A new breed of high-performance machines will bring heart thumping thrills as two-seat sports cars get pushed to new levels.
Porsche has offered a glimpse at its next-generation Cayman sports car in the form of a wild electric racing concept.
While existing series such as Formula E are underwhelming machines with less power than some hatchbacks, the next generation promises to be vivid.
Porsche offered a glimpse into the electric future of motorsport with its Mission R concept study at the Munich motor show in Germany overnight.
And its styling could point to the look of the next-generation Porsche Cayman and Boxster.
Heavily rumoured to include an electric variant in the near future, Porsche’s junior sports car could become the first mass-produced battery-powered two-seat sports car. The brand says its concept features similar handling characteristics to the Cayman, thanks to a battery pack stacked behind the cockpit in the same place as its entry-level sports car’s engine.
Such a production model would not look as wild as the Mission R, which shapes up as an electric alternative to racing series such as Porsche’s Carrera Cup.
Developed with the help of pro drivers Timo Bernhard and Lars Kern, the lightweight racing concept combines a pair of enormously powerful electric motors with all-wheel-drive, fat tyres and high-downforce bodywork to deliver shattering performance.
Porsche says the coupe can produce 800kW in a special qualifying mode, allowing the car to reach 100km/h in 2.5 seconds before reaching a top speed of more than 300km/h.
Long-distance race stints deliver 500kW during sustained running.
The brand says its performance is roughly on par with the latest 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 Carrera Cup car, a machine likely to prove faster than Australia’s V8-powered Supercars when it arrives next year.
The Mission R’s 80kWh battery needs 15 minutes to be charged from 5 to 80 per cent of its capacity, as long as ultra-rapid charging infrastructure is available at the track.
Built to show that racing in the future will be sustainable, the machine’s bodywork and key interior elements are made of a plant-based alternative to carbon fibre held together with strands of flax.
The car also closes the gap between real-world racing and e-sports.
Its seat and steering wheel are removable, allowing drivers to train for upcoming races on home simulators using the same controls and posture as their race car.
Elite motorsport series such as Formula 1 take a similar approach, so that drivers are intimately familiar with complex controls in modern race cars before they arrive at the track.
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