Is the insane horsepower war coming to an end? I really hope so, as so far, companies seem to care only about the horsepower output. A brilliant example is the Veyron, a car with arbitrary targets of 1000 hp and 250 mph and 0-60-mph in under 3 seconds.
Lotus philosophy of performance through low weight and simplicity is more suitable when it comes to high-performance car design and now Lamborghini seems to realize this... although not for the right reason. As Gordon Murray has said, "Weight saving should be by design and not a post process. Weight is the car designer's biggest enemy."
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"It has come to the point where acceleration equals consumption," said Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of the Italian automaker. "More consumption means increased CO2 emissions".
Winkelmann, who fears future government regulations could restrict engine performance, said Lamborghini's r&d spending will emphasize taking weight out of vehicles.
The pursuit of top speed is limited by the physics of aerodynamic resistance, Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini's r&d chief, said in an interview this month at the Detroit auto show. Once a vehicle reaches 211 mph, there is a declining rate of return for each additional horsepower needed to push the vehicle faster, he said.
Also, there are few places in the world where a driver can go that fast. So Reggiani said Lamborghini will focus on acceleration instead of top speed. The most effective way to do that, he said: take weight out of the car.
"The weight-to-power ratio will be the key factor," Reggiani said. "We will use composite materials in the right place, when it also has the right cost, stiffness and mechanical characteristics."
That could prove to be an expensive solution. Lamborghini has used mostly high-strength steel in its vehicles' structures and body panels. But Reggiani said the automaker will make greater use of aluminum and carbon fiber.
Lamborghini also is investigating start-stop technology for city driving to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. But with a V10 or V12 engine, the firing order is faster than a typical four-cylinder with start-stop.
As a result, Reggiani said, missing a cylinder or two on vehicle restart could cause more pollution than not having the technology at all. The same theory applies to cylinder deactivation at cruising speeds.
"Where is the supplier who can provide the right starter and alternator for our engine?" Reggiani asked. "That's a lot of cylinders. It's easy to make a mistake."
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