Westfield opens kimono on EV Cup racer

The launch of the EV Cup electric car race series has taken a leap forward, following firm Westfield's announcement of its leccy challenger - the iRacer. westfield_iracer_01 Westfield's iRacer will feature in the EV Cup Driven by two 60kW (80bhp) electric motors each developing 369lb/ft of torque, iRacer will be powered by …

[Hermes Conran]

Road version please.

in kit form!

[Anonymous Coward]

NO thanks.

I've been in kit cars and had the shit scared out of me watching various bitsof them fall off, twist, break and generally fail because of shoddy assembly by nutters wearing anaoraks and spectacles held together with sticking plaster.

You want to chuck high power electronics and high voltages into the mix?

Good luck, I'll be the one prodding it with a long, well insulated stick.

Paris, deserves a good prodding.

[Arnold Lieberman]

Limited to 110mph?

Gosh, watching those races is going to be exciting, as the Fiat Panda pace car roars past.

[James Hughes 1]

For goodness sake...

How many Fiat panda pace cars have 160hp?

Electric is the way to go I reckon. The only thing missing will be the noise, and since the Nimbies are getting tracks shut down (or trying to) because of noise, that will be a positive advantage.

[Harry the snot gobbler]

Meh

Meh Meh Meh!

Westfield have made some of the lightest and most fun cars ever made for the road and the track ... now this publicity stunt

It's not road legal, it's heavy, only good for 55 miles from a full charge. Give me a bike engined Westie SEiW any day over that ... anyone want to buy my old kit car to fund it?

[James Hughes 1]

Did you read the article?

It's a race car! For an electric race series!

28 laps of Snet is a very long race (lets say 1m25s a lap for this thing if limited to 110mph), equates to about 40 minutes. Much longer than the average club race (15 minutes).

That charge should get you a couple of races in a day (about average for a club series), three with a recharge.

A bike engined Westfield would be fun, but not exactly keeping the the spirit of the rules....

[Anonymous Coward]

Nah...

I wait for the Ultima / Arial Atom version :-)

[blackworx]

Blech

It looks awful

[Jimmy Floyd]

Aerodynamics of a tank

Doesn't it just?!

It never ceases to amaze me how many electric vehicles are lumbered with dreadful aerodynamics, as if something that looks like Dali-meets-Kandinsky-meets-a-head-on-collision demonstrates its eco-credentials. You wouldn't put that bodywork on an internal-combustion car - why do it for a 'leccy option?

Bodywork was designed by a Royal College of Art student, apparently, so I look forward to Ross Brawn winning the Turner prize...

[Simon Rockman]

Electrically limited?

Why limit the top speed in a racer?

[Keith Oldham]

Re : Electrically limited?

Presumably with 160 hp and quite aerodynamic it will go a LOT faster (~140-150 mph ??)

HOWEVER the range will nosedive

[Anonymous Coward]

Simple...

If they didn't, an over pedal happy driver would hit 180mph and kill the battery in 5 minutes...

[Jon Lamb]

Rollcage

Hope it gets one for head

[Anonymous Coward]

Not needed.

Never been given head that was rough enough to need a roll cage..

[SuperTim]

it wont look like that....

if it wants to race it will need a substantial roll cage. i notice that is suspiciously absent. Seems to be a bit pie in the sky at the moment.

[RainForestGuppy]

Roll-cage

I take it you mean a roll-over hoop that goes behind the driver. Racing cars do not require a full rollcage, just look at the LMP cars such as the Audi R10

[SuperTim]

Potayto Potarto

Definitely a rollover hoop, but possibly a cage (like the caterhams have), If it is DESIGNED as a racer, then this should be part of the design!

[Greg J Preece]

So basically it's rubbish?

55 mile range and it's limited to 110mph. Wow....great racer.

[James Hughes 1]

Race length and speed

Many club race cars don't get much more than 100mph (Stock Hatch, Locost, Formula V etc), and generally all race cars spend most of their trace time and much less than that (look up track average speeds). The average club race is about 15 minutes (about 20miles depending on circuit), well within the 55 mile range.

So, seems like quite a good racer then.

[lglethal]

Anyone else think

that it looks like a scaled down version of an F1 powerboat with wheels?

Im guessing the designers turned to the art grad and said "we want it to look like it belongs in F1". One google search and one numpty later, you get this...

Awful design...

[Eddy Ito]

Soap box

A fine example of a retro soap box derby racer.

[Andy Mc]

design?

"Its bodywork was designed by Royal College of Art student Elliot Hawkins."

I might have to take issue with the word "designed" in there.....

[Anonymous Coward]

No pitstops for refuelling then?

"Good stop there, 2hr 57m 39s"