Honda FC Future Sports Car with V Flow Fuel Cell Technology

The new FC Sport fuel based car from Honda was recently displayed at the LA Auto Show is one traffic stopper. The designers have taken into their advantage the flexibility which is extended by the fuel cell powertrain as it is placed on the back of the driver. It’s a 3-seater with the styling of sports car major McLaren F1 vehicle, where in the driver is in the middle with passenger seats on side and back. The concept car is right now under study and testing to understand the full utility of the product. Though there may be a possibility of Honda releasing a full fledged version for commercial use.[Press Release]
Honda FC Sport Design Study Suggests Hydrogen Sports Car Future LOS ANGELES, Nov. 19, 2008 – Honda today revealed the Honda FC Sport design study model, a hydrogen-powered, three-seat sports car concept, at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show.
The FC Sport emphasizes the design flexibility and potential of Honda’s V Flow fuel cell technology – already deployed in the Honda FCX Clarity sedan – and reconfigures it into a lightweight sports car design with an ultra-low center of gravity, powerful electric motor performance and zero-emissions. The design study concept is inspired by supercar levels of performance through low weight and a high-performance, electrically driven fuel cell powertrain.
“The Honda FC Sport explores how to satisfy automotive performance enthusiasts in a world beyond petroleum,” said Dan Bonawitz, vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “People who love sports cars will still have a reason to love in a hydrogen-powered future.”
The high-output Honda fuel cell powertrain and a sleek, aerodynamic body contribute to the vehicle’s performance potential. A modular approach to fuel cell component packaging and the electric drivetrain contribute to the FC Sport’s low center of gravity with the majority of vehicle mass distributed between the axles, creating the balanced weight distribution sought after in sports cars.

The ideal placement of the Honda V-Flow fuel cell stack and related components demonstrates the benefits of a platform-specific, hydrogen-powered fuel cell powertrain. The FC Sport is configured to accommodate a custom-formed high-power fuel cell stack, located between the rear seats, and a battery pack placed low in the middle of the vehicle. The electric motor resides just forward of the rear axle. Two fuel storage tanks, visible from above, are located above the rear axle.
The optimal placement of fuel cell components for performance also allows for a relatively large passenger cabin by conventional supercar standards with enough space for three seating positions. The interior layout focuses primarily on the driver with a racecar-like center driving position. The enclosed canopy opens upward from the rear to allow for entry and exit. Two rear passenger seats flank the driver’s left and right side.
The sleek, low-profile body is designed to convey a high-technology appearance with sculpting that combines angular shapes in the front of the vehicle that taper into geometric, hex forms in the rear. The rear hex forms house cooling radiators for the fuel cell. Formula 1-style barge boards behind the front wheels enhance high speed aerodynamics and convey the vehicle’s racing pedigree. The hydrogen storage tanks, visible from the rear deck, showcase the FC Sports fuel cell technology in much the same way that a “naked bike” motorcycle showcases its engineering technology.
The glacier white body color conveys the FC Sport’s clean environmental aspirations while the dark wheels and deeply tinted glass provide a symbolic contrast befitting of the vehicle’s unique combination of clean power and high performance. Green construction techniques further contribute to a reduced carbon footprint. An organic, bio-structure theme is carried through to the body construction where exterior panels are intended to use plant-derived bio-plastics.
The Advanced Design Studio of Honda R&D Americas, in Pasadena, California, developed the FC Sport design study with the primary objective of using existing fuel cell technology as the basis for an ultimate Honda sports car. Designer Jason Wilbur led the design efforts.
Honda R&D Americas, Inc. began its operations in California in 1975 with local market research activities and has steadily grown its capabilities over the past 33 years to include all aspects of new vehicle design and development. Recent development efforts include trend-setting products such as the Honda Pilot, Ridgeline, Element, Civic Coupe and Civic Si.
In 2008, the company opened two new design centers in Southern California: the Acura Design Studio (Torrance), for the research and design of new Acura products; and the Advanced Design Studio (Pasadena), for the exploration and development of advanced design themes for both Honda and Acura.
The company operates 11 major R&D facilities in North America, including a full vehicle development center in Raymond, Ohio, and three design studios in Southern California. Honda R&D designers, engineers and support personnel are engaged in the development of Honda and Acura automobiles, powersports products, and power equipment for North America and global markets. The company’s main centers of operation include the Los Angeles Center (Torrance, California), responsible for market research, concept development and styling design; the Ohio Center (Raymond, Ohio), responsible for complete product development, testing, and support of North American supplier and manufacturing operations; and a dynamic test facility in Cantil, California.

Fisker Karma Hybrid Sports Car

Fisker Karma is a hybrid sports car with sleek and luxury design. This environmentally friendly car is powered by Q-Drive, a system developed by Quantum Technologies that combines a four-cylinder engine sending power to a generator to propel the four-door sedan. Fisker claims that Karma can perform at 0-60 mph in 6 seconds, top speed of 125 mph, pretty cool for a hybrid car.

Fisker Karma has two different modes, “Stealth Drive” which is a pure electric mode and “Sports Mode” which integrates the four-banger for peak performance, and according to Fisker, this will make the Karma sound like a combination of a jet fighter and an F1 car.

F1-Inspired Lotus Evora GTE Special Edition

This past Wednesday, Lotus sent us an invitation to take part in the world premiere of a "special edition of a special edition" Evora at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The company's invitation noted that the car would be an F1-inspired version of the limited-edition Lotus Evora GTE first shown at the Frankfurt auto show last year. This
"We're launching a special edition of a special edition, and to make things extra special our Lotus F1 Team driver Kimi Raikkonen will be there to field questions. Now, it doesn’t get more special than that…," read the British automaker's invitation.
Lotus did not release any photos of the car leaving us more or less in the dark, but today, Patrick Garcia from French auto site Caradisiac, sent us these photos of an F1-themed Evora that he discovered at a parking lot during a trip to Jerez to cover the F1 pre-season testing earlier this month.
Garcia was right to assume that what we're looking at is most likely the F1-themed version of the Evora GTE Lotus has been talking about.
We don't know if there are any mechanical improvements over the regular Evora GTE that is lighter and more powerful than the Evora S, but on the outside, it does get the Lotus F1 team's colors and graphics including a large Lotus insignia on the rear wing and gold finish alloy wheels, plus the number "10", which is used by Kimi Räikkönen's team mate, Romain Grosjean this season.
A similar treatment was given to the F1-inspired Evora S, of which only three examples were built.
We'll remind you that the Evora GTE gets a tuned 3.5-liter supercharged V6 delivering 444-horses, up from the 350HP, channeled to the rear wheels via a new sequential AMT (Automated Manual Transmission) racing gearbox, while Lotus engineers also shaved 105kg or 232 pounds over the base model by eliminating certain parts and using carbonfibre throughout the exterior and interior.
The…two times special edition Evora should not be confused with the company's second world debut at the Swiss show, which Lotus said would "blow our top off" hinting at the Evora Convertible.

Merci Beaucoup to Patrick Garcia!

PHOTO GALLERY

THE UNDERCOVER PORSCHE GT2 CAR

I thought it would be nice to show other Speedhunters something unique and exclusive as an added bonus to our Porsche feature month.

As some of you may know, I work on the need for Speed ​​Car team as the main vehicle Concept Artist for our Downtown Vancouver Studio. The majority of my working days is taken to design bodykits and cars for hire and help / direction vinyl. I will explain the process of designing a body kit for a single car key in our game. I think this is the first time we showed off the development process outside of EA Blackbox.
In the production at the beginning of Need for Speed: Undercover, we started looking at the cars of our characters and what might lead car would end up on the cover. It's been a while since Porsche was introduced on a need to cover speed, so we decided to use the iconic Porsche 911 for this game.

This called for a unique body kit for the 997 GT2. The brief was to create an "aggressive, but tasteful" kit. Yes, these are the very words! As an artist concept of primary vehicle, it was my job to make this "brief" in something visual. ...

It was important not to destroy the classic lines of the 911 and it was vital that the kit is fully integrated, as the trend of the real world continues to move away from wild bodykits. Its usually a quick turn around for a day or two to get a design kit, so it was a nice change to have the extra time to explore shapes, which really paid off. I also wanted it to remain credible.

Porsche was also involved at an early stage, so it was time to draw with one of my favorite pieces of technology, my Wacom Cintiq. I love this stuff!
Early drawings show the inquiry into the forms of entry. I had a vision clear enough to the rear and side, but the front needs more exploration. The back was defined by a carbon diffuser and a large wide-mesh grid, which will also house the license plate. I also designed a new rear wing, which is mounted on the trunk GT2 changed. The wing supports have larger air intakes for the engine more extreme.


The Porsche Carrera GT and 959 influenced the side profile. As the brief required a widebody kit, I joined a larger vent in the rear Fender air, similar to the Carrera GT, the mixture of the shoulder of the main body, which often detects light along the door .

The front was more of a challenge. Research has shown that we need a front bumper brand new, rather than a lip kit to give it a new identity. We needed something dramatic that would be unique to our products. As you can see, I focused on the design, to work with the stock radiator and cooling.

In the end I went for a design that was extreme but believable, with cooling radiators, brakes and intercooler splitter and an integrated lower front for aerodynamics. The new bumper extends further forward than the stock to give an aggressive (but tasteful!) Watch. We have also included the second actions GT2/Turbo lights and indicators for realism. The cover is a new design for Undercover, which is exclusive to mid-engined cars in / out, inspired by GT1 and GT2 cars.

Once I had settled on a design, it was out of the Porsche Design Studio for approval. Fortunately, it was approved without change. Whew!

The car was then modeled by one of our car modelers, Angelo Borrillo. Meanwhile, Concept Artist, Mike Hayes, with the help of Carl Jarrett, James Lau and I were watching the livery and paint (I do not use the term, vinyl, this is not really a vinyl!) .


Mike has explored a number of opportunities and we agreed from the outset that the focus would be on different material finishes while Carl concentrated on how it sounds in the game

We noted a growing trend of matte black (sometimes called satin, or "murdered") paint on modern cars, which was inspired by Rat-Rods. There was a slow transition of the finish-roads in rat muscle 60 and now modern cars. I wanted to go further, based on a number of cars we had seen in recent years SEMA, where Flat Black was mixed with glossy finish that is a trend of development.This car needs to stand out, so we investigated how different colors work with the matte black. Ultimately, we went to a deep red, which complements the lines of the car while not being too bright. Gives it a chic look and is suitable to the character that drives the Porsche.

By the time the livery was approved, the model was complete and we could see the end result in the game
So hope this gives you a little background on what I work on when I'm not Speedhunting, and how we designed this kit in particular.

Fast Car Image