McMurtry Speirling fan car

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Mon 27 Jun 2022 14:32
McMurtry Speirling fan car - badbusdriver

watch (YT)

Insane performance to take the outright record for the Goodwood hillclimb course from the VW ID.R. This (tiny!) EV uses a fan to provide massive instant downforce enabling full use of the maximum torque from 0 revs.

Result?, 0-60 in under 1.5 seconds and the ability to pull 3g cornering (assuming your head remains attached to the rest of your body?)

Apparently they are making a road legal version.................

In case anyone is wondering about the name, Irish for thunderstorm.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 27 Jun 2022 16:15
McMurtry Speirling fan car - mcb100
A friend working next door but one at Goodwood to McMurty reports that has the footprint of a Frogeye Sprite, it’s that small.

Edited by mcb100 on 27/06/2022 at 16:15

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 27 Jun 2022 17:02
McMurtry Speirling fan car - daveyjp

I'd still have the Gordon Murray T50 which also has a fan for downforce, but has a proper V12 engine!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 27 Jun 2022 17:42
McMurtry Speirling fan car - nellyjak

watch (YT)

Insane performance to take the outright record for the Goodwood hillclimb course from the VW ID.R. This (tiny!) EV uses a fan to provide massive instant downforce enabling full use of the maximum torque from 0 revs.

Result?, 0-60 in under 1.5 seconds and the ability to pull 3g cornering (assuming your head remains attached to the rest of your body?)

Apparently they are making a road legal version.................

In case anyone is wondering about the name, Irish for thunderstorm.

Saw it over the weekend on the Goodwood TV coverage...very impressive.

I thought the Ford electric van was no slouch either.!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 27 Jun 2022 18:08
McMurtry Speirling fan car - badbusdriver

I'd still have the Gordon Murray T50 which also has a fan for downforce, but has a proper V12 engine!

No doubt the T50 is better looking and certainly more practical, but fan apart, they aren't really comparable (and lets face it, if you can afford one, you can afford both).

The (also single seat) Caparo T1 is probably the closest, but is huge by comparison!. I am a sucker for a small car and the Speirling is tiny which, with just the one seat, seems appropriate and all the more appealing. Like a LM car that has been shrunk in the wash!.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 28 Jun 2022 10:33
McMurtry Speirling fan car - kiss (keep it simple)

Looks like it's ready for the next James Bond film.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 29 Jun 2022 10:11
McMurtry Speirling fan car - Sulphur Man

A road legal car with a fan underneath, sucking it to the surface.

Keen to know what happens when, say, horse excrement is encountered. Or any road debris - small screws, tacks, spilt fuel etc.

Edited by Sulphur Man on 29/06/2022 at 10:12

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 29 Jun 2022 18:11
McMurtry Speirling fan car - Manatee

>>Keen to know what happens when, say, horse excrement is encountered
The stuff hits the fan.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 4 Jul 2022 12:39
McMurtry Speirling fan car - John F

>>Keen to know what happens when, say, horse excrement is encountered
The stuff hits the fan.

Following motorists should ensure topped up windscreen washer bottles....

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 30 Jun 2022 11:01
McMurtry Speirling fan car - Manatee

3G cornering is impressive of course but don't F1 cars reach 4 or 5? I suppose that's at high speed with massive aerodynamic downforce, whereas a hill climb is very much slower in the corners.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 30 Jun 2022 11:26
McMurtry Speirling fan car - badbusdriver

3G cornering is impressive of course but don't F1 cars reach 4 or 5? I suppose that's at high speed with massive aerodynamic downforce, whereas a hill climb is very much slower in the corners.

The thing about F1 cars is that they need speed to generate that cornering g because it relies on the air flowing over the wings to push the car into the ground. The fan on the Speirling generates 1000kg of downforce all the time, so it could (in theory) generate 3g on every corner on every Grand Prix circuit. F1 cars can only generate more g on fast corners, so round Monaco for example, an F1 car wouldn't see where the Speirling went!.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 30 Jun 2022 14:12
McMurtry Speirling fan car - mcb100
You’d just follow the trail of sucked up manhole covers.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 4 Jul 2022 13:22
McMurtry Speirling fan car - sammy1

It is no wonder authorities are putting speed limiters on new cars. The rate of acceleration of many road legal cars and now most EVs is cause for concern and contrary to some concepts of road safety. I watched the TV with the McMurtry, should never be made road legal even if toned down. You see the boy racers in their Corsas and Fiestas, I dread to think if they get behind the wheel of one of these.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 4 Jul 2022 13:33
McMurtry Speirling fan car - _

Reminds me of the time that one of our techies, (years ago) bought a maserati biturbo after driving a Punto or somesuch. Floored it on an uphill hairpin in the old part of geneva city, into some railings and written off.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 4 Jul 2022 14:36
McMurtry Speirling fan car - sammy1

Again on the Goodwood theme and the hill run I was not too impressed with the crowd safety measures. Crowds not that far back from curves and double banked straw bales was what I was seeing. Probably a bit different there but after the Silverstone incident made me reflect again if something had gone wrong with one of the climbers

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 5 Jul 2022 12:52
McMurtry Speirling fan car - mcb100
There have been enough shunts over the years at the Festival of Speed and the bales have always coped well enough with cars being driven into them.
youtu.be/jKgpq0nhLHM
My greater concern is Goodwood circuit itself, used for the Revival and Members meeting. That’s seeing some quick cars in action but apparently 1960’s standards.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 5 Jul 2022 10:57
McMurtry Speirling fan car - John F

Reminds me of the time that one of our techies, (years ago) bought a maserati biturbo after driving a Punto or somesuch. Floored it on an uphill hairpin in the old part of geneva city, into some railings and written off.

That's why Audi pioneered the quattro. Little point in having a powerful engine if it just spins two wheels - unless you want to regularly enjoy driving on opposite lock round a deserted airfield. But I suppose it's cheaper to partially overcome the problem with absurdly large (and presumably expensive to replace) rear tyres rather than installing 4WD.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 5 Jul 2022 16:26
McMurtry Speirling fan car - badbusdriver

Reminds me of the time that one of our techies, (years ago) bought a maserati biturbo after driving a Punto or somesuch. Floored it on an uphill hairpin in the old part of geneva city, into some railings and written off.

That's why Audi pioneered the quattro. Little point in having a powerful engine if it just spins two wheels - unless you want to regularly enjoy driving on opposite lock round a deserted airfield. But I suppose it's cheaper to partially overcome the problem with absurdly large (and presumably expensive to replace) rear tyres rather than installing 4WD.

I suspect the problem in the case of ORB's techie was in part due to youthful exuberance/foolhardiness/inexperience along with the Biturbo not being that well sorted rather than just the fact that it was rwd. Depending on age and model, it may only have had around 185bhp and despite having two turbo's, lag was very much a factor with very little boost happening below 3000rpm. Making things worse (for the press on driver) is that the brakes, steering and handling in general weren't that great.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 6 Jul 2022 09:08
McMurtry Speirling fan car - edlithgow

How much does it weigh. and is the fan reversible?

I'm thinking "getting air" might be achievable briefly, though there could be some...er...control and stability issues.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 6 Jul 2022 16:09
McMurtry Speirling fan car - badbusdriver

How much does it weigh. and is the fan reversible?

Car weighs 1000kg, fan generates another 1000kg of downforce. So in theory, (were it possible) reversing the fan should make the car weightless.

I'm thinking "getting air" might be achievable briefly, though there could be some...er...control and stability issues.

Yes, I suspect there would be!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link