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Competition for the Radicals??
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NEW SUZUKI RACE/ROAD CAR CONCEPT UNVEILED



Low-slung, bike-engined racer -- but will it enter production?

Suzuki has unveiled its latest design concept, and it could be a doozy. The road-going Hayabusa GT prototype, a compact coupe, is based on the successful Hayabusa single-seater, racing car one-make Japanese class. According to Suzuki, since the first of the open-wheelers took to the track, demand for a road-going version has grown.

Suzuki’s response has been a superlight GT coupe with 50:50 weight distribution, a low centre of gravity and minimal front/rear overhang. This bright yellow prototype is built on a short wheelbase and sports a sleek body with aerodynamics aided by a flat floor and a low-drag rear end.

Styled in a moving belt-type wind tunnel in the Suzuki Sport factory in Japan, the mid-engined GT drives the rear wheels, while the gull-wing door body is made from fibreglass and carbon fibre, fitted to a specially designed aluminium alloy space frame. Suzuki reckons it has added crash-worthiness.

The Suzuki Hayabusa engine, which powers the GSX1300R high performance motorcycle, is a 1,299 litre four-stroke, 16-valve, double overhead camshaft unit that revs to 11,000 rpm, producing 95 bhp at 9,800 rpm and 101 lb/ft of torque at 7,000 rpm. It runs at a compression ratio of 11:1 and feeds through a six-speed sequential gearbox. Weighing in at 550 kg, it provides a power to weight ratio of 314 bhp per tonne.

Suzuki says that, to assist the car’s low centre of gravity, the exhaust pipe is located on the left side of the chassis rather than underneath. The company says it has endeavoured to use as many original factory parts as possible, not only to reduce costs but also to preserve the originality of the sports car.

The car employs double wishbone suspension and is fitted with 15-inch diameter, 6.5J wide aluminium alloy wheels, shod with 175/80 R15 tyres. Built on a 2,320mm wheelbase (or less than a production Suzuki Ignis), the Hayabusa GT is 4,050mm long.

While no plans exist to put this radical concept into production, the design is a showcase for Suzuki's technical innovation and provides a pointer towards future technology.

That looks pretty neat, although the thing that caught my eye were the 15x6.5 SSR Type C's that appear to be 5 bolt. Anyone with a '00+ Celica in stock class would love a set of those. - AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

This looks pretty cool, but I'm not so sure about their numbers.

CSR class Radicals run the 1300cc Hyabusa motors, and easily get 185 - 205 HP out of them ("sprocket" HP, not wheel HP). I think that's the figure they used to calculate the BHP/tonne number (~330 BHP/tonne).

My DSR spec Radical (1000cc displacement engine) puts out about 150BHP and the car weighs about 450kg, putting it right at ~330BHP/tonne.

That car looks more like a Lotus Elise killer, however. No real aero means being left behind in the corners. Looks like a lot of fun, and sequential gearboxes are very cool.

BTW, for reference, a Z06 Vette has about 280BHP/tonne.

Cheers,
Matt

I want a Stohr. Those are the heat.

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2006 Civic Si - #24 HS for 2015

2005 GMC Sierra
1991 318is Garage Ornament

Me too. What I don't have is $60k to go get one.

They're beautiful, fast, and fragile.

-Matt

And the Radical is pretty durable. Ask me how I know

Because it still runs after you touched it?

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.