Super clubman-style Aspid revealed
The wild, clubman-styled Aspid sports car that is the brainchild of vehicle-design and engineering consultancy IFR Automotive has been revealed. Powered by either a 200kW 2 litre naturally aspirated engine or a supercharged version that is good for a whopping 300kW, the car can sprint to 100km/h in a blistering 2.8 seconds or make it to 160km/h in 5.9 seconds. From 160km/h the Aspid's brakes can return the car to a standstill in just 3.1 seconds. This means the round trip from a standing start to 160km/h and back to a standstill takes around nine seconds.
The car's prodigious cornering grip can deliver up to 1.6g of lateral acceleration and this is achieved by minimising the loads imposed by the car on its tyres. IFR Automotive founder and engineer, Ignacio Fernández, says his team has packaged high tech designs into a compact luxury sports car to demonstrate how vehicle dynamics and overall performance can be enhanced.
"To give but one example, the un-sprung mass matches the weight of a Formula One car, yet we've achieved that with steel brake discs and an aluminium suspension," he explained.
"It's absolutely state of the art and our interpretation of a modern two seater appropriate to the 21st century; half the weight of most supercars with a wheelbase smaller than a city car, yet cleverly packaged to accommodate even the tallest driver and passenger," Fernandez added.
He says the technology is transferable to an automotive mainstream that is clearly focused these days on delivering personal mobility that is environmentally friendly, socially acceptable and economically sustainable.
"The main objective for the car was to deliver the maximum driving pleasure, so the driver can really enjoy it for daily use with high levels of performance available on the track," Fernandez said.
He explains that much of the Aspid's dynamic performance can be attributed to the science, engineering and technology know-how incorporated into the chassis, suspension, braking and electronic systems.
"It is very much a driver's car and certainly has the ability to exhilarate," says Fernández. "But it's also a very safe car and easy to live with on a daily basis, whether driving into town or on a long distance journey," he said.
Despite its lightweight construction, the Aspid actually comes with more standard kit than most supercars that are often twice as heavy.
Inside the climate-controlled cabin a sophisticated electronic system incorporates a centre console-mounted touch screen that controls everything from the sensitivity of the power steering to the integral data logging. A second screen housed in the steering wheel displays all relevant data simply and clearly. With a design brief aimed at delivering the optimum active and passive safety, the Aspid meets both FIA safety standards as well as European road car homologation requirements - facts that make it unique as a genuine ready-to-race high performance road car. The car has a remarkable power to weight ratio and an F1-style steering wheel houses all the controls and F1-type suspension runs inboard dampers.
The Aspid 'Supersport' model is priced at $A186,000 excluding taxes.
Ian Crawford
Source: JUST CARS, October 2009, Collectors Issue #164
