Next Formula E safety car is a tuned Mini
The new safety car for Formula E will once again come from the BMW Group, but this time it will be purely electric. Following the BMW i8 with plug-in hybrid drive, this role will be taken over by the Mini Electric Pacesetter inspired by JCW: a special version of the new Mini Cooper SE.
The purely electric safety car will be used for the first time on 10 April in Rome and thus as part of the second event of the current Formula E season.
Compared to the standard version of the Mini Cooper SE, the developers of the car have reduced the weight by around 130 kilograms to a kerb weight of around 1,230 kilograms. In addition, the Mini has a motorsport coil-over suspension and the same tyres that are fitted to the front wheels of the Formula E racing cars.
The optimised drive based on the Mini Cooper SE delivers 135 kW of power and 280 Nm of torque. With this, the Mini Electric Pacesetter inspired by JCW sprints from 0-100 km/h in 6.7 seconds (the standard vehicle needs 7.3 s) and from 80 to 120 km/h in 4.3 seconds (standard: 4.6 s). The interior is reduced to the bare essentials: Only the front row of seats is present. Otherwise, the interior consists of a welded-in roll cage, which BMW says ensures maximum safety.
In terms of design, the safety car combines characteristics of the Mini and John Cooper Works brands, which is why the vehicle bears the name suffix “inspired by JCW”. The Stromer features the round headlights and hexagonal radiator grille of the typical Mini face as well as classic JCW elements such as the wheel arches adapted to the track width and the deep front apron with an additional split front splitter. The new safety car was created “in an unprecedented collaboration between Mini Design, BMW Motorsport, the FIA and Formula E”, BMW summarises in its press release.
0 Comments