Maserati MC-20

[A348W]

Interesting take on the "digital" thing!

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/n...ver-technology

[sssdu01]

Whilst I like the idea of carbon fibre as its light/strong/exact shape required (for packaging other components) etc, I do wonder if its really practical on a road car. Its very susceptible to irreparable damage. All the things that make it attractive for the engineer geek, make it near impossible to repair.

I dont think the weight savings are as much as people think. I look at the chassis on my Elise and its alloy glued together it weighs 68 kg. Alfa 4c chassis is carbon and weighs 65kg. They are very similar in concept with metal sub frames at the rear for the suspension and all the oily bits. I dont have the subframe weights to hand, but the Alfa looks bigger and I am sure weighs at least 3kg more than the lotus subframe (Lotus chassis extends further back to the rear wheel centres - Alfa stops at the rear bulkhead). The Alfa also has an additional front subframe to take front suspension loads (lotus has suspension bolted onto alloy chassis, so no additional subframe)

This makes the Lotus rolling chassis a lighter weight prospect than the Alfa. These are both ROAD cars where you want to thing to last for years, which is more difficult with a carbon chassis.

[Nosevi]

In the comment way ahead - I meant re chassis, body, and interior tech.

Yep, I understand that, Mod, I'm just not convinced it'll make a material difference to the enjoyment. If you were trying to squeeze the last ounce of performance from a small displacement I could see the point but I just don't envisage I'd ever drive say a 458 or F12 and yearn for it to be faster, lighter, more nimble.

Whilst I like the idea of carbon fibre as its light/strong/exact shape required (for packaging other components) etc, I do wonder if its really practical on a road car. Its very susceptible to irreparable damage. All the things that make it attractive for the engineer geek, make it near impossible to repair.

I dont think the weight savings are as much as people think. I look at the chassis on my Elise and its alloy glued together it weighs 68 kg. Alfa 4c chassis is carbon and weighs 65kg. They are very similar in concept with metal sub frames at the rear for the suspension and all the oily bits. I dont have the subframe weights to hand, but the Alfa looks bigger and I am sure weighs at least 3kg more than the lotus subframe (Lotus chassis extends further back to the rear wheel centres - Alfa stops at the rear bulkhead). The Alfa also has an additional front subframe to take front suspension loads (lotus has suspension bolted onto alloy chassis, so no additional subframe)

This makes the Lotus rolling chassis a lighter weight prospect than the Alfa. These are both ROAD cars where you want to thing to last for years, which is more difficult with a carbon chassis.

I did wonder about what happens to a car like this in a moderate prang.

[Modificato]

Whilst I like the idea of carbon fibre as its light/strong/exact shape required (for packaging other components) etc, I do wonder if its really practical on a road car. Its very susceptible to irreparable damage. All the things that make it attractive for the engineer geek, make it near impossible to repair.

I dont think the weight savings are as much as people think. I look at the chassis on my Elise and its alloy glued together it weighs 68 kg. Alfa 4c chassis is carbon and weighs 65kg. They are very similar in concept with metal sub frames at the rear for the suspension and all the oily bits. I dont have the subframe weights to hand, but the Alfa looks bigger and I am sure weighs at least 3kg more than the lotus subframe (Lotus chassis extends further back to the rear wheel centres - Alfa stops at the rear bulkhead). The Alfa also has an additional front subframe to take front suspension loads (lotus has suspension bolted onto alloy chassis, so no additional subframe)

This makes the Lotus rolling chassis a lighter weight prospect than the Alfa. These are both ROAD cars where you want to thing to last for years, which is more difficult with a carbon chassis.

All innovation curves are S-shaped and they always overlap. At first glance any new technology typically looks marginally inferior especially when compared to the best of the old but its where that tech is heading in the decades to come that matters.

Its true that extruded aluminium is a very compelling material for the engineer and in 1992/3/4 when it was developed the Elise looked the best way to follow the core Lotus philosophy. That first iteration soon had to be upgraded by 1999 for upcoming EU crash protection rules. This was only achieved by securing funding from GM which begat the VX220 as part of the deal. The series 3 chassis was shown in 2010 but it was heavier still to meet forthcoming regulations. The Elise has never been NCAP tested for good reason.

The current carbon tubs that we are seeing in road car form such as the Alfa 4C are the first 'industrialised for volume' tubs and nothing like the better optimised use of the material that is what is happening in other industries and ultra low volume production cars. If Lotus did a carbon platform it would likely be way lighter than their current and they wouldn't keep giving it sick notes to absent it from NCAP testing. So, yes it is marginal on paper but when you look at the future potential and factor in safety the Elise is a dead end and carbon tubs are the future. Regarding repair the tub plus Aluminium bolt-ons seems to be the current best solution.

The real question for me is two-fold.

1) Can Ferrari squeeze another decade out of the Alcoa platform and still retain its perceived marque position as the ultimate in performance and F1 tech for the road for another two decades?

I think NO

2) Will competitors gain an advantage, or sister companies cannibalise sales, by already having the march on the new material paradigm such that it damages the Ferrari brand

I think YES

There now also another factor to this situation that no one could have predicted....

Will the resurgent McLaren F1 team and continuing poor form of Ferrari F1 make this situation better for the Marque or perhaps even worse in the perceived standing of the brand for ultimate tech and performance?

That Maserati should have been a Rosso car IMO

[RobertHuffman60]

Thanks for this post Modificato! The content is very valuable.