Fantastic new Chrysler Four Twelve Sport car!

[sc_andy]

Has everyone seen the new Chrysler ME Four-Twelve?

a mix between a lambo and the bugatti... but much nicer ;-)

check the high quality images and facts:

Chrysler ME Four-Twelve (http://www.supercars.de/singlecar/26/909.html)

http://www.supercars.de/data/_cboa/26/909/480/26909279.jpg

North American International Autoshow

North American International Autoshow (http://www.supercars.de/site.special.0.27.html)

[itisme]

looks very good.. and like a mixture of gallardo and le mans... but a nice mixture :) and somehow like the cadilly cien :D..

[Erik]

http://www.sportbilen.se/bilder/bilder/sportbilen.se_dd_468.jpg

One more. I like the looks, but it's perhaps because they copied them ;)

[CarbonFibre]

Originally posted by itisme
looks very good.. and like a mixture of gallardo and le mans... but a nice mixture :) and somehow like the cadilly cien :D..
When I first saw this I thought of the Cien right away too.

[Erik]

I'd rather have the new Shelby Cobra. :D

Looks like they've used the same paint shop.

http://www.sportbilen.se/bilder/bilder/sportbilen.se_nn468.jpg

http://www.sportbilen.se/e_index.php?page=e_news.php?id=36

[Finnus]

Looks a bit like the LeMans Quattro. That 850 hp/2.9 second 0-60 is impressive! The article in USA Today noted that the estimated top speed of 248 mph would not be legal anywhere in the US - DUH!

Finnus
:addict:

[Finnus]

I just read the latest article in Auto Week on the 4 12.

* AMG built the engine - 850 hp weighing 525 lbs, quad turbo - Imagine the tuning capabilities!!!!
* The car was built around the engine (rather than designing the car then fitting the engine in) and cooling was considered and integrated from day 1.
* Overall, the car weighs a mere 2850 #s (1300 kgs), with a 7-speed double clutch Ricardo unit (Nordschleife will have to explain that one to me - is it a more sophisticated DSG as on the TT?)!!!
* 0-60 in 2.9 seconds!@%!!@ (Isn't that approaching super-bike fast?)
* 2.4 turns lock-to-lock on the steering, carbon-ceramic breaks, 19"x10 inch wheels on the front, 20"x12.5 rear.
* They estimate the price (if built) to be in the $450,000 range. A Chrysler exec was quoted as saying the price would be somewhere between the $150,000 for the Ford GT and $659,000 for the Enzo.
* The decision to build the car will depend in large part on reactions to the protype.

Finnus

:addict: :addict: :addict:

[Nordschleife]

Originally posted by Finnus
Iwith a 7-speed double clutch Ricardo unit (Nordschleife will have to explain that one to me - is it a more sophisticated DSG as on the TT?)!!!
Finnus

:addict: :addict: :addict:

Finnus
Ricardo are a major power train developer and supplier. Their gearboxes can be found in the Audi R8, some WRC entrants and Mitsubishi's Paris Dakar cars.
I suspect that, in this case, it is one of their sequential gearboxes with paddle shifters - a manual box and not like the DSG, like the M3, the Modena or the Gallardo, for example. This works well in a performance car.
Do you mean Double clutch or Dual plate clutch? Dual and triple plate clutches are common in high performance cars.

HTH
R+C

[Finnus]

Nordschleife,

Thanks for the explanation. Regarding ...

Do you mean Double clutch or Dual plate clutch?

Here's the quote word-for-word from AutoWeek (January 12, 2004), "That seven-speed transaxle is a double-clutch Ricardo unit with paddle selectors..."

Finnus

:addict:

[Finnus]

From Germancarfans.com, here's a quote from Chrysler's release:

"And, befitting a machine that will play comfortably in the super car league, the performance of the ME Four-Twelve is stunning. In our projections and modeling, the ME Four-Twelve goes from 0-60 mph in 2.9 seconds, 0-100 mph in 6.2 seconds and it will blister through the quarter mile in 10.6 seconds at 142.0 mph. The estimated top speed of the ME Four-Twelve is 248 mph (400 km/h). The vehicle is designed and packaged to achieve outstanding thermal performance under extreme operating conditions. Its large capacity, high-efficiency engine-cooling system allows this engine to retain optimum thermal performance – a key advantage in the super car arena.

"The 7-speed Ricardo Double Clutch Transmission was developed specifically for this vehicle and features the latest double wet-clutch technology and electronic control strategy. The exclusive ME Four-Twelve transmission delivers uninterrupted torque to the rear wheels with 200 millisecond shift times."

Finnus

:addict:

[Nordschleife]

Originally posted by Finnus
from Chrysler's release:

"The 7-speed Ricardo Double Clutch Transmission was developed specifically for this vehicle and features the latest double wet-clutch technology and electronic control strategy. The exclusive ME Four-Twelve transmission delivers uninterrupted torque to the rear wheels with 200 millisecond shift times."

Finnus

:addict:

Finnus

As far as I can work out, because the companies are keeping rather quiet about their relationships and Ricardo has a significant consulting business, Ricardo and Borg Warner have jointly developed this Dual clutch technology.

This is what is being used in the Audi TT, the Bugatti Veyron and probably in the next RS4 and Porsche 911.

There are two clutches on concentric shafts. One is used to engage gears 1,3,5 and 7, the other 2,4,and 6 (probably does reverse as well). This gearbox for production cars is made by BW. Riccardo do all the clever computer and control stuff. Sensors try and figure out what gear you are going to need next and the clutch that is not in use preselects that gear. Then when you shift all that happens is that one clutch disengages and the next engages, much quicker, in practice. To help make the whole thing last and remain efficient this design employs wet plates, think wet sandpaper, it works just as well as dry but stays clean longer.

Ricardo manufacture the carbon fibre transaxles which are used in race cars. We are beginning to see Dual clutch setups being used more frequently in Formula 1, its easy to preselect the gears because the onboard computer knows where the car is on the track.

Everybody is claiming to have developed these gearboxes themselves, but the same patented technologies and trademarked terms keep appearing in the information sheets from the different manufacturers. So draw your own conclusions.

R+C

[Finnus]

There are two clutches on concentric shafts. One is used to engage gears 1,3,5 and 7, the other 2,4,and 6 (probably does reverse as well). This gearbox for production cars is made by BW. Riccardo do all the clever computer and control stuff. Sensors try and figure out what gear you are going to need next and the clutch that is not in use preselects that gear.

Nordschleife,

Isn't that the basic principal of DSG in the TT? Just not as fast, efficient & not as much computer input as the Ricacardo & Formula 1 setup?

Finnus

:addict:

[Erik]

Apparently, everyone want one...

http://www.autoindex.org/images/news/684/norm_3_orig.jpg

http://www.rs6.com/gfx/articles/017i.jpg

http://www.koenigsegg.se/pressroom/images/2tn.jpg