myheadjust can’t gothere. That’s the needle atidle tofull
revs in0.3 ofa second.And I’mhavinga big,analogue
floodlight revcounter. Real stuff.’
Asfor the T.50’s aero, Murrayterms it ‘a complete restart
for roadcar aerodynamics’. Devoid of spoilers and intakes to
continuethe clean aesthetic of the F1, the T.50usesa fan in
the spirit ofhis 1978Brabham-AlfaRomeo BT46B ‘fancar’.
‘It’s the first timeinmylife mybrainhas gonetooverload.
Thereare somanypossibilities. I’vetold myaerodynamicists
they’ve got toshutmedownatsomepoint. Under braking
wecan haveautomatic downforce increase,wecan shift the
centreofpressure. Wecan havea highdownforce mode. If
wewantto losedownforce, therebynotusing upsuspension
travel at highspeed, the fan works toshedit. We’re already
working ona combinationofsettingsfor a top speedmode
- a virtual long-tail car, lessdrag, lessfuelconsumption.
I could goon...’
I turntothe T.50’s chassis.‘We’relooking atpassive
and adaptivedampers, but mygut feeling is passive,’ says
Murray. ‘It’ll comedowntohowgoodwecan getit. The
Alpinehas beena really goodlessontome. It has nothing
fancy onit at all, but doeseverything correctly: puredouble
wishbonesuspensionfrontand rear, just the right amount of
compliancebushing, still got goodcamber stiffness, massive
torsional rigidity, and it’s light. That’s allyou needto do. I’m
tryingto keepthis really simple. The only reasonwe’ve gone
to pushrod risingrate is to try to managethe aeroloads.’
I can’t help but interject and ask about the A110’s steering
- for manyofusthe car’s weakpoint. ‘Thesteeringis the
least attractivething about the car. It’s OK. These daysas
weprogress – I sound likeanold fart talking – people forget
what manual steeringfeels likeunless you jumpbackinan
ElanorF40, which are the two best steeringsystemsinthe
world.Wehavea brand new systemfor the T.50. It’ll give
you someassistancebut alsothe feel. I can’t talk about it as
we’re looking ata patent. It’s a completely new system,not
hydraulic. It’ll deliver proper steering.’ And hethenlaunches
intoa fascinating explanationabout why modernsteering
systemsare often horrible (whichyou can find at evo.co.uk).
Murrayis proud his T.50is anall-Britisheffort, and wants
to getto knowall 100 of the customers, talking through their
purchase and evenallowing themaccess to the development
process. ‘We’ll makemorecars after this one, but I’ll never
makemorethan100 carsa year; I don’t wanttobea car
company,challengingAston Martinand Ferrari. Wejust
want to makesomefun cars that people will like.’L
GORDONMURRAY
‘THE ENGINE
PICK-UP SPEED
IS 28,000RP M A
SECOND, WHICH
EVEN AS AN
ENGINEER MY
HEAD JUST CAN’T
GO THERE’