Adrian Newey Reveals "Mind-Blowing" RB17 Specs Ahead Of Hypercar Launch
In a recent appearance on Red Bull's Talking Bull podcast, Adrian Newey offered a peek into the RB17 hypercar's development, highlighting its incorporation of pioneering Formula 1 technology. This blend of innovation is set to mark a new era in hypercar performance, according to Newey.
Key Insights:
- Integration of F1 innovations such as active suspension and a blown diffuser into the RB17.
- The hypercar aims for F1-level lap times, despite being a two-seater and heavier.
- The RB17 features a high-revving naturally aspirated engine and a powerful electric motor for unmatched performance.
Adrian Newey, Red Bull's esteemed Chief Technology Officer, is applying his Formula 1 mastery to the creation of the RB17 hypercar. Drawing from his illustrious career, the vehicle will feature significant F1 innovations like the active suspension from the successful Williams cars of the early '90s and a blown diffuser from his pioneering Red Bull designs. These elements are being adapted to redefine road car performance.
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The RB17's design ambition extends to achieving lap times on par with Formula 1 cars, a bold goal given its two-seater configuration and inevitable weight difference. Newey's collaboration with his former team from the Aston Martin Valkyrie project ensures a wealth of experience is being poured into the RB17, promising an engine that revs up to 15,000rpm among other standout features.
In discussing the project on Red Bull's Talking Bull podcast, Newey expressed his deep connection to the RB17, stating:
“The challenge we set us ourselves is that adaptability of the car. But then ultimately, the car, if driven by a professional driver, is capable of Formula 1 lap times.
“It’s kind of mind-blowing in a way that this car, which is a two-seater, can produce that sort of performance.
“And that’s really been achieved by the usual key parameters of focusing on weight, so it’ll be less than 900 kilos, so much lighter than any normal road car, or track car.
“But at the same time, it will have 1000 horsepower, V10, normally aspirated, so it’ll sound awesome – but we then have a 200 horsepower electric motor, and that fulfils a variety of functions.
“Obviously, it’s an extra 200 horsepower, but it also smooths out the torque, smooths out the gear change, provides reverse gear, first gear, you can move off the starting motor, all the usual sorts of multifunctions."
Newey highlighted the car's lightweight design, aiming for under 900 kilograms, and its powerful combination of a 1000 horsepower V10 engine with a 200 horsepower electric motor. This setup not only increases power but also enhances overall drivability by improving torque delivery and gear shifts. He further detailed the vehicle's aerodynamic efficiency and the role of active suspension in maintaining stability while generating immense downforce:
“It will have active suspension, which it needs to have because the downforce we’re producing to achieve those lap times is immense.
“As a number, the [weight] it produces downforce is capped at 1.7 tonnes. So downforce is capped at almost twice its weight, and that’s simply because otherwise then it overloads the tyres. But it actually gets to that figure at about 150 miles an hour, so after that it starts to bleed off. It can actually produce its own weight in downforce by 120 miles an hour.
“It’s incredibly aerodynamically efficient, and to achieve that we’ve pulled all the levers. So it has a blown diffuser, active suspension too which is multifunction.
“Again, the purpose of the active suspension, it’s to give a very stable aerodynamic platform whilst maintaining reasonably sensible spring rates, so that you don’t get thrown from bump to bump, not nearly as stiff as a current Formula 1 car or an LMP car.
“So [it’s] relatively compliant, and it also offers the ability to tune the car, both aerodynamically by adjusting the ride heights and also in terms of how you change what we call the mechanical balance, which is the balance of grip between the front axle and the rear axle.
“So you can, in that way, make it a car that as I mentioned earlier is suitable for a wide range of driver techniques, styles, abilities.”