RE: McMurtry Spéirling takes FOS Hillclimb record

[Slowlygettingit]

150 mph gritter - ROFL!!!!!!!!!

[Funk]

WCZ said:

Max_Torque said:

Amazing achievement by a small team to take the hill record and an astonishingly different and interesting car!

But, it's clear its operating nowhere near its claimed performance:

no one is really bothered by that though, look at how people cheered it when it went past, it's the car of the weekend that everyone is talking about and rightly so imo

if anything to me it shows there is some glimmer of hope for a fun EV car in the future that i'd actually buy

But fast ≠ fun. I've been in Teslas for example and once you get past the 'off-the-line' party piece they're dull as dishwater and an ergonomic mess.

And I'll wager now that once the road is full of electric cars that can all do 0-60 in 1.9 sec there'll be laws introduced to restrict acceleration, probably on the basis that in-town it could make it difficult for a pedestrian to judge just how quickly a near-silent electric car can get from 'over there' to where the pedestrian is crossing etc. 'They' are already finding other things to try and tax cars on - including zero-emissions ones - such as 'brake dust' and 'tyre particulates'...

The days of fun, carefree motoring are dying out.

[ghost83]

Unreal said:

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.

I don’t think they will you know! More and more manufacturers are giving a date of around 2024/2025 when they move towards fully electric, it will only be the supercar stuff that will run that long

[nismo48]

Max is a very brave guy...Respect

[Welshbeef]

F1GTRUeno said:

I really, really hope they go for a TT record. Hadn't even thought about it until it was mentioned here. Get Higgins on the blower.

I’ve a suspicion that following the tragic 2 separate side car accidents & fatalities I don’t think they will ever let a car push the limits again. Purely for safety reasons.

[Funk]

ghost83 said:

Unreal said:

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.

I don’t think they will you know! More and more manufacturers are giving a date of around 2024/2025 when they move towards fully electric, it will only be the supercar stuff that will run that long

And as petrol cars decline, petrol will rocket in price as the cost of making and distributing it becomes less cost-effective. Our only hope is synthetic fuels, otherwise even the rich who can afford petrol-powered toys won't be able to run them.

[Sway]

I really, really love this.

Give me an option to switch the fan off for the road, and a 'map' with a third to quarter the power - and somewhere to stick a 'cabin bag', and it'd replace the LCC Rocket as my ultimate commuting vehicle.

Plenty of us commute decent distances solo and without much traffic - yet don't want to be on two wheels. Hacking across the South Downs a couple of times a week would be an utter pleasure.

[Equus]

Max_Torque said:

You can't race one of these (they don't fit any race series regulations currently)

More importantly, there is a blanket rule for all racing classes that states; "...any specific part of the car influencing its aerodynamic performance must remain immobile in relation to the vehicle", effectively banning fans or active aerodynamics of any sort from race cars.

You couldn't even run it in Sports Libre or similar on hillclimbs, which is a pity, because it would murder any current opposition.

[Welshbeef]

Equus said:

More importantly, there is a blanket rule for all racing classes that states; "...any specific part of the car influencing its aerodynamic performance must remain immobile in relation to the vehicle", effectively banning fans or active aerodynamics of any sort from race cars.

You couldn't even run it in Sports Libre or similar on hillclimbs, which is a pity, because it would murder any current opposition.

What about the Pikes Peak?

I guess it could go after the Porsche 919 Evos times?
Shame that 919 Evo didn’t go for the hill record

[WCZ]

Funk said:

But fast ? fun. I've been in Teslas for example and once you get past the 'off-the-line' party piece they're dull as dishwater and an ergonomic mess.

And I'll wager now that once the road is full of electric cars that can all do 0-60 in 1.9 sec there'll be laws introduced to restrict acceleration, probably on the basis that in-town it could make it difficult for a pedestrian to judge just how quickly a near-silent electric car can get from 'over there' to where the pedestrian is crossing etc. 'They' are already finding other things to try and tax cars on - including zero-emissions ones - such as 'brake dust' and 'tyre particulates'...

The days of fun, carefree motoring are dying out.

what makes this one different than a tesla is it's small size and it being a single seater. I'd love to blast this around.

I've always prefered really small cars as I think they are more fun to drive

[otolith]

Zumbruk said:

otolith said:

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/

That's what I just said.

Wasn't sure whether you'd assumed that was the case or looked at their website, but it was correct either way.

[Welshbeef]

Equus said:

More importantly, there is a blanket rule for all racing classes that states; "...any specific part of the car influencing its aerodynamic performance must remain immobile in relation to the vehicle", effectively banning fans or active aerodynamics of any sort from race cars.

You couldn't even run it in Sports Libre or similar on hillclimbs, which is a pity, because it would murder any current opposition.

[Gemaeden]

Twinair said:

Deltic said:

Was at the top of the hill for the Shootout yesterday afternoon, Absolutely stunning, one of those moments where me and my son looked at each other with mouths open

Great story, great moment. Brill - a ‘where were you’ moment… :-))

I had the same kind of moment with my dad in the Forest of Dean, group B cars coming through on full chat at 02:00, pitch dark, peeing rain, cold, bloody marvellous…!

I admit- ICE has ‘lost’ (in every way possible now) - when Lamborghini announced the last V12, that was yet another signal…

I am an aerospace engineer - I guess mechanical systems running on thermo dynamic and fluid mechanic principles are what inspired me when I was younger, maybe seeing this will inspire your lad - or anyone else to do great things… I take comfort in the development of people - that’s a great thing & necessary - absolutely, no argument at all.

What I don’t like, and don’t accept is ‘legislators’ deciding for me. Just like diesel, anyone that’s ever seen a diesel car from the 90’s or 2000’s would have quickly seen that these things were in no way ‘green’…

But because ‘legislation’ and ‘science’ they were remorselessly promoted and financially rewarded for use - especially in the EU…

Now the ICE is ‘roundly demonised’ across the legislatures of the worlds so called ‘progressive’ economies, it’s not enough for legislation to get its way, no, they seem to want people to ‘cancel’ their thoughts and accept they were ‘wrong’ and be somehow ‘ashamed’ of the like for something that legislation now deems ‘a pariah’ of the times…

It’s kind of ironic that the entire world has reached where it is today because of the industrial revolution’s inventions and advancements - which was fine whilst that ‘progress was needed’ - but now they need to be cancelled as quickly as possible - and somehow cancelled with malice into the bargain…?

Great time, great vehicle, I guess some might say, F1 ground effects cars were there quite some time ago, nothing really new in the world I suppose - it goes in cycles. For sure the reliance on cobalt and lithium will have its ‘cycle’ too…!

Glad you had that moment, after the last years, you deserved it!

Careful with this sort of take on things, it smacks of insurrection and is halfway to suggesting that we don't need a government to tax us, because we're grown up enough to look after ourselves.

[Equus]

Welshbeef said:

What about the Pikes Peak?

AFAIK, that's the single exception in the world, as it doesn't operate under FIA sanction.

[otolith]

Equus said:

AFAIK, that's the single exception in the world, as it doesn't operate under FIA sanction.

If the FIA has indeed put a blanket technical regulation of that sort across all motorsport, we need more motorsport happening outside its remit.

[Olivergt]

If I ever get an electric car, I want it to sound like the McMurtry.

Sound is the one thing that electric cars are lacking for me at the moment.

[Stumason10]

That is the fastest vacuum cleaner I've ever seen! Put a bag on it and you sweep the drive in seconds!

All messing apart that is a magnificent, and delightfully mad piece of engineering!

[Chris C2]

Blimey - when you look at Mr. McMurtry, and the Renishaw company he built, here's another engineering lead entrepreneur who has built up a massive enterprise a bit like James Dyson and Jim Ratcliffe (presumably without idiots from the City of London cashing in/messing it up). Now in his 80's it looks like he's having a bit of fun but there's serious money behind it and this is much more than just a Fred in a shed lashed together vehicle never to be heard of again.

[otolith]

Max_Torque said:

the problem for me is that "Look what we can do" is pretty irrelevant to both road cars and race cars? This car is really a parts bin special. They have simply bought really nice parts (motor's, cells, inverters etc) and nailed them together, with no regularitory, cost or production limitations. You can't race one of these (they don't fit any race series regulations currently) it would be a truely horrible road car, and they haven't really developed any particularly tech or methodology that can be applied to other cars.

It is an amazing achievement for a small team and a fantastic "look at us" car, but it's largely pointless in the grand scheme of things (see Capara T1 for ref...)

The trouble is that much of the stuff that the industry really cares about is not at all interesting to enthusiasts - indeed some of it is actively unwanted.

What this achieves is that it looks more fun than anything electric we've yet seen from the motoring establishment.

[KarlMac]

Surprised no one’s commented on the fact the McMurtry managed to break the record yet the official gen 3 Formula E car failed to make up the hill all weekend? I guess they were taking it serious putting Heidfeld in the seat.

Not a great advert for the sport.