RE: Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy - Frankfurt 2017
Wednesday 13th September 2017
Well this is a bit different. As part of Jaguar's ongoing commitment to vehicle electrification - and you better get used to that phrase, if you're not already - it has today announced an electric racing series. Not just any old racing series, either, but one using the I-Pace. Yeah, the crossover.
Gentlemen, start your engin... oh no, wait.The I-Pace eTrophy will be the official support race of Formula E from the start of season five, which begins at the end of 2018. It will therefore race in 10 city centres across the globe and support the launch of the road car, which is due at about the same time.
"Oh yeah, A. Driver? Heard of him. He's good."As the world's first international race series with production EVs - although Tesla may have something to say about that - detail on both the eTrophy race car and series are vague at the moment. Gerd Mauser, Jaguar Racing's Chairman, said: "With the launch of the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy we have strengthened our commitment to battery electric vehicles... Ultimately this innovative series will enhance the technology in our future electric vehicles and benefit our customers."
Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy - Frankfurt 2017
How to create excitement around an electric Jaguar SUV? Race it!
Gentlemen, start your engin... oh no, wait.
The ambitious plan is for a grid of 20 cars, with the seats allocated on the old arrive and drive basis. Pay for your seat and Jaguar will look after the car, provide the hospitality and even give you a race suit - all you do is turn up and romp to victory, then party into the daylight in one of the world's greatest cities (the end of that may have been exaggerated).
"Oh yeah, A. Driver? Heard of him. He's good."
Jaguar says technical specs will follow next year, along with prices, and the race calendar is still subject to FIA approval. But a one-make production electric series is going to happen, with crossovers. Those slabby sides should make for good door-to-door racing too. And one-make racing is always fiercely competitive. Consider us intrigued, and get ready for more details soon!
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Discussion
One make series tend to be a crash fest so it should be an ok watch. Can see this a good support series to Formula E which needs some more depth to liven it up and it's good publicity for a new product. I'd like to see a new tin top EV race or rallycross series open to all manufacturers but I've no idea how you'd set up a set of technical regs for one.
te?Richair said:
FFS. That's it, we're doomed. Sports car racing is dead and soon people will be watching SUV's race around a track, marketing>engineering etc. etc.
At what point is something an SUV or not - it used to be ground-clearance, but that looks like any other normal car - looks to be less ground-clearance than I used to have on the Skoda Octavia Scout...Richair said:
FFS. That's it, we're doomed. Sports car racing is dead and soon people will be watching SUV's race around a track, marketing>engineering etc. etc.
It's not April 1st is it?
Which fast-paced, highly popular sports car racing series is this knocking off the calendar then?It's not April 1st is it?
akirk said:
Richair said:
FFS. That's it, we're doomed. Sports car racing is dead and soon people will be watching SUV's race around a track, marketing>engineering etc. etc.
At what point is something an SUV or not - it used to be ground-clearance, but that looks like any other normal car - looks to be less ground-clearance than I used to have on the Skoda Octavia Scout...A lot of cars are classified as SUVs as it means a less stringent requirement for federal bumper regulations - which are the opposite of EU bumper requirements which favour pedestrian protection (ie soft bumpers) versus federal which favour protecting the car components such as headlamps from damage (ie hard bumpers). This means you don't have to design separate bumpers for different markets or have ghastly add-on protectors as seen on federal versions of McLaren F1 and Bugatti Chiron
An easy way to achieve this is use of air suspension on US market cars, and a raised "off -road mode" to ensure homologation as an SUV - this means they can be classified as SUVs but in normal use ride a lot lower - similar to a car.
Also bear in mind this is a race car - so the bumpers and sideskirts are deeper and the suspension is lower than the road car
Edited by filski666 on Tuesday 12th September 14:11
filski666 said:
akirk said:
Richair said:
FFS. That's it, we're doomed. Sports car racing is dead and soon people will be watching SUV's race around a track, marketing>engineering etc. etc.
At what point is something an SUV or not - it used to be ground-clearance, but that looks like any other normal car - looks to be less ground-clearance than I used to have on the Skoda Octavia Scout...A lot of cars are classified as SUVs as it means a less stringent requirement for federal bumper regulations - which are the opposite of EU bumper requirements which favour pedestrian protection (ie soft bumpers) versus federal which favour protecting the car components such as headlamps from damage (ie hard bumpers). This means you don't have to design separate bumpers for different markets or have ghastly add-on protectors as seen on federal versions of McLaren F1 and Bugatti Chiron
An easy way to achieve this is use of air suspension on US market cars, and a raised "off -road mode" to ensure homologation as an SUV - this means they can be classified as SUVs but in normal use ride a lot lower - similar to a car.
Also bear in mind this is a race car - so the bumpers and sideskirts are deeper and the suspension is lower than the road car
but fundamentally it means that this is not really an SUV any more!
akirk said:
filski666 said:
akirk said:
Richair said:
FFS. That's it, we're doomed. Sports car racing is dead and soon people will be watching SUV's race around a track, marketing>engineering etc. etc.
At what point is something an SUV or not - it used to be ground-clearance, but that looks like any other normal car - looks to be less ground-clearance than I used to have on the Skoda Octavia Scout...A lot of cars are classified as SUVs as it means a less stringent requirement for federal bumper regulations - which are the opposite of EU bumper requirements which favour pedestrian protection (ie soft bumpers) versus federal which favour protecting the car components such as headlamps from damage (ie hard bumpers). This means you don't have to design separate bumpers for different markets or have ghastly add-on protectors as seen on federal versions of McLaren F1 and Bugatti Chiron
An easy way to achieve this is use of air suspension on US market cars, and a raised "off -road mode" to ensure homologation as an SUV - this means they can be classified as SUVs but in normal use ride a lot lower - similar to a car.
Also bear in mind this is a race car - so the bumpers and sideskirts are deeper and the suspension is lower than the road car
but fundamentally it means that this is not really an SUV any more!
filski666 said:
akirk said:
filski666 said:
akirk said:
Richair said:
FFS. That's it, we're doomed. Sports car racing is dead and soon people will be watching SUV's race around a track, marketing>engineering etc. etc.
At what point is something an SUV or not - it used to be ground-clearance, but that looks like any other normal car - looks to be less ground-clearance than I used to have on the Skoda Octavia Scout...A lot of cars are classified as SUVs as it means a less stringent requirement for federal bumper regulations - which are the opposite of EU bumper requirements which favour pedestrian protection (ie soft bumpers) versus federal which favour protecting the car components such as headlamps from damage (ie hard bumpers). This means you don't have to design separate bumpers for different markets or have ghastly add-on protectors as seen on federal versions of McLaren F1 and Bugatti Chiron
An easy way to achieve this is use of air suspension on US market cars, and a raised "off -road mode" to ensure homologation as an SUV - this means they can be classified as SUVs but in normal use ride a lot lower - similar to a car.
Also bear in mind this is a race car - so the bumpers and sideskirts are deeper and the suspension is lower than the road car
but fundamentally it means that this is not really an SUV any more!
"we need a new SUV - lets take a xyz model and jack it up..."
"yes, good idea, should sell well.. but we need to make sure it handles well"
" oh that's not a problem, the target market won't take it off road, so we will just lower it to handle better..."
"oh, I see - a lowered, jacked up car - sounds great, we will call it a crossover..."
filski666 said:
akirk said:
filski666 said:
akirk said:
Richair said:
FFS. That's it, we're doomed. Sports car racing is dead and soon people will be watching SUV's race around a track, marketing>engineering etc. etc.
At what point is something an SUV or not - it used to be ground-clearance, but that looks like any other normal car - looks to be less ground-clearance than I used to have on the Skoda Octavia Scout...A lot of cars are classified as SUVs as it means a less stringent requirement for federal bumper regulations - which are the opposite of EU bumper requirements which favour pedestrian protection (ie soft bumpers) versus federal which favour protecting the car components such as headlamps from damage (ie hard bumpers). This means you don't have to design separate bumpers for different markets or have ghastly add-on protectors as seen on federal versions of McLaren F1 and Bugatti Chiron
An easy way to achieve this is use of air suspension on US market cars, and a raised "off -road mode" to ensure homologation as an SUV - this means they can be classified as SUVs but in normal use ride a lot lower - similar to a car.
Also bear in mind this is a race car - so the bumpers and sideskirts are deeper and the suspension is lower than the road car
but fundamentally it means that this is not really an SUV any more!
Jaguar refer to it as an electric sports car, not an SUV.
I have seen it in the flesh at Goodwood, it is noticeably more compact and lower than the F-Pace yet due to the lack of engine and associated gubbins, it is roomier insider. In turn that gives a lower centre of gravity and it probably ends up with dynamic characteristics similar to a sports saloon, one with with 4WD and a very fat torque curve. I wouldn't be surprised if it matches an M5 for performance and handling.
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