The Maybach Exelero Project - In Detail

Press Release

The idea - the tire - the car: The Exelero project

 

·          Fulda Carat Exelero - "State of the art in tire design

·          Cooperation with the best - Maybach becomes project partner

 

Ultra-high performance tires, top products for demanding motorists with high performance cars are not introduced to the market every year. They are the result of intensive tests over many millions of kilometers in technical laboratories and under the most extreme road conditions at high speed. Years go by before they achieve their optimal performance profile in the critical eyes of the tire specialists.

 

In 2005, the successor to the long successful and tried and tested Carat Extremo will be introduced to the specialist trade. A summer wide tire of an extra class - the Fulda Carat Exelero. High performance – sporty, dynamic and and comfortable.

 

How and in what setting such a high-end product should be presented?

In 1996, the manufacturer from Fulda already faced the same problem with the Exelero predecessor and that was solved with brute force. The noble design workshop Gemballa created a show vehicle based on the Porsche 911 convertible with a 3.8-liter Biturbo engine, 600 hp and all-wheel drive which catapulted the racing vehicle standing on its 18-ich rims and Extremo tires to a maximum speed of 350 km/h.

 

Why not once again design such an automobile built around a top Fulda product? The previous concept was successful.

 

This time the problem was different. The Exelero tire line, for the first time tested in advance by the TÃœV (Technical Control Board), is not comparable with the predecessor generation. This applies to the design and the extended extreme sizes up to 315/25 ZR 23 version! A complete wheel in this still weighs around 46 kilograms.

 

How can the claim of this tire technology be interpreted in automotive form?

During the team meetings the image of the Fulda streamlined vehicle of 1938 repeatedly went through the minds of the decision-makers. Then it became clear: the successful comeback only a couple of years ago of Germany’s most exclusive automobile make tipped the balance – it had to be Maybach.

A go-between was quickly found. René Staud, top photographer for automobiles, a man with 31 years of work for DaimlerChrysler and 20 years for Fulda Reifen behind him. Leon Hustinx, Maybach, meets Bernd Joachim Hoffmann, Fulda. A cooperation is agreed on. Then everything moves very quickly.

 

Maybach agrees to make a platform available on the 57 basis.

The initial ideas revolve around the basic idea of the SW 38 streamlined car, they are rejected.

This vehicle will stand on the best tires that Fulda has to offer.

For the Fulda project team under the direction of Bernd J. Hoffmann, Managing Director, Helge Jost, Marketing Manager and responsible for the communicative project interface, and Rolf-Dieter Stohrer, Senior Manager Car Tires, responsible for wheel and tire technology, it is therefore quite clear: the vehicle should be more than just a reproduction. To quote Oscar Wilde they want only the best of everything.

 

An idea takes shape.

 

The Design

 

What ever happens no retro design!

 

·          Second cooperation between Fulda and Pforzheim Polytechnic’s Department of Transport Design

·          DaimlerChrysler Design Department provides generous support

·          Each of the four designs could have been realized

 

Why not revive a good und effective cooperation once again? In the middle of the 1990s, Fulda Reifen had already had a show truck designed by the students of Pforzheim Polytechnic’s Department of Transport Design under the direction of Professor James Kelly. Since the year 2000, to mark the 100th anniversary of Fulda, this uniue vehicle with its futuristic aura, the trailer of which can be divided lengthwise in the middle and extended, has been on the road for use at many events.

 

Not only Fulda, also its cooperation partners Maybach and the design department of DaimlerChrysler have had very good experience with Pforzheim Polytechnic and were happy to agree. On the part of the Polytechnic, Professor Kelly and Professor Lutz Fügener assumed responsibility for the project and selected four students from the 6th semester who should produce designs under identical conditions.

 

On behalf of DaimlerChrysler, Professor Harald Leschke who manages the Group’s future projects, assumed responsibility for the project and the links with the students to the company’s design department.

 

Because the students not only worked on the design in the college. They were also given the unique opportunity during a practical semester to work directly in DaimlerChrysler’s design center in Sindelfingen, under the wings of the design professionals. Included was the use of the latest technological facilities right up to 3-D animation.

 

The implementation of the creative ideas was handled quickly and very professionally. From the initial briefing at the Polytechnic (only formal specification from Fulda: Whatever happens no retro design!) through to the selection of the final design which should be realized, just less than eight months passed by. In the end, Fredrik Burchhardt 24, from Bowenden, emerged as the winner. His design was the most appropriate in terms of the transformation of the design from the study into reality. Also the relation of the design between the two vehicle generations was most striking in Burchhardt’s design.

 

However, Professor Leschke lavished his praise on all the students involved: “Even though Fredrik Burchhardt’s design won in the end, the ideas of the three other students should also be integrated. The project will remain a joint effort. Every single one of them displayed so much imagination, each of the designs could have been realized." In appreciation of these good performances, all four designs were milled as 1:4 scale models.

 

Ultimately, the design results can be described as a complete success. The Fulda/Maybach project car was created in a unique interplay between design students, their professors, the specialists from DaimlerChrysler and the Fulda team. The result: a new vehicle dimension.

 

The designers brings together the best of two vehicle genres - the grandeur of a limousine and the fascination of a coupé. As a result, the Fulda/Maybach project car combines muscular strength and apparently infinite elegance.

 

The designer mission was accomplished: The Exelero project is the ambassador of a new tire generation, the Fulda Carat Exelero in sizes up to 23 inches.

 

An idea on the move.

 

A legend lives.

 

The Technic

 

·          German high technology and design aesthetics in perfection

·          From the limousine to the coupé – metamorphosis in technology and design

 

Following the many model phases, whether it be the 1:1 study, the exterior design model as a reference for the form release, the interior reference model, the innumerable wind tunnel tests, the bodywork for the chassis in working order with subframe – eventually these phases of searching and coordination are concluded. Now it is time for the technicians and engineers.

 

Fulda’s arguments were very clear right from the start:

the reference vehicle for the new broad tire generation Exelero must withstand a constant load in use on the road, on the freeway, at trade shows, exhibitions and other events.

The technically impressive values of the Fulda Gemballa show vehicle should serve as a guideline for the Exelero sports coupé.

 

The standard type 12 Maybach engine with Biturbo turbocharger produces 550 hp. Even this imposing engine cannot accelerate a vehicle weighing around 2.6 tons to a speed of around 350 km/h.

A matter of honor for DaimlerChrysler’s engine specialists in Untertürkheim.

 

The designers dipped into their technical box of tricks and increased the cubic capacity from 5.6 to 5.9 liters. They further optimized the turbocharger and, lo and behold, the 700 hp and torque of at least 1,000 newton meters calculated for the desired speed was achieved. After around 100 hours of non-stop testing on the engine test bed, corresponding to a road test of about 15,000 kilometers, the unit was ready for use.

 

Leon Hustinx, the Director of Sales and Marketing at Maybach, was so impressed by the Exelero project that he quickly and unbureaucratically provided Fulda with the platform of a Maybach 57 limousine.

How to conjuring up a sports coupé from it? For Jürgen Weissinger, head of development at Maybach, this was not the first tricky question. He is more familiar with the engineering of the Maybach than anyone else and, as project manager in pre-development, he has produced numerous feasibility studies for the make.

When comparing the dimension concepts of the Fulda streamlined car of 1938 with the 57 platform, an astonishing correlation of measurements already emerged. Although today's Maybach is about 290 mm longer, e.g. in the wheelbase, the breadth and height of the veteran car strongly resembled the 57’s dimensions.

 

That simplified construction considerably. Nevertheless, a great number of details had to be changed, among others:

·          the driver’s position including A-column and door had to be shifted back towards the rear axle;

·          correspondingly the steering column and the pedals as well as the gear shift;

·          a second front wall had to be integrated;

·          the position of the tank remained unchanged, the refuelling nozzle had to be shifted etc..

 

All in all, however, the necessary changes were made in the short time available.

 

The development work connected with the rim and the wheel proved equally tricky. Rolf Dieter Stohrer, Senior Manager Car Tires and responsible for wheel and tire technology in the Fulda project team contacted several rim manufacturers and realized the rim called for in the design with Ronal. The corresponding design was milled by Ronal from a complete piece of metal, i.e. from a solid block weighing 257 kilograms a rim measuring 11.0 x 23 inches was produced with a weight of just 23 kg. All four rims were individually produced and because they are turbine wheels, the direction of movement had to be taken into account. Thus, two were produced for the left side and two for the right. However, these Ronal rims are only needed for the "See true" vehicle model. This is the exact copy of the Exelero sports coupé which, however, is not used in the road but merely at show events.

 

The real rims for the high speed tests come from ATP-Excentric in Bremen. The reason: the ATP rims have a cross spoke design which can be simply fully-panelled for the speed tests. This procedure  means an additional 3-4 km/h for such gigantic 23-inch wheels. The air pressure of the tires will amount to 3.6 bar for the high speed tests. As a rim can bear a load of 1,050 kilograms, for example, the load on the rear axle of 1,400 kilograms is no problem, i.e. there is a sufficient reserve.

 

After all technical requirements included in the engineers’ specifications had been checked, the tests began.

 

An idea conquers the road.