Talladega, AL – On August 9, 1975, famed race car driver Mark Donohue set a new world closed-course speed record in a Porsche powered by Sunoco/CAM 2 fuel. Almost exactly 30 years later, on Sept. 7, 2005, his son David Donohue (left) and television star and The Tonight Show host Jay Leno reprised Mark’s effort by setting new speed records in a production 2005 Porsche Carrera GT powered by Sunoco fuel. The record runs took place on the same track, Talladega Superspeedway, where Mark Donohue set his record three decades ago.
The newest-generation Porsche used to set these latest records is a totally stock, street-legal 2005 Carrera GT, powered by a mid-mounted 5.7L V10 engine that generates 605 horsepower. Only safety equipment was added to protect the driver, including a five-point racing harness.
David Donohue set three flying speed records in the production category: closed-course speed record of 196.301 mph, measured mile at 198.971 mph and measured kilometer at 195.755 mph.
Leno set three standing-start speed records in the same car: closed course speed record of 156.603 mph, measured mile at 128.14 mph and measured kilometer at 110.478 mph. The records were recorded and verified by the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series.
World’s Smallest Car Turns 10
In 1995, the Guinness Book of Records awarded a World Record Certificate to Nippondenso Co., Ltd. (now DENSO Corp.) for developing the world’s smallest motorized car. The DENSO Micro-Car is a miniature version of Toyota’s first passenger car, the 1936 Model AA sedan. Its size is amazing: 1/1000th the size of the actual car or about the size of a grain of rice.
It’s powered by a 0.67 mm-sized magnetic-type working motor. The Micro-Car has a total of 24 parts that come in 13 different types including body, tires, spare tire, wheels, axle, bearings, headlights, rear lights, front bumper, rear bumper, step, number plate and emblem. To give you an idea of how tiny the car is, you can compare it to the width of a human hair, which is about 80 micron measurements (one micron equals 0.001 mm).
A 0.67 mm-sized magnetic-type working motor consisting of five different parts including a magnet and core powers the tiny car. When supplied with 3V 20 mA of alternating current through an 18-micron-thin copper wire, the engine can run at 600 rpm. DENSO Research Laboratories in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, developed the Micro-Car to demonstrate the potential of micro-machine technology in both industrial and medical applications. The following year, DENSO came out with the 1996 Model, which has no wire at all. Instead, it receives its power through remote magnetic energy transmission.
Top vehicle speed: 5-6 mm/sec.
Future Technology Showcased at SKF Press Event
Drive-by-wire technology, where all of the mechanical and hydraulic components on a vehicle are replaced with smart electro-mechanical actuating units (SEMAU), represents a high-tech approach to vehicle control. This technology is expected to one day replace the traditional mechanical-based steering and hydraulic braking systems that are currently used in vehicles.
The Novanta concept car, built by Bertone (a famous Italian automotive designer) along with a partnership with SKF (best known as a leading supplier of wheel bearings and a pioneer in adapting aerospace fly-by-wire technology to automotive applications) highlights a number of advantages over current vehicle technology with its steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire set-up.
Some of these advantages include ease of operation and steering controls, better interior design flexibility, increased commonization of parts among vehicle lines, overall weight reduction and more room under the hood.
For more information about the Novanta and SKF’s drive-by-wire technology, visit the SKF website at www.skf.com/portal/skf_us#, or the Bertone website at www.bertone.it/en/90_novanta_en.htm.
