Apparently, you can only add so much horsepower. Sooner or later you have to start subtracting weight. Lamborghini has reached that point, exquisitely so, with its Sesto Elemento concept car at the Paris
auto show
.
While rumors have abounded for months that next year's Murcielago replacement will be a full carbon-fiber supercar, the Sesto Elemento concept car hints that even the next Gallardo, which isn't due for another two years, will use the high-tech composite material.
That's because the Sesto Elemento is about the right size for a Gallardo replacement and runs the same V10 powerplant to produce some truly astonishing performance claims.
Lamborghini insists the car (the name means "Sixth Element" in English, represents carbon's place on the periodic table and moves away from a tradition of using the names of fighting bulls) will explode to 60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds--which would make it the fastest Lamborghini in history and much faster than any production V12 Murcielago. It boasts 570 hp out of its naturally aspirated, direct-injection V10, an engine shared with the current Gallardo Superleggera. It also runs a development of the Gallardo's current six-speed e-gear transmission, with a viscous-coupled all-wheel-drive system and a self-locking rear differential.
The enormous performance jump comes not from the horsepower available, but from a breakthrough carbon composite chassis. The Sesto Elemento will be the first car to use new carbon production techniques drawn from Lamborghini's work with Boeing. Lamborghini has been experimenting with different ways to make carbon fiber parts efficiently and at a lower cost, including new takes on resin transfer molding, forged composite and autoclave molding.
The 2008 Estoque sedan concept had some carbon fiber. And the current crop of cars, while sporting aluminum chassis, have carbon fiber parts here and there, including the rear wing, engine cover and a few body parts. But none approach the carbon fiber content of the Sesto Elemento. Its extensive use of that material results in a weight of just 999 kg, or just under 2,200 pounds.
That clocks in at a weight-to-power ratio of 3.85 pounds per horsepower even though the car remains true to Lamborghini's all-wheel-drive ethos. (We reckon that figure could be even more impressive if they'd used rear-wheel drive, as found in the Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni edition). Besides having a top speed of well above 186 mph, it also has emissions and fuel economy benefits compared with the current Gallardo, even though the two cars run essentially the same engine, all part of Lamborghini's priorities for the future.
"Until a few years ago, supercar priorities were in this order: top speed, acceleration and handling," said Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini CEO. "This has been changing. Speed is not as important anymore because all super-sports cars exceed 300 km/h (186 mph) and this is a speed you cannot reach even on a racetrack, let alone normal roads.
"We think it is time to make a shift and talk more about handling and acceleration and the key factor is the power-to-weight ratio. And because CO2 emissions play a role for super sports cars, too, that means the key is in reducing the weight."
With a raft of Lamborghini patents under its belt, the mid-engined Sesto Elemento is a research vehicle above all else. So far, the car you see here is not a production vehicle.
"The Sesto Elemento was developed as a demonstration platform for Lamborghini's materials technology, including new approaches in the use of carbon fiber," the company said. "At this point, there are no plans to produce (it). Lamborghini will work to integrate its material technology into future road vehicles."
The Raging Bull's first foray into carbon fiber was a carbon-chassised Countach in 1983. The Sesto Elemento is far more advanced than Lamborghini's original carbon car (which was sacrificed to crash testing in 1984), using a one-piece monocoque as its focal point.
The tub is made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), but uses innovative sheet-molded composite and low-temperature, low-pressure manufacturing systems instead of the more conventional systems used by accepted carbon maestros such as McLaren and Pagani.
Also unlike McLaren, the entire front frame, all of the car's panels and its front crash boxes are also CFRP as a result of a four-year collision simulation analysis with Boeing and the University of Washington. But while other cars might be carbon-based, even the Sesto Elemento's seats are formed into the carbon tub, with thin seat padding glued directly to the chassis and the driving position adjusted unconventionally, by moving the steering wheel and pedals.
The full carbon theme doesn't stop there, because not only are the body panels all carbon but so are the wheels, the suspension hardware and even the exhaust. It's all necessary, Winkelmann insists.
"From the middle of the '80s, the average weight of our cars has increased by 700 kgs (1,540 pounds) because of active and passive safety, comfort and emissions reductions issues, and this is something we have to change. We cannot reduce safety or comfort, so we have to reduce the weight by using new materials.
"We started working with carbon-fiber in Sant'Agata more than 30 years ago and, with our two laboratories in Sant'Agata and Seattle, we are mastering a broad range of technologies to put us in a leadership position for low-volume production," he said.
The body consists of two clamshell style carbon-fiber covers for the front and rear ends, a roof and the two-piece doors, with the inner lining bonded directly to the outer skins. Called "Cofango" by Lamborghini's Centro Stile design department, the clamshell systems simplify the manufacture of the panels and improve their accuracy as well. And they can be lifted off with one hand. The name comes from a combination of two Italian words: "Cofano," which means the hood and, "Parafango" which means the fender.
If that sounds radical, try the exhaust system, which has been molded from Pyrosic--a matrix composite of ceramic powder and synthetic resin that can cope with temperatures of up to 900 degrees, even as they exit, radically, through the engine bay's upper cover.
But the car won't just be fast in a straight line, Winkelmann insists it's highly accurate carbon suspension systems will set new standards in handling, braking and steering accuracy as well.
The control arms use Sheet Molding Compound (another carbon derivative) to give them strength and to reduce their weight by 30 percent over aluminum.
"A clear strength of CFRP is the reduction and integration of components--something that has been used to its full extent in this innovative technology concept," he said. "We put all our technical competence into one stunning form to create the Sesto Elemento."
Full of abruptly finishing lines and based around the design DNA of the Reventon, the Sesto Elemento is, at the least, a pointer to the visual concepts behind the next Gallardo.
There's a double-lipped spoiler, a tiny rear overhang and triangular themes recurring throughout the car. A large rear spoiler is helped aerodynamically by a large rear diffuser.
Some of the few major aluminum parts on the Sesto Elemento (besides the engine) are the rear subframe, the engine cradle and the rear suspension points.
It is one of the most exciting and promising concepts we've seen in years, truly a sea change in sports and supercar philosophy. Now, if they'd just let us drive it.
-autoweek.com
