Gordon Murray uses the remaining time for internal combustion engines. Its latest creation, the T.50, promises the most agile road V12 in history. When fully unleashed, it can reach 12,100 RPM. While they didn’t, Murray and Steve Hayes – Senior Test and Development Drivers at Gordon Murray Automotive – hit 5,000 RPM on the track with the XP2 and XP3, as shown in the video below. The V12 that the T.50 will have develops 663 hp (487.6 kW) at 11,500 rpm. Developed by Cosworth, it is also extremely light (178 kg) to meet the goals Gordon Murray set for the car that will be the spiritual successor to the McLaren F1. The British automaker tried to do the magic again, but it lacked the wizard to make it happen.
Our readers already know most of what there is to know about the T.50. The hypercar is 4.35 meters long, 1.85 meters wide, 1.16 meters high and has a wheelbase of 2.70 meters. Unlike most hypercars, it weighs just 986 kg (2173.7 lbs). For example, the Lotus Emira weighs 1,405 kg (3,097 lbs).
The most striking feature of the T.50 is a fan car: a 48 V electric motor lets a 40 cm (15.7 “) fan rotate at up to 7,000 rpm in order to suck in the air under the vehicle and the Murray promised that this would give the T.50 an unprecedented level of grip on the racetrack. The system would be more sophisticated than that of the Brabham BT46B fan car, which Murray had designed decades ago.
We cannot confirm any of this in the video below. It just shows us Murray and Hayes, some historic cars on the track – for benchmarking? – and a creator who nods his head in agreement after doing a lap with his developing machine. With this engine running at 5,000 rpm like this, we can’t wait to hear it in all its glory.
The post Gordon Murray tests the T.50 XP2 and XP3 with a 5,000 RPM limit first appeared on monter-une-startup.
