DESIGN NAME: Touge Spyder
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Electric Hillclimb Racer
INSPIRATION: Touge Spyder builds upon the natural advantages of an electric powertrain. Electric motors have a much higher specific torque than petrol engines for breathtaking acceleration. They can generate and store energy when braking and actively vector torque to assist cornering, granting agility far beyond that of a traditional combustion driven car. These positive attributes have been utilised to create a car that is highly specialised for its environment. The apex predator of serpentine tarmac.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The romance of the car has always revolved around the freedom to transcend the natural limits of human movement. Touge Spyder is an electric racing concept designed for touge racing, sprinting up steep Japanese mountain passes. This project explores the divergent evolution of future vehicles. One path optimised for efficiency and sustainability, the other for raw thrills. Touge Spyder addresses the latter route, it is an exploration of the emotive, visceral possibilities of electric motoring.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: Touge Grand Prix is the concept racing series that Touge Spyder was designed for. Touge GP allows people to race in the forests and mountains of Japan while still maintaining deference for their purity. It runs in all seasons from Hokkaido to Kyushu, sun, rain or snow. It is designed to be recorded using drones so that the racing has a low impact on the environment, but the content is still world class. Touge GP is an all electric racing series, no fumes, no noise, just speed and excitement.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project started in April 2018 in Tokyo and has been in development since then.
FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Vehicle, Mobility and Transportation Design
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: The chassis was designed to be woven entirely from carbon fibre on a rotary loom. This is quite unique and it allows the non contiguous longitudinal elements to be incredibly strong and light by borrowing tensegrity concepts from nature. The subframes are 3d printed from Titanium using electron beam fusion. 3d printing allows the complex geometry of the subframe to be fabricated without relying on costly jig manufacturing.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Touge Spyder is 4wd with an 80kW Emrax 208 motor driving each wheel. Electricity is supplied by 4 packs of 655 LG He4 cells delivering 470v to the motors. These can be swapped in 30 seconds. Brembo WSBK discs and calipers provide the braking force and are mounted inboard to reduce unsprung mass. With a mass of 320kg combined with 320kW of power and 1800 Nm of torque, the Touge Spyder accelerates from 0-100kph in 1.6 seconds. Dimensions: 2450mm x 1850mm x 675mm.
TAGS: EV, Electric Vehicle, Sustainable, Racing, Motorsport, Environmentally Responsible
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: Touge GP takes the core values of the European motorsport culture of Bergrennen (mountain running) and translates them to suit the mountains and forests. This translation is evoked by the word Spyder, a pan European word that refers to open top sports cars. The aim was to create the spiritual successor to the lightweight Porsche 909 Bergspyder that dominated European hillclimb racing in the 60s, while paying visual homage to the Honda RA272, the first Japanese car to win an F1 Grand Prix.
CHALLENGE: Touge Spyder is not a styling concept, it is a design engineering project. A huge amount of time was spent researching and refining the design so that it can actually be built and raced in the future. Suspension geometry optimisation was very challenging. Vsusp, an open source suspension simulation and design software was used to simulate and minimise rollcentre migration for a stable, consistent driving characteristic. The roll centre only moves 0.5mm in 6 degrees of roll, a considerable achievement.
ADDED DATE: 2022-03-29 10:45:55
TEAM MEMBERS (1) :
IMAGE CREDITS: Image #1: Designer Moses Rowen, Touge Spyder 1, 2022
Image #2: Designer Moses Rowen, Touge Spyder 2, 2022
Image #3: Designer Moses Rowen, Touge Spyder 3, 2022
Image #4: Designer Moses Rowen, Touge Spyder 4, 2022
Image #5: Designer Moses Rowen, Touge Spyder 5, 2022
PATENTS/COPYRIGHTS: Copyrights belong to Moses Rowen, 2022
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