Now that this year's edition of the Festival of Speed has come to an end, it's time to share with you some videos entirely dedicated to some of the cars I recorded. And I can't help but start with the one that surprised me the most in terms of sound: the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50s 'Niki Lauda'.
The car is the track-only version of the T.50, which has been engineered to be the purest supercar ever by ex-Formula 1 designer and engineer Gordon Murray (the man who also designed the McLaren F1), celebrating his 50th anniversary of engineering and design.
The road-legal T.50 has a naturally aspirated V12 engine this time developed by Cosworth (a 3,994 cc V12 called Cosworth GMA) which is able to produce 663 bhp at 11,500 rpm. It's linked to a 6-speed H-pattern manual gearbox. Redline is set at 12,100 rpm. The total weight of the T.50 in running order is just 986 kg.
The T.50s 'Niki Lauda' is powewred by a redesigned version of the 3.9L Cosworth which has also been tuned to produce 770 hp at 11,500 rpm and it weight 12kg less than the one you can find on the road-going T.50. The engine is linked to a bespoke Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox (with paddle shifters). Lot of work has of course been done to the aero package, suspensions and set-up side.
The thing that most catches the eye is certainly the huge fan positioned at the rear and which of course references to the famous Murray-designed Brabham BT46B "Fan Car" Formula 1 car of the 1970s. Though the basic concepts are similar, the T.50's fan shares little with the BT46B one: electronically controlled and able to spin to 7000 rpm, it can increase downforce by 50 percent in its most aggressive setting, sucking air through ducts in the underfloor diffuser. This function is actually closer to what can be found on the McLaren F1. In fact that supercar had two small fans that acted on a small area of its rear diffuser.
The road-legal T.50 essentially takes that concept and supersizes it. The fan can also be used to create a fill of air in the trailing wake, generating a sort of virtual long tail, reducing drag by 12.5 percent and increasing lift, which results in better efficiency and a higher top speed. All of this is done without a traditional wing or splitter. The T.50s keeps the 400mm fan but instead it only runs in a single 'High Downforce' mode.
Listen to that amazing engine singing up to Goodwood's hillclimb course!
#GordonMurrayT50s #GMAT50s #T50sNikiLauda
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I have to thank my friend and youtuber ‪@NM2255‬ for the great collaboration done during the event!
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Camcorder: Canon Legria GX10 + Zoom H5, Sony FDR AX700 + Audio-Technica Microphone
Event: Festival of Speed 2024
Where: Goodwood, England
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