In an age where car manufacturers continue to engage in a seemingly never-ending horsepower war, the Gordon Murray T.50 is remarkable for being a little different.
Rather than chasing a top speed record or trying to rival the intended lap times of the Aston Martin Valkyrie, Gordon Murray has designed a vehicle with the sole intention of creating the best driver’s car ever. That’s a tall order considering all the regulatory hurdles car manufacturers have to jump through nowadays, particularly when it pertains to safety.
In the following video, Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained discusses five of the key reasons why the T.50 is so special.
One of the points is aerodynamics. Thanks to the utilization of a fan mounted at the rear of the car, downforce can be increased at low speeds and reduced at high speeds. This is particularly useful, as cars with high downforce traditional have poor ride quality because the downforce pushes them towards the tarmac. With the T.50, owners will be able to toggle the amount of downforce they have and this will, in turn, adjust the suppleness of the ride.
Another aspect discussed relates to weight. Thanks to the comprehensive use of carbon fiber and other lightweight materials, the T.50 weighs just 2,174 lbs (986 kg), meaning it is almost 1,500 lbs (680 kg) lighter than a Porsche 918 Spyder. Indeed, the T.50 has a power to weight ratio of 3.3 lbs/hp compared to the 4.1 of the 918, 3.8 of the McLaren P1, and 3.7 of the LaFerrari.