MrFatbooty

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...mw_hydrogen_dc

German luxury carmaker BMW unveiled the world's fastest hydrogen-powered car at the Paris auto show on Wednesday, dubbed the H2R, capable of exceeding 300 kilometers (185 miles) per hour.

"Our drive toward the future is called hydrogen," BMW management board member Burkhard Goeschel said before the tarp slowly slipped off the teardrop-shaped body of the sleek race car.

Goeschel, responsible for technology and development at BMW, said the streamlined rocket car sprints from 0 to 100 kmh in about six seconds and reached a top speed of 302.4 kmh on BMW's test track at Miramas, France.

"It's called the H2R -- 'R' as in record," Goeschel said, visibly proud of the company's breakthrough achievement in the field of zero emissions.

Unlike most hydrogen-powered vehicles, the H2R doesn't operate on a fuel cell but rather uses a modified 6-litre, 12-cylinder combustion engine for its propulsion that essentially emits nothing but steam.

An advantage of the higher combustion pressure of the hydrogen-air mixture is its higher degree of efficiency, BMW added.

The company cautioned, however, that while the cars don't pollute, production of hydrogen as a fuel does entail pollution.

Hydrogen is obtained either from fossil fuels such as natural gas or by applying electrical power to water molecules. Ecologically, the problem of finding a regenerating source of primary energy remains.

While BMW is developing fuel-cell driven cars as well, it says it is concentrating on the combustion engine because the sum total of its features and characteristics offers the largest number of advantages and benefits all in one.

"We had just 10 months to develop the H2R prototype," said project manager Juergen Kuebler in a statement.

Although the outer skin is made of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic like a Formula 1 car, Goeschel said he wasn't considering registering it for next year's racing circuit.

Some pictures:

pinoydon2003

it's cool that they're making innovative discoveries with new types of motors and stuff like that,
but what i don't understand is why all these prototype cars are so godamn ugly, couldn't they just have stuck that motor in an m3 chassis or something and make it somewhat appealing

edit: nm, 12cyl couldn't fit an M3 chassis.. still no excuse for the hideousness of it

whatever7

Jesus they put the Bangle eyes on the soap bar.

DakarM

you must know a lot about aerodynamics to make such a bold statement.

pinoydon2003

well as a matter of fact...

i don't.

i was just stating that that's one ugly POS

edit: i take back the previous statement as i'll get millions of people jumping on my back about it. what a beautiful car

DakarM

no it's an ugly car but the shape was carefully crafted to minilize drag. that's the only way such a car can hit highs speeds like that.

MrFatbooty

Yeah, the shape was dictated by the wind tunnel, with the possible exception of the slash cut in the sides which is clearly from the Z4.

The engine, even though it's a 6 liter V12, only makes 285 hp, so the car has to be as streamlined as possible for going after land speed records.

benjamin

Another perspective on reducing drag:

The most efficient shape for an object moving through air is a teardrop. That the BMW in this thread sort of resembles a teardrop is not surprising -- check out the bulbous front end and tapering rear.

I don't think this is a particularly attractive car, but it makes kind of a neat piece of sculpture. I hope they put it in a museum. I'd like to see it.

DVPGSR

BMW is also developing other hydrogen cars as well.

redgoober4life

I don't think it looks that bad. Infact, I think the rear looks better then the new 7 series. heh.