Lice Locket

Is this the Volta? Or something new?

Warren J. Dew

A properly designed hybrid sports car would be great. It wouldn't need to have much in the way of extra weight - since it could get some power from the electric motor and battery, the gasoline motor and its supporting systems - cooling, gas tank, etc. - could be lighter. The only difference would be a lower sustained top speed, because the electric motor would be limited in how long it could run - in S2000 terms, you could still do bursts to 150mph, but you'd probably only be able to cruise for hours at, say, 120mph. But who cruises for hours at 150 anyway?

The best thing would be the regenerative braking. Right now, I feel guilty whenever I brake for a curve, because I know it wastes gas. As a result, I allow my speed to drift downward before the curve by letting off on the accelerator. With a hybrid, I could keep my speed up for longer, then brake into the curve the way curves are meant to be taken, and the energy would be stored in the battery for use on the exit. This would allow more spirited driving while still getting 20 mpg instead of the 10mpg one gets on the track.

While Toyota has only used hybrid technology to make cars more economical, it can also be used to make cars more sporty. It ought to be Honda doing this - they would know how to take advantage of hybrid technology to make the car a better sports car, rather than just a more economical sports car.

Mutlu

I remember seeing an article talking about the next NSX possibly using a hybrid engine as well. It would be a V6 with 300hp and another 100hp going to the front wheels through hybrid power. You would get V6 gas mileage but with V8 performance.

b0mbrman

[QUOTE=Warren J. Dew,May 5 2005, 05:48 AM] The best thing would be the regenerative braking.