It has lengthy been theorised that high-performance race automobiles, similar to these utilized in Method 1, might be pushed the wrong way up because of the quantity of downforce they generate at velocity. Nevertheless, it has by no means been tried.
Now British area of interest sportscar producer McMurtry Automotive has demonstrated the feat with its Spéirling supercar, which makes use of a fan below the automobile’s flooring to create suction. This Downforce-on-Demand system creates enough vacuum to carry it the wrong way up, exceeding the drive of gravity even at a standstill.
Different sports activities automobiles and racecars can solely produce downforce at excessive speeds utilizing aerodynamic wings. The underfloor fan permits the Spéirling to speed up, brake and switch with considerably extra grip than different automobiles, particularly at low velocity.
Thomas Yates, co-founder and MD of McMurtry Automotive, just lately demonstrated the know-how on the agency’s headquarters in Gloucestershire, England, an occasion attended by staff and unbiased adjudicators.
He drove the automobile onto a specially-built rotating rig and turned on the fan to suck the automobile to the ground. The ground of the platform then rotated, absolutely inverting the hypercar. The Downforce-on-Demand system created a enough vacuum to carry it the wrong way up, exceeding the drive of gravity. As soon as absolutely inverted, Thomas drove ahead, solely unsupported.
“This demonstration was an thrilling proof of idea utilizing a small purpose-built rig, however is probably only the start of what’s potential,” mentioned Yates.
“With an extended inverted observe or an appropriate tunnel, we might be able to drive even additional. Enormous congratulations and due to your complete McMurtry Automotive staff, particularly the engineers concerned within the automobile and fan system’s design, they’re the heroes of right now.”
The feat was the most recent record-breaking outing for the Spéirling after it smashed the Prime Gear Take a look at Observe file by 3.1 seconds, beating the V10 Renault R24 Method 1 racecar from 2004. The Spéirling additionally holds the Goodwood Pageant of Velocity Hillclimb outright file and the Laguna Seca Corkskrew Hillclimb file.
The McMurtry Spéirling is a single-seat, electrical hypercar that is ready to speed up from 0-96km/h in simply 1.5 seconds, full 1 / 4 mile in eight seconds, and nook at greater than 3g (thrice the drive of gravity).
It was envisioned by one in every of Britain’s most profitable businesspeople, the billionaire and prolific inventor Sir David McMurtry, who died in December. McMurtry Automotive continues his legacy with a small staff of engineers.
The automobile used to set the upside-down file was a prototype of a Spéirling Pure manufacturing mannequin to be launched in 2026, with solely 100 to be made.
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