Holden creates ‘Time Attack Concept’

GM Holden’s Design Team has explored what they call “the technological potential of the future” with a virtual design study called the ‘Time Attack Concept’.

Released on the eve of this year’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, the Time Attack Concept is an entirely virtual project, using what Holden calls sophisticated simulation technology and the expertise of their Melbourne Design Studio.

While something based on the Commodore Supercar would have been an obvious choice for such a design study, Holden instead chose a one-lap sprinter, aka a Time Attack car. With such cars, aero plays a massive part in generating the sort of downforce need to ensure time isn’t lost over the single flying lap through loss of traction. That explains why the Time Attack Concept looks so different from anything Holden has produced previously in the concept car field.

Skills Showcase GM Holden’s Design Director, Richard Ferlazzo, the man behind the wild eFiJy concept from 2005, described the Time Attack Concept as a digital advertisement for the advanced skills, capability and technology of the local design team.

“The technology we employ today has transformed the way we design cars,” Ferlazzo explained. “We have the ability to simulate a car’s appearance, technology and dynamics in convincing animations, which enables us to deliver better designs in a shorter time.”

Ferlazzo went on to explain that the demise of motor shows here (the last Australian International Motor Show was held in 2012) removed the forums normally used to showcase physical concepts. Concurrently, the growth of the online world (which also contributed to the demise of Motor Shows) led to the decision to make the Time Attack Concept a virtual machine.

“With the realism and detail achievable through modern technology, I felt we could deliver uniquely Holden concepts via virtual technology and digital media,” Ferlazzo said.

With that thinking in mind, Ferlazzo set the challenge to the GM Holden design team of creating a futuristic racer using the latest technologies. The proposal that most impressed Ferlazzo was that from GM Holden lead designer, Ewan Kingsbury.

“Ewan perfectly captured the essence of what we wanted to achieve; an expressive, futuristic design which also displays innovative engineering solutions.

“Concepts are always meant to push boundaries, but are even more impactful when they are feasible and this concept is plausible as an advanced racer of the future.”

Engineering Input From Kingsbury’s idea, the concept was developed further with input from GM Holden’s Engineering team, who also produced a digitally-printed 3D scale model of the final design.

To demonstrate how this virtual concept would perform, Holden’s Design Visualisation team produced a video of the Time Attack Concept running around the Mount Panorama circuit. Released on the date of this year’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, the video is viewable online.

While the Time Attack Concept is – and will almost certainly remain – a purely digital concept, GM Holden Engineering nevertheless worked out mechanical features, measurements and performance specs for the vehicle.

Drivetrain is described as a quartet of 250kW axial flux electric motors for 1000kW total output and 3240Nm maximum torque. Powering the motors is a reconfigurable graphene hybrid power pack with 1MW power output and 90MJ usable charge capacity.

The placement of motors in each wheel also allows full torque vectoring traction control, while matching each of those motors to its own 3-speed ‘planetary automatic shift’ gearbox allows a claimed 9620Nm total torque to be available from launch.

Were it to be built, the Time Attack Concept would feature a full carbon fibre chassis, with an integrated safety cell and using the powertrain components as stressed members. Carbon fibre wheels, brake discs, suspension and body panels all contribute to a total weight of 900kg, minus the driver.

A 1.25-second 0-100km/h time and 480km/h top speed are estimated, while a 1 minute 29.30 second fastest lap of Mount Panorama compares to 2 minutes and 6.27 seconds that’s the current lap record for a supercar.

Designing the cockpit, steering wheel and driver’s race harness, GM Holden Design and Engineering also went as far as to envision a driver’s helmet that projects 3D graphics of the vehicle’s technical information, as well as ‘on track’ features like the racing line and braking zones, onto the visor in real time.