Presented at the 1994 Turin Motor Show is this highly-innovative hybrid sports car. Also, the car was shown by invitation at the EVS 12 symposium on electric vehicles in Los Angeles in 1994 and to the 1995 "Torino Design" touring exhibition.
Four identical unit groups, consisting of tires, have been sensitized by a toroidally-shaped band of piezo-resistive elastomer sensors. The essential property of these elastomers is their capacity to generate electric signals indicating the changing shape of the tread in the function of the stresses to which they are subjected.
These signals are transmitted to the onboard computer. Newly-designed large-diameter self-ventilating Disc Wheels. Active Suspensions with active camber recovery and virtual ground center. Four-wheel Steering electrically power-assisted. Permanent magneto, asynchronous 8-pole Electric Motors sited lowdown. Stainless steel disc Brakes. The discs are small because they work in tandem with the braking effect of the electric motors and rotate at the same speed. Regarding the carbon-fiber composite Bodywork, the general philosophy of design development was also for an innovative approach.
We foresaw a car that was not too low, with a high level of creature comforts and aerodynamics that could be expressed in original looks due to the absence of technically aggressive appendices.
The front bumper is easy to remove for accessing the central backbone where the batteries are located and houses air-intakes for cooling brakes and electric motors. The doors open automatically and are operated by a magnetic card that opens them individually when inserted to a different depth.
The exhaust gases from the turbine are expelled through fins towards the upper-rear end of the car when driving outside of town, improving slipstream formation and towards the lower-rear end in town. Two fins in the same area move automatically to stabilize the vehicle at high speed by moving the center of lateral thrust rearwards.
Source: www.fioravanti.it
Images: Fioravanti; Mad4Wheels
