Photo: Infiniti
The Salzburgring track in Austria is the place where Infiniti is currently testing its latest insanity, the Project Black S. Driven by Renault's Formula 1 driver Nico Hülkenberg, the vehicle is doing its best to convince the company's top brass it should go into production.
The Japanese brand said this week it is currently assessing the possibility of mass producing and selling the nameplate, bringing to the market a road car that makes use of a Formula One-inspired dual-hybrid electric powertrain.
A final decision on the matter will be taken by the end of the year, Infiniti says, but even if the outcome is negative, the lessons learned during the car's development process will be put to good use on other models, said the company's chairman Mike Colleran.
"Working with Renault F1 Team has opened our eyes to new ways of working," the exectuive said in a statement.
"Outside of the traditional process in which we engineer cars and technologies, this collaboration has shown us what can be achieved with a small, dedicated team. We will learn from this to enhance the way we create other cars in future."
The Project Black S was shown for the first time in March 2017 at the Geneva Motor Show as a Q60 Red Sport-derived car. In 2018, an updated version of it was shown again at Paris Motor SHow, with minor changes.
The car is powered by a 3.0-liter V6 twin-turbo engine working in conjunction with an energy recovery system (ERS) inspired by the one deployed on Renault's Formula 1 cars. Whereas the base engine would develop only 400 hp on its own, the ERS brings the power levels to a total of 563 hp.
There is no information available yet on what those numbers mean for acceleration time and performance, but they will likely be impressive as well.
A final decision on the matter will be taken by the end of the year, Infiniti says, but even if the outcome is negative, the lessons learned during the car's development process will be put to good use on other models, said the company's chairman Mike Colleran.
"Working with Renault F1 Team has opened our eyes to new ways of working," the exectuive said in a statement.
"Outside of the traditional process in which we engineer cars and technologies, this collaboration has shown us what can be achieved with a small, dedicated team. We will learn from this to enhance the way we create other cars in future."
The Project Black S was shown for the first time in March 2017 at the Geneva Motor Show as a Q60 Red Sport-derived car. In 2018, an updated version of it was shown again at Paris Motor SHow, with minor changes.
The car is powered by a 3.0-liter V6 twin-turbo engine working in conjunction with an energy recovery system (ERS) inspired by the one deployed on Renault's Formula 1 cars. Whereas the base engine would develop only 400 hp on its own, the ERS brings the power levels to a total of 563 hp.
There is no information available yet on what those numbers mean for acceleration time and performance, but they will likely be impressive as well.
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