Automotive

Ultra-low, 2,600-hp SRT Tomahawk VGT concept powered by compressed air hybrid system

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FCA held an internal design competition to find its Vision Gran Turismo
The SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo is the latest car designed for Gran Turismo 6
The Tomahawk features a serious active aerodynamics package
The Tomahawk is part futuristic race car, part concept car, part insanity
The Tomahawk will launch in three video game trims this (Northern Hemisphere) summer
FCA held an internal design competition to find its Vision Gran Turismo
The low-set, single-seat Tomahawk looks like it's ready for road or track
The Tomahawk includes a sharp LED taillight design and plenty of exhaust
Up to 2,590 hp from a gas-compressed air hybrid system
FCA imagines X, GTS-R and S variants
The SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo was brought to life by FCA's design and engineering departments
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
We feel like we say it every time, but this might be the most extreme Vision GT yet
FCA has even designed a special G suit required for the Tomahawk X
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
That looks like a rear-end that is just toying with you before bursting ahead and leaving you choking on exhaust
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
The G suit is connected to the pneumatic air system for auto-inflation when conditions demand
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo close-up
Top speed: 404 mph
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo
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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles joined the likes of Infiniti, Peugeot and a slew of other automakers this week, revealing its Vision Gran Turismo video game car. Like all those parties before it, FCA took full advantage of the opportunity, creating an outright extreme hypercar with a level of performance that can only exist in a game. The single-seat SRT Tomahawk sports car develops nearly 2,600 hp from a hybrid powertrain with V10 and air compression drive.

The wild looks of the Tomahawk had their beginnings in an internal design competition challenging FCA US designers to show their visions of a high-performance Dodge from the year 2035. Each designer submitted a sketch, and FCA chose the one penciled by young team member Paul Hoste.

Hoste's futuristic design is an ultra-low, race car-inspired vehicle that's vaguely reminiscent of the Gran Turismo vision that Chevy came up with across town. The Tomahawk doesn't have the skeletal body of the Chaparral 2X, but it does have a central single-seat cockpit, "pinched waist" silhouette, and extreme aerodynamics kit with a massive front splitter, cavernous side slashes and oversized rear vents. The advanced aero package manages downforce, drag and yaw force. By relying on "emerging and advanced" materials like hollow carbon nano-fibers and micro-lattice graphene, SRT lists weight at a feathery 1,658 lb (752 kg).

Below its light, voluptuous, air-hungry body, FCA's engineering team has outfitted the car with a unique theoretical hybrid powertrain meant to "push performance just beyond the limits of known science." It all starts with a wide-angle (144-degree) mid-mounted V10 engine positioned to keep the center of gravity as low as possible. That engine sends up to 2,168 hp (1,617 kW) to the rear wheels. The front wheels are powered separately by a pneumatic drive that boosts overall output to a total of 2,590 hp (1,931 kW), absolutely blowing away today's breed of 1 hp:1 kg megacars in terms of power-to-weight with 3.44 hp per kg or 1.56 hp per pound.

"We had fun stretching our minds to create the SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo for GT6," Mike Shinedling, advanced concepts manager at SRT Engineering, recounts. "The game places a high emphasis on capturing reality in a virtual environment; our goal was to respect that philosophy by focusing on plausible future technologies that could achieve our vision of extreme performance."

The Tomahawk includes a sharp LED taillight design and plenty of exhaust

The Tomahawk's pneumatic system controls more than just the front wheels. Compressed air is used to adjust the nine active aerodynamic panels for increased traction, braking and cornering performance. A forward-directed laser scanner analyzes the pavement ahead, prompting the aerodynamics to adjust accordingly. The pneumatic system also adjusts tire pressure, air spring settings and the lean of the tire active camber system to meet the changing demands of the ground below. During particularly extreme maneuvers, the system inflates the driver's G suit.

Both the air tanks and delivery tubes are integrated into the chassis construction. The tanks are refilled by regenerative braking and via excess power created by the V10 engine and detected in the form of wheel slip.

Interestingly, FCA has gone beyond just designing a single car and developed three trim levels of Tomahawk. It's the range-topping Tomahawk X "experimental technology ultimate version" – so basically a hypothetical prototype version of a futuristic fantasy video game car – that offers the full 2,590 hp and a crazy-ridiculous top speed of 404 mph (650 km/h). This version requires that the driver wear the G suit. Below the X is the GTS-R race car, which uses a more modest 1,450-hp pneumatic-hybrid powertrain and has a decreased weight of 1,459 lb (661 kg). The GTS-R's top speed is "only" 300 mph (483 km/h). The basic Tomahawk S has lower power (1,007 hp) and more weight (2,026 lb/919kg), creating a top speed we could actually believe – 250 mph (402 km/h).

We feel like we say it every time, but this might be the most extreme Vision GT yet

We appreciate automaker creativity in designing these virtual concept cars, but the numbers have moved into the realm of sheer ridiculousness. Seems like only a matter of time before some manufacturer comes out with a 500-lb (227-kg) wheeled fuselage built from carbonized feathers and powered by a 10,000-hp jet engine fueled with unicorn poop. Top speed: over 1,000 mph (1,609 km/h).

While the SRT Tomahawk may not mean anything for actual drivers and car fanatics, it should be a dream to drive in Gran Turismo 6. It'll be available in the coming weeks, and gamers will have to complete challenges to gain access to the different trim levels.

Source: Fiat Chrysler

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12 comments
Kevin Ritchey
Give me real cars.
PeterMDobey
404 mph = 650 mph? Doesn't anybody proof-read before publishing anymore?
jerryd
It's what I've come to expect from Fiat, BS. That they would make it an air pressure hybrid shows how engineeringly bankrupt they are as a terribly ineff system. But then their boss hates EV's even though 5-8x's as eff as an air one.
Abby Normal
why not instead invent a car with a fancy air suspension that totally filters out the bumps while still handling well?
Douglas Bennett Rogers
Didn't say much about the wheels, the most difficult part on the land speed record. They are usually solid aluminum, sometimes with composite tire. Also, need salt flat for trials.
Island Architect
There is no stopping Ralph!!
He is incredible and only this morning I stopped and stared at the Chrysler 200 to take pictures... It looks absolutely like a mini Jaguar and no one handles chrome as he does so masterfully.
Proud to say that I know him and have admired him from the first 500, the Magnum and on...
Truly a great designer. Even look at how masterfully he has handled the Jeep. Every owner I have talked with said that it's their best car ever!
bill
Stephen N Russell
If real, Id drive this, awesome,.
Noel K Frothingham
Abby Normal, aalready been done.
PatKittle
Before Chrysler's boss flew his private jet to Washington for a corporate hand-out, Chrysler made a ridiculous un-rideable "concept" motorcycle also called the "Tomahawk" with a V-10.
Last I heard, it's displayed at trade shows where the engine is revved to make lots of noise & smoke.