2010 LANCIA STRATOS CONCEPT
The Lancia Stratos not only single-handedly rewrote the history of rallying, it won a permanent place in the hearts of its countless fans with its dramatic performance on the world’s asphalt and gravel tracks a performance which included three successive world championship titles.
The New Stratos using components of the Ferrari 430 Scuderia. Almost all of these components have been modified. The aluminum chassis was shortened by 20cm and welded to a roll cage made of 40mm-thick FIA FE45 steel. This method significantly increases rigidity, and this, combined with the shifting of the center of gravity towards the front.
The chassis was completely reengineered by the ZF Sachs engineers, including integration of new electronic damper calibration, adjustable via the steering wheel, modified springs and optimized camber and toe values. The 9 and 11-inch wide by 19-inch center lock wheels are fitted with Dunlop Sport Maxx tires, sizes 265/30/19 and 315/30/19.
The interior are constructed entirely of carbon fiber and aluminum. All of the body components of the shell and interior are made of visible carbon. This places especially high demands on the quality of the processing, which was accomplished by Re Fraschini.
The centerpiece of the New Lancia Stratos is the 4.3L, light alloy V8 engine from the Ferrari F430 Scuderia, which accelerates the high tech sports car to a speed of 200 km/h in 9.7 seconds. The high performance engine which draws its intake air from the roof spoiler’s side openings, has been equipped with a new control unit and a high-performance exhaust system by Capristo, including manifold and sports cat exhaust system; it delivers 540 hp and provides a torque of over 500 Nm.
The steering has been converted to electro-hydraulic, the new smaller carbon steering wheel displays the exact shift points via differently colored LEDs and the paddle shifters are from the Ferrari 430 racecar.
2011 WHEEGO LIFE
The Wheego LiFe gets its name, from the chemical symbols Li and Fe) gives a solid center of gravity to the car, but you can’t get past the cheap look and finish of the interior on the production model drove. The vinyl seats we suitable, but not extermely comfortable. The production model we drove was also a little noisy, especially when we stepped on the go pedal.
The LiFe has three transmission modes: normal, sport (which bumps the motor controller to work at 650 amps instead of 550, which in turn raises the 0-30 acceleration rate by around 25 percent) and eco mode that extends range. The car also has four-wheel, anti-lock breaks, tire pressure monitoring system and regenerative breaking. The brakes felt soft, which is, again, something Boyd said customers wanted. They didn’t like the firmer, grippier regen the car had earlier, he said, so the engineers toned it down. The car does creep at up to three mph and acceleration in any mode is decent but nothing to write home about. Boyd said the creep was put in there to make driving the LiFe as similar as possible to driving a standard gasoline vehicle.
Other things to note are a dash that is dominated by a bright LCD screen that is easily visible in strong sunlight and the car’s small size, which means it’s a fine urban performer as anyone who’s handled a slightly smaller Fortwo can attest.
This is going to be a tough sell, given the other plug-in vehicles available in the very near future.
Jom komen!