Latest news with #SpéirlingPure
Forbes
14-04-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
This Tiny British Car Has So Much Downforce It Just Drove Upside-Down
Motorsport fans love to talk about how, theoretically, a Formula One car produces so much downforce it could drive upside-down. While true enough – the simple math is that a car would need to generate more downforce than its own weight – proving this in the real world is tricky. You'd need a long tunnel with a flat roof and an elaborate, curved ramp. Plus a car modified so that its engine still works when inverted. Or, you could ask a tiny British startup that produces an equally small car to do what no one else has. McMurtry demonstrated last week how its Spéirling can not only hold itself to the road when fully inverted, but also drive forwards without falling down. To quickly get you up to speed, the Spéirling is a tiny, one-seat electric supercar with a unique fan system that sucks it to the ground by spinning at up to 23,000 rpm. This, plus a power output of 1,000 horsepower and a total weight of just 1,000 kg (2,200 lbs), has already earned the car a number of records. It holds the hill climb records at both Goodwood and Laguna Seca, and just this month broke the outright TopGear Test Track lap record, which was set by a Renault Formula One car and had stood for 20 years. The fan system generates an enormous 2,000 kg (4,400 lbs) of downforce. This is enough to keep it planted to the road through corners – and, since it works at any speed, is just as powerful when the car is standing still, or driven slowly. McMurtry calls it 'downforce on demand' since the strength of the suction can be adjusted via a switch on the steering wheel. Using a purpose-built test rig, McMurtry completed the world-first stunt by driving the car up a ramp and onto a platform. With the fans ramped up and the car parked, the platform then rotated through 180 degrees until the Spéirling was fully upside-down. McMurtry co-founder and managing director Thomas Yates then drove forward slightly, before stopping and letting the platform rotate back round again. And the most impressive thing of all? McMurtry is selling this car to the public. It plans to offer 100 examples of what it calls the Spéirling Pure, with prices starting at £895,000 ($1,180,000) plus tax and shipping. The company claims the car can sprint to 60 mph in just 1.55 seconds, cover a quarter-mile in eight seconds, develop 3G in the corners and has a top speed of 185 mph. It measures just 40 inches tall – the same as the legendary Ford GT40, of course – 146 inches long and 70 inches wide. Deliveries of customer cars are due to begin in 2026. After becoming the first person to drive a car upside-down, Yates hinted at plans for scaling up the experiment. 'This demonstration was an exciting proof of concept using a small purpose-built rig, but is perhaps just the beginning of what's possible. With a longer inverted track or a suitable tunnel, we may be able to drive even further! Huge congratulations and thanks to the entire McMurtry Automotive team, especially the engineers involved in the car and fan system's design, they are the heroes of today. '
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
This Electric Hypercar Just Drove Upside Down
In a technical sense, any car that produces more downforce than its curb weight should be able to drive upside down. There have been a number of racing cars over the years that could theoretically accomplish this cartoonish feat, but it's never been officially attempted. That is until now, with the team behind the McMurtry Spéirling proving once and for all that it can be done. I promise that you're going to want to see it for yourself. The Spéirling is a single-seat electric hypercar produced by McMurtry Automotive in the United Kingdom. You may have seen clips of the 1000-hp, carbon-fiber machine destroying the hill climb record at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, or here in the States at Laguna Seca. The magic isn't its EV powertrain or lightweight, but rather the immense Downforce-on-Demand system pioneered by the brand. This setup utilizes two large fans to generate up to 4400 lbs of downforce, which it can do from a standstill. While lots of cars can put out ridiculous aero figures, most require the car to be moving at a rather rapid rate before the figures apply. The attempt itself was more drama-free than you might expect. The team custom-built a large platform on which the car could be driven, which could then be rotated 180 degrees to allow the can to hang from its own suction essentially. Co-founder & Managing Director Thomas Yates drove the Spéirling during the attempt, flanked by employees and independent adjudicators to verify the accomplishment. It's genuinely a wild sight to behold, even with background knowledge of the car's various on-track successes. Then again, that Downforce-on-Demand system has openly been a massive part of why the car can corner at more than 3g and rip off an 8-second quarter-mile sprint. McMurtry Automotive says it will begin deliveries of the Spéirling Pure production model in 2026, with only 100 units slated for buyers. The customer units will see some improvements over the test cars we've grown accustomed to, including a larger 100-kWh battery pack. The automaker says that this larger setup will give customers around 20 minutes of track time at full-blown GT3 Car pace, or record-breaking pace for multiple laps. Unless the average owner has the neck of an F1 driver, that's likely plenty of time per session. The brand also hasn't ruled out another upside-down driving stunt in the future, though what that might look like has yet to be seen. If you start to see tunnel segments floating around in Gloucestershire, you officially know why. You Might Also Like You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners The Man Who Signs Every Car
