Dario Franchitti se divierte con 'George', el coche de desarrollo T.50 de Gordon Murray Automotive
8 DE OCTUBRE DE 2021
a todas las revoluciones en el banco de pruebas, a ninguno de los autos de prueba se le ha permitido una medida completa de revoluciones hasta este momento.
Las 12,100 rpm completas son un punto culminante que para su última vuelta de la prueba que se ve aquí, en el
Millbrook Test Center , Franchitti y su copiloto se quitan los auriculares para poder escuchar el motor y el ruido de inducción del techo en la cabina.
“Solo nos estábamos riendo”, dice Franchitti, en un esfuerzo por expresar la emoción que sintió al escuchar el motor. “Éramos como dos jóvenes de 17 años a los que les habían entregado las llaves. Solo nos estábamos riendo ".
Cuando sale del coche, apenas tiene una palabra que decir. Simplemente abraza a
Gordon Murray . Franchitti luego pregunta si Murray está seguro de que no quiere cortarse las piernas para conducir el auto de prueba, ya que, al parecer, el fundador de la compañía es demasiado alto para caber.
"Es el mejor motor que he conducido", dice Franchitti. “O, incluso en su estado más básico, es el mejor. Es solo. Solo nos reíamos. No hay nada más que decir ".
Sin embargo, el motor de altas revoluciones tiene al menos una peculiaridad. En los cambios descendentes, informa Franchitti, es fácil sobrerrevolucionar el motor, lo que
Murray parece indicar que es un problema en el que están trabajando los ingenieros.
GMA planea construir solo 100 ejemplos del T.50 junto con otras 25 variantes de pista
T.50S Niki Lauda con entregas a los clientes programadas para comenzar en 2022.
Dario Franchitti Has A Blast With ‘George’, Gordon Murray Automotive’s T.50 Development Car
OCTOBER 8, 2021
It takes a special kind of road car to make a professional driver like four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti giggle maniacally, but the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50, or rather “George”, the first development car fitted with an engine that can rev up to 12,100, rpm, is such a car.
The 3.9-liter Cosworth V12 was initially supposed to produce 650 hp (659 PS/485 kW), but tests have proven it can reach up to 672 hp (681 PS/501 kW). Although we’ve seen other development cars and we’ve heard the engine run
at full revs on the dyno, none of the test cars have been allowed a full measure of revs to this point.
The full 12,100 rpm is such a highlight that for his last lap of the test seen here, at the
Millbrook Test Center, Franchitti and his co-driver take their headphones off in order to be able to hear the engine and the overhead induction noise in the cabin.
“We were just laughing,” Franchitti says, in an effort to express the excitement he felt hearing the engine. “We were like two 17-year-olds who’d been given the keys. We were just giggling.”
When he gets out of the car, he hardly has a word to say. He just hugs
Gordon Murray. Franchitti then asks if Murray is sure he doesn’t want to cut his legs off to drive the test car since, it seems, the company founder is too tall to fit in.
“It is the best engine I’ve ever driven,” says Franchitti. “Or, even in its very basic state, it’s the best. It’s just. We were just laughing. There’s nothing else to say.”
The high-revving engine does come with at least one peculiarity, though. On downshifts, Franchitti reports, it’s easy to over-rev the engine, which
Murray seems to indicate is an issue the engineers are working on.
GMA plans to build just 100 examples of the T.50 along with another 25
T.50S Niki Lauda track variants with customer deliveries set to start in 2022.