you can expect more bewildering feats to occur. The team has wasted no time making a splash on the continent: at its European dynamic debut earlier this month it casually smashed the closed-wheel lap record at Hockenheim. 

Obviously, we use the word ‘casually’ loosely - nothing about Max Chilton’s hot lap (which came at the end of an event showcasing the car at one of Europe’s biggest dealer track days) looks casual at all. But it’s worth remembering that the demonstrator is only being pushed to about 75 per cent of its potential as McMurtry continues a ‘test and validation’ programme on new circuits in different climates. 

On the basis that its 1.24.43 lap time on the 2.8-mile F1 circuit was sufficiently quick to be 14.1 seconds inside the time set by a Mercedes-AMG One in 2022, it’s safe to assume that’s the ‘further record attempts’ planned for the Spéirling this year and next are likely to pay off. According to its maker, the Hockenheimring time was 3.9 seconds quicker than the DTM qualifying time achieved in 2020, hence the closed-wheel claim. 

Certainly the resulting video is worth five minutes of your time. As a reminder, there’s a 1,000hp electric powertrain underneath the single-seat Spéirling PURE, and a ‘downforce-on-demand system’ - essentially a fan capable of 2,000kg of suction - that accounts for its otherworldly capacity to go around corners quickly. It is also said to weigh less than 1,000kg, which accounts for its ability to not hang around on a straight, either. In short, it will generate 3g when turning and knock out a quarter mile in 8 seconds. Tracks of Europe beware: McMurtry is coming. 

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• Updated McMurtry Spéirling Pure goes on sale
• McMurtry Spéirling takes FOS Hillclimb record

[British Beef]

Upsides:
Amazing piece of engineering and VERY FAST!

How many laps could you manage at race pace I wonder?







Downsides:
Electric, track only, expensive, very limited range, luggage space:-)

[legalman58]

You would need to have very dark tinted windows- I mean who honestly would want to be seen in such a rapid but hideous looking car?

[Geoffcapes]

I imagine the 'Ring would be a completely different proposition due to the undulations.
And going round the Carousel would be interesting.

My guess is most of the carbon fibre on the from would be missing by the end of the lap.

[ChocolateFrog]

British Beef said:

Upsides:
Amazing piece of engineering and VERY FAST!

How many laps could you manage at race pace I wonder?







Downsides:
Electric, track only, expensive, very limited range, luggage space:-)

I'd imagine unless you're very fit then you could hang on for about as long as the car can.

[Simoninspalding]

legalman58 said:

You would need to have very dark tinted windows- I mean who honestly would want to be seen in such a rapid but hideous looking car?

You reckon that's hideous?

I think it has awesome, almost cartoonish proportions and shows that all the extra wings and appendages that fast cars all seem to have these days can be avoided. Each to their own I guess.

[SimonTheSailor]

British Beef said:

Downsides:
Electric, track only, expensive, very limited range, luggage space:-)

And ugly..........

[Catflap66]

legalman58 said:

You would need to have very dark tinted windows- I mean who honestly would want to be seen in such a rapid but hideous looking car?

I think the speed of the thing would reduce the level of tint needed for the windows.

[George29]

British Beef said:

Upsides:
Amazing piece of engineering and VERY FAST!

How many laps could you manage at race pace I wonder?

I’m sure they said in ages ago it can do 10 laps of Silverstone national on one charge. So around 16 miles

[BOR]

I would be worried about the fan sucking a piece of debris off the track and losing all the downforce just as you enter the hairpin.

Edited by BOR on Thursday 20th June 12:12

[otolith]

George29 said:

British Beef said:

Upsides:
Amazing piece of engineering and VERY FAST!

How many laps could you manage at race pace I wonder?

I’m sure they said in ages ago it can do 10 laps of Silverstone national on one charge. So around 16 miles

"It has a track range of 25 minutes when running at GT4 race-car pace, and a road range of over 300 miles"

https://mcmurtry.com/0-60mph-and-%C2%BC-mile-recor...

[otolith]

BOR said:

I would be worried about the fan sucking a piece of debris of the track and losing all the downforce just as you enter the hairpin.

There is redundancy built in, it has two fans, but I assume it can't manage maximum downforce on a single fan.

[Julian Scott]

Simoninspalding said:

legalman58 said:

You would need to have very dark tinted windows- I mean who honestly would want to be seen in such a rapid but hideous looking car?

You reckon that's hideous?

I think it has awesome, almost cartoonish proportions and shows that all the extra wings and appendages that fast cars all seem to have these days can be avoided. Each to their own I guess.

I suspect its hideousness is solely down to the powertrain. ;-)

[Julian Scott]

The video of it on track is nothing short of otherworldly; physics defying.

It'll have detractors because it's an EV, but as a feat of engineering & performance, it's staggering.

[Matt_T]

It also makes you appreciate how quick F1 cars are - they seem to lap about 13 seconds quicker.

https://fastestlaps.com/tracks/hockenheim-gp

[ggdrew]

Love the looks actually: rear 3/4 has the great Cobra Coupe look mixed with hints of Batmobile. The single-seater width is unusual to our eyes, but good

[Julian Scott]

Matt_T said:

It also makes you appreciate how quick F1 cars are - they seem to lap about 13 seconds quicker.

https://fastestlaps.com/tracks/hockenheim-gp

....and about 15x the cost

[Kerching]

Let's not forget this was done at 75% of power and fan... imagine how much quicker it could have gone with the wick turned up to max.

[otolith]

Matt_T said:

It also makes you appreciate how quick F1 cars are - they seem to lap about 13 seconds quicker.

https://fastestlaps.com/tracks/hockenheim-gp

Much more downforce in an F1 car at higher speeds where the aerodynamics can work. On the Silverstone GP track, it took the slower corners faster than Hamilton's lap record. I would think it's a lot more intuitive to drive than a car which gets its downforce from airflow and thus loses grip at lower speed.

[MrBogSmith]

Saw this at Silverstone on Wednesday.

It's tiny.

[Chris.65]

I chatted to some of the team in the security queue at Heathrow on the way out to Hockenheim a couple of weeks ago - very unassuming bunch - it's great to see what they are achieving, amazing engineering