Press Release
Key features
· Economical and fast: 3.4 litres for 100 km, 6.3 sec, 230 kph
· World premiere for the carbon-fibre sports-car prototype at the Tokyo Motor Show
· TDI engine develops 100 kW und more than 250 Nm from 1.5 litres cubic capacity
At the Tokyo Motor Show Volkswagen are presenting a prototype that could well make history as the most economical sports car of its time. The two basic figures: 3.4 litres per 100 km average consumption, and 230 kph top speed. The name of the sports car: EcoRacer. Eco, because fuel consumption and emission are extremely low; Racer, because the dynamic potential of this centre-engined sports car is thoroughbred and fascinating.
Fascinating combination of values
A sports car world wide, capable of 230 kph, that can reach 100 kph in 6.3 seconds and makes do with only 3.4 litres for 100 km would be the ultimate dream car for many motorists
Thanks to its carbon-fibre (CFP) bodywork, the EcoRacer weighs only 850 kilograms and accelerates to 100 kph in a mere 6.3 seconds, driven through the DSG double-clutch transmission. This sports car, powered by a newly developed 100-kW turbo-diesel engine of the next generation, thus presents a forward-looking synthesis of austere economy and impressive performance. 230 kph, 6.3 seconds, 3.4 litres – vital statistics that are as unusual as they are fascinating! When driven with economy in mind, the car can even travel more than 1000 kilometres on one tank filling (30 litres).
The relationship between performance and consumption hint at a design that submits fully to the laws of aerodynamics. Nothing could be farther from the truth! The Volkswagen prototype on show in Tokyo displays avant-garde qualities. Its body styling, with a new form of sports-car front end, LED systems, tight proportions and powerful lines, demonstrates impressively that even very economical cars can rivet attention where they appear.
And this prototype is anything but a show-room mock-up. It can be driven without restrictions, and serves as a technology test-bed. And the EcoRacer is also a versatile all-rounder: As soon as a door is opened, the roof wing above it swings up, giving optimal access. The entire T-bar roof is removable. The rear hatch can be removed. And, last but not least, the frame of the windscreen can be exchanged for a module with a short, upright pane. This makes the EcoRacer, firstly, a coupé, secondly, a roadster and, thirdly, a speedster.
Minimum consumption, maximum fun
The EcoRacer is powered by an experimental engine that will be the engine of the future
The EcoRacer is the vision of the ideal sports car, which needs very little fuel and yet offers great agility. A sports car that accelerates from 0 to 100 kph in a f lash. A sports car with dynamics suitable for the North Loop of the Nürburgring. A sports car with extremely agile handling. A sports car that adapts to the most individualistic uses. A sports car that takes significantly less than 4.0 litres of fuel for 100 kilometres. A wild dream – and thus a case for Volkswagen Group Research, whose teams of experts draw together all the future technologies that, bit by bit, can be used to lower energy consumption and increase the joy of driving.
The future has already begun. The direct benefits to the motorist from the best brains in research and development pooling their know-how, are currently demonstrated by Volkswagen, with the new twin charger in the Golf GT. From just 1.4 litres cubic capacity, the engine develops 125 kW / 170 PS, thanks to the compressor (additional thrust at low revs) plus turbo loader (additional thrust at higher revs) and direct petrol injection. The doubly supercharged engine gives the Golf GT a speed of 220 kph; but it has an average consumption of only 7.2 litres of fuel for 100 kilometres. With the EcoRacer, the engineers at Volkswagen Group Research have added a new dimension to the philosophy of “minimum consumption for maximum fun”.
Body concept
· EcoRacer with CFP polycoque rather than monocoque
· The body is extremely light and extremely variable
As the mainstay of the EcoRacer, the team developed a carbon-fibre (CFP = carbon-fibre reinforced plastic) bodywork that was both light and stiff. Structurally, it is a CFP polycoque (the safety structure embraces room for two persons) with a fixed roll bar, CFP crash elements and a CFP skin. The main parts of the polycoque are a chassis pan, two side members and the dashboard.
The crash elements in the front area are the CFP crash absorber and an aluminium bumper cross-member. A further CFP module carries the engine and rear axle. The engine being mounted in front of the rear axle, there are boots at front and rear. The smooth vehicle floor with integrated diffuser, the boot lids, doors and roof elements are also made of CFP.
The door locks of the EcoRacer are electromechanical, being part of the Keyless-Entry-and-Go system. This not only releases the door catch but also swings the associated roof section upwards on a gas-pressure damper, so as to optimise the entry and exit. These roof sections and the so-called T-bar, the longitudinal web between them, can be removed completely and stowed behind the seats. And more: in a matter of minutes, the entire roof structure including the windows can be removed or converted. This, too, can be done in stages. The rear hatch, the coupe rear end, is removed. Without the hatch and the roof, the coupé now emerges as a roadster.
In the final stage, the roadster can be converted to a speedster. For this, a special catch in the area of the A column is simply released, to allow the windscreen with frame and the upper dashboard housing to be taken off. In place of this module, a minimalistic windscreen with its own cockpit cover is inserted. The result is a speedster in its purest form. Even in this version, you can drive the EcoRacer without a helmet. Firstly, the roll bar has been designed so that your head is protected even without a windscreen frame, should the car roll over. And secondly, the aerodynamics guide the slipstream over the heads of the driver and passenger.
Dimensions, styling
· Extremely tight proportions
· new radiator grille demonstrates variations on the sports-car styling of tomorrow
The bodywork of the EcoRacer is 3.77 metres long, 1.74 metres wide, and only 1.21 meters high. The wheelbase of the specially developed 17” alloy rims is 2.48 metres. The font and rear overhang is extremely short. These dimensions are complemented by a comparatively wide track of 1.54 metres at the front and 1.51 metres at the rear. So the tight proportions of the EcoRacer are characterised by an exciting interplay of dimensions.
As to the front styling, the shape of the radiator grille and the double headlamps above it is particularly conspicuous. It demonstrates a front end that would be conceivable for sports-car models of the future. At the sides, in the area of the B columns, the typical air intakes of a central-engined sports car are dominant. A sense of power emanates from the muscular contours of the wings and the 17” aluminium-alloy wheels that fill the wheel-boxes.
LED by day and night
· New LED headlamps extremely compactly built
· LEDs will in future ensure more safety even by day
Technically, the LED headlamps and LED rear lights deserve particular attention. The headlamp modules are built with a depth of only 55 millimetres, thus allowing the front end to be completely newly arranged. Hitherto, especially in cars with a very short body overhang, conventional headlamps have been installed significantly higher than the axles. Because of the flatness of the LED headlamps, a much lower position is now feasible, even in a sports car like the EcoRacer.
To go into details: in the prototype, Volkswagen use two chromeplated headlamp tubes in each lamp. The upper tube is for dipped and full headlights. In addition to the LEDs for these main functions, the headlamp has an outer ring consisting of another 50 LEDs. This ring, when dimmed, plays the role of the side light and – at full brilliance – the daytime driving light that is already regulation in many countries. At the same time, the dipped headlights, reduced to 10 percent, are switched on. The signalling effect is excellent.
The lower tube in each lamp contains the LED fog lamp and the LED cornering light. Again, nothing is as you have come to expect. Take the cornering light, for example: it is generated by an LED that is angled three degrees outwards. There being no swivelling headlamp, the depth required for installation is reduced here, too.
