Electric car trounces Carrera GT/Ferrari

[ScottT]

That was awesome... I had no clue they were getting these kinds of results from enviro-cars! Something bothers me though... although it was really cool to watch I couldn't help but pull for the Ferrari and the Porsche, and I almost immediately started thinking of disadvantages that the electric car might pose. I guess detroit has got me brainwashed or something. All in all great clip!

[BuffaloBoxster]

While it is interesting that it's an electric car, the fact is that lightweight cars have it all over even the most expensive exotics. It's all about power to weight, and the extremely low weight makes them ultra-quick in the corners.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective) series production cars have far greater legal requirements than track toys or kit cars do - bumper regulations, emissions control systems, side impact beams, airbags, etc etc etc... All of this leads to significantly greater weight and expense.

For a killer lightweight google for Radical SR4.

[drburton]

BuffaloBoxster has an excellent point here, its all about the power to weight ratio. If you even the race by taking away all the production car requirements, the results would change. See the quote below:

"But so what? asks Bruno Vanzieleghem of ABG. Fast electric cars are nothing new. Vanzieleghem points to the Ariel Atom on which the X1 is based, stating the light weight of such vehicles as the major contributing factor to their speed. A petrol-powered Ariel Atom would embarass an X1 that's laden down with heavy batteries. The X1 doesn't represent a revolutionary breakthrough for electric car development so much as it attracts attention to itself and the EV movement."

[deliriousga]

Originally Posted by ScottT

That was awesome... I had no clue they were getting these kinds of results from enviro-cars! Something bothers me though... although it was really cool to watch I couldn't help but pull for the Ferrari and the Porsche, and I almost immediately started thinking of disadvantages that the electric car might pose.

It's ok to pull for the electric. The first Porsche was electric and 4W drive. It was a tractor, but still a Porsche. Without that first one, we may have never seen ours.

[986Jim]

Too bad it's only 1/8th mile which is pretty ghey... If it was a full 1/4 mile rate the GT and Enzo would smoke the crap out of that car.. With proper gearing both cars would beat the electric car as well. The gearing of the GT and ENzo are as such to provide a lot of acceleration but a lot of top end as well. If you limited the top end to say 150mph, both cars would out accelerate that electric car. Unfortunately thats not impressive at all. The maker of the car knew it would be out run badly in a full 1/4 mile race which is why that demostration was only half the track at a full 1/4 mile track. Make the results look interesting and revelant so change the track so you get the results you want.

Thats like racing a Viper against an Air Plane, sure the viper takes an early lead, but you know whats coming and coming fast...

[TriGem2k]

speaking of viper....Just drove a 2005 last wednesday in New Jersey....Holy crap that this has power...I kept throwing the rear end out tho ...All in all the car was fun to drive the the first 20mins or so after that my back couldnt take it any longer sooo uncomfortable....Interior is GARBAGE....

[insite]

Originally Posted by 986Jim

Too bad it's only 1/8th mile which is pretty ghey... If it was a full 1/4 mile rate the GT and Enzo would smoke the crap out of that car.... Thats like racing a Viper against an Air Plane, sure the viper takes an early lead, but you know whats coming and coming fast...

agreed; electric cars are heavy on torque but light on power. they're GREAT off the line, but not remarkable at speed.

on another note, that GT sounds fantastic