2022 was a good year for record hunters. At 412 km/h, the Rimac Nevera took the title as the fastest electric car in terms of top speed. Students at the University of Stuttgart reported the fastest acceleration in October – and set a record of 1.461 seconds. Shortly before the end of the year, the title for the fastest accelerating electric vehicle unofficially changes hands again and goes to McMurtry in Great Britain.
The Speirling does it from 0 to 100 km/h in an unbelievable 1.4 seconds – and thus even faster than the Stuttgart. The car in Batmobile design needs 7.97 seconds for the quarter mile – and thus also beats the Rimac, which needs 8.58 seconds. In a video from the new car comparison portal “Carwow” you can see what this crazy force does to the driver – relaxed is different.
In order to get the enormous power of the electric motors, which deliver around 1000 hp, onto the road efficiently, the McMurtry engineers have used a special trick. The manufacturer calls it “Downforce-on-Demand-System”, which means something like “downforce on demand” system. Put simply, the principle is very reminiscent of a vacuum cleaner.
Almost at the push of a button, two large fans jump on, pressing the vehicle against the road, sucking themselves on to it. Chief developer Kevin Ukoko-Rongione compares the technology to a hovercraft – only that the airflow works the other way around. The technology has several advantages: Firstly, the McMurtry Speirling does not lose its downforce even when the vehicle turns. Secondly, the car can accelerate extremely quickly without taking off. Similar systems were also used in Formula 1 at the end of the 1970s or in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup – they were banned in both racing series.
The fan system makes the McMurtry Speirling almost appear to have an exhaust pipe – an unusual sight for electric cars. In fact, the manufacturer needs two outlets at the rear, which direct the air flow from the fan. As a result, when the fans are active, a veritable storm is brewing behind the car, which is even capable of pushing a person on a skateboard. At full power, the fans emit 120 decibels – which is comparable to the volume of a jet.
In contrast to the rather spartan record-breaking car from Stuttgart, in the case of the McMurtry Speirling one can even speak of a full-fledged vehicle. The car has doors, a roof, an interior and could – theoretically – be driven in everyday life. Although there is hardly any space in the single seater and there is no cup holder. If you don’t demand everything from the “thunderstorm”, which means the product name in Irish, the battery should last for around 480 kilometers. In racing, the maximum speed is 240 km/h after 25 minutes.
In the next step, McMurtry wants to make the car ready for series production – and sell it as a version for public roads. There is no official information on the price so far, nor is there the targeted number of units for this rather wild racer. “Carwow” speaks of a value of around two million pounds sterling, which would be around 2.3 million euros. Officially, if you take the Guinness Book of Records as a yardstick, the record set by the people of Stuttgart still stands – because there was no jury present when the British set the record.
