California Dreaming

LA Designers envision motorsport in 2025

Audi R25: Putting the spectator in the driver's seat.

BMW Salt Flat Racer: Comes with Goldfish "co-pilots".

GM Chaparral Volt: Uses "Earth, Wind and Fire".

Honda's The Great Race 2025: Travels on air, land and sea.

Mazda KAAN: Part of an E1 Series which would feature electronic tyres powered by the road.

Mitsubishi Motors MMR25: Features omni-directional wheels.

Mercedes-Benz Formula Zero: A mix of F1 and the America's Cup

Toyota Lemans Racer: Would make pit stops a thing of the past.

Volkswagen Bio Runner: Running in the Baja 1000 of 2025.

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With Ferrari threatening to pull out of Formula One, it looks like the FIA needs to find a future which is green, cost-effective and at the cutting edge of technology if it wants to stay on track.
Fortunately, as if in answer to this very problem, this year's LA Auto Show Design Challenge asked Southern California's best automotive design teams to envisage Motorsport in 2025.

Audi R25 (Volkswagen/Audi Design Centre California)
On the surface, the R25 may simply look like a handy tie-in to Audi's current Le Mans success, but what the picture can't tell you is that this algae biofuel / electric motor hybrid has been conceptualised to race in a futuristic Le Mans series more akin to a video game than a circuit race.
"The inaugural Los Angeles round of the ALMS 2025 incorporates innovative features never previously seen in any form of motorsports, such as high-velocity banks and tunnels, which allow cars to race 'inverted' and the opportunity to pass anywhere with aerodynamic race cars,'' the entry brief reads.
"All top sections of the tunnels and banks are also WiTricity wireless electrical charging zones, which encourage the drivers to utilize these free energy zones instead of fuel stops.'' Audi also wants to increase the spectacle of motorsport by allowing spectators to take the driver's point of view during the race.
All-around vehicle dynamic sensors and integrated on-board HD cameras with real-time data links would allow fans to virtually 'sit' and experience the race in any race car through monitors and virtual reality booths.

BMW Hydrogen Powered Salt Flat Racer  (BMW Group DesignworksUSA)
It's not enough to recycle, BMW wants to "reuse'' by building a hydrogen-powered racer which would list old oil barrels and barbecue lids as part of the main components for its wheels and body.
While BMW describes the concept as "friendly, whimsical and sustainable'', its Kermit the Frog-green credentials are somewhat negated by the use of "goldfish co-pilots''.
Yes, you read that right. Your co-pilots, in this instance, would act somewhat like a canary in a coalmine to make sure your emissions are clean.
"If your fish get sick, you must be running 'rich','' apparently.

GM Chaparral Volt (General Motors Advanced Design, California)
GM's team chose to envisage an entry into the "2025 revival of the LA Times Grand Prix'' with this environmentally-friendly CanAm Series concept.
As an advanced EREV (Extended Range Electric Vehicle) it would combine propulsion, energy collection, generation and management technology to utilise "Earth, Wind and Fire''.
While it may sound like the first concept to ever suggest running on the kinetic energy of late-seventies disco, it is in fact the design team's reference to three renewable energy sources the car would use.
Gravity and momentum-capture regeneration and aero-thermal resistance technologies encapsulate the "Earth'' bit, while the "Wind'' element takes its cue from the 1970 Chaparral 2J - a prototype CanAm car which used two turbines to create down force.
The Chaparral Volt would use rear turbine extractors for power cell cooling as well as down force and a combination of aero-assist braking and energy regeneration when switched to reverse.
Finally, thin-film photovoltaic panels all over the body of the vehicle equate to the "Fire'' element.

Honda's The Great Race 2025 (Honda Research and Development)
"In 1908, 17 men dared to take on the 'toughest race ever devised'. Spanning six months, the Great Race brought these men over 22,000 miles, through three continents and around the world. 117 years later, the Great Race of 2025 is tougher than ever.''  With this opening statement Honda Research and Development declares its interest in starting a global 24 hour circumnavigation race which would see competitors race on land in America, by sea "through'' Asia (however that would work) and by air over Europe.
Thanks to "sonar/echolocation sensors'' the vehicles would detect changes in speed, altitude and terrain to allow its pilots to safely switch to different configurations.

MAZDA KAAN (Mazda Research and Development)
Mazda presumably hopes to compete with or replace F1 with its E1 series, a competition for electric vehicles which the Japanese manufacturer envisages as "the pinnacle of international motorsports in terms of technology and popularity''.
By 2025 Mazda sees California's freeways resurfaced with a sub-level electro-conductive polymer to power electric cars, which is handy because Mazda has patented an electronic tyre system featured in the 250m/ph, emission-free KAAN concept.
With teams of 30, the E1 race series would see team-mates grouping together, Tour De France-style, to improve their aerodynamic quality and go faster than the competition.

Mitsubishi Motors MMR25 (Mitsubishi Research & Design of North America)
It is not surprising to see Mitsubishi play to its strengths by entering a rallying concept into the challenge.
However, the concept itself is quite an eye-opener thanks to the MMR25's omni-directional wheels which use eight independent motors.
This means the 8x4-wheel-drive can be driven forward while pointing in any direction.
"The MMR25 drives sideways into a corner and points the nose of the car outwards before even reaching the apex of the curve while driving sideways or backwards,'' its designer John Hull says.
The MMR25 would also use Oblique Aerodynamics with a centre wing/spoiler made out of Memory Metal Alloy with its front and rear spoilers doubling as suspension blades.

Mercedes-Benz Formula Zero (Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design of North America)

Mercedes-Benz is another manufacturer looking to replace F1, but this time with a mix of open-wheeled racing and the America's Cup.
The Formula Zero Racer would run on electric motors, with solar energy body panels and a large, rigid sail.
"Each team is allocated the same amount of stored energy and it is left to the teams and drivers to manage the variables to win the race. The winner is determined by total elapsed time combined with the energy efficiency factor.'' Mercedes-Benz do in fact have a vision for a transparent race track which would allow spectators to view the action from any angle.

Toyota Lemans Racer (Calty Design Research, Inc.)
Pit stops are a thing of the past as Toyota imagines a race car which never needs to stop thanks to its hydrogen fuel cell electric motors and its photovoltaic panels.
The Lemans Racer has two basic modes: high speed mode and cornering mode.
In the former the body and wheels would narrow to help it reach 350m/ph, while in the latter it does the exact opposite to create low centre of gravity stability and get more rubber on the track.
It also does away with a windscreen, courtesy of a completely digital cockpit with a virtual reality display and a robot co-pilot which manages on-board systems and repairs.
Well, it's got to be more handy than a goldfish.

Volkswagen Bio Runner (Volkswagen/Audi Design Centre California)
The Baja 1000 will at some point, according to VW, introduce a One Tank Unlimited Solo Class stipulating one driver and only one 10 gallon tank of fuel.
Within the Bio Runner's cockpit the driver sits on a motorcycle saddle which allows for controls to be attached to the hands and the feet.
"These controls manipulate all wheels via synthetic muscle-based suspension which offers unparalleled control and traction,'' according to Derek Jenkins and his design team.
Powering the Bio Runner would be an ultra-efficient dual turbine engine producing 500,000 rpm, running on bio-synthetic jet fuel.
The car would also have its own aerial reconnaissance drone to feed images to the driver, who would sit behind a window-less cockpit receiving video images from the exterior.
This way the vehicle would be lighter, while also allowing the driver to race in all weather conditions.
 

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