by Gabrielle DeSantis

MotorBiscuit has been following along the progress of the first flying race car. Now it has made its maiden flight with the next step towards a new form of racing. Australian-based Airspeeder wants to kick off its flying race car series before the end of 2021. Now it is testing the Airspeeder flying car as it moves closer to reality.

What is an Airspeeder race car?

This is more accurately called an eVTOL or electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle. Eight rotors extended out on four arms launched the race car to 62 mph in 2.8 seconds. Flying at a bit over 1,500 feet for its first flight it was pilotless. 

But the Alauda Aeronautics Mk3 is meant to be flown (or is it driven?) by a real, live person. So it has a driver’s seat and controls, too. Up to four teams will compete based on three different “sky tracks” or sky-based race tracks. 

Each team will compete with identical Airspeeders according to digitaltrends. Competition is based on the pilot’s skill and strategy. The initial launch will see the Alaudas flown remotely. The goal is for these to be flown by pilots. The racing will include navigation of “virtual courses with the machines flying blade-to-blade.”

Mid-air collisions are the biggest concerns right now

The biggest concern is mid-air collisions, naturally. For this Alauda has incorporated lidar and radar tech to detect and avoid other objects. Or, as Alauda says it creates “virtual forcefields” to fend off other flying Airspeeders. 

The biggest hurdle right now is what’s available in batteries. As currently tested, the electric Airspeeders can only fly for 15 minutes. So numerous pit stops are needed to swap out power sources. A quick remove and replace system has been devised to get the airspeeders back in the race. 

Alauda Aeronautics engineers come with different backgrounds including motorsports and aviation. We understand there are a few automotive engineers as well. Their stated goal is to fastrack eVTOL technology with the racing competition. 

Do Airspeeders stand a chance with motorsports declining?

With all motorsports seeing a decline in viewership and participation, it will be interesting to see if this type of racing takes hold. Being technically advanced, dangerous, and completely new, it has all of the hallmarks for compelling interest. 

No dates for racing events have been set as of now. As more information becomes available we’ll look forward to bringing it to you. And we’re hoping that it will make its way to the US to see it live for ourselves.

RELATED: Do Flying Cars Exist?

The post Watch: Airspeeder Flying Race Car Makes First Test Flight appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Consumer-focused sports cars are far from what we experience on the track. No matter what circuit or style of racing, race cars are designed to be performance-focused, only taking into account what matters for driver safety rather than comfort. But automotive enthusiasts and race fanatics might be interested in making some weight reduction on their own vehicles, but there is more than one reason you should think twice before trying to convert your sports car into a street-legal race car.

You may be wondering what the benefit is to weight reduction in a more standard sports car. While weight is a crucial element of high-performance vehicles like bonafide race cars, it isn’t as important for street-focused sports cars. When it’s down to the wire, a vehicle’s power-to-weight ratio is an important aspect that performance engineers keep in mind, which is why race cars tend to reduce the number of luxuries to a minimum in order to create a better power-to-weight ratio.

Weight reduction means minimizing luxuries

Weight reduction means removing a lot of unnecessary luxuries that make the car enjoyable to drive. While it can be easy to remove accessories like sun visors, most of the removable weight in your car is made up of the luxuries that make our car enjoyable to drive. This can include everything from interior panels, seats, air conditioning, and radios or touchscreen infotainment systems. While these systems aren’t necessary for your car, it can make it less enjoyable to drive your car on a daily basis

Never sacrifice your safety

Removing certain elements of your car can make it unsafe even if you don’t realize it. Modern cars feature airbags that are designed to deploy from more locations than just the dashboard. This can protect the driver and passenger in case of a side or rear collision and help optimize the safety of everyone in the vehicle. These airbags are designed to deploy in a certain way, so removing any covers or panels that sit over these airbags can reduce their performance.

You should also never remove any of your vehicle’s safety features in an attempt to reduce your vehicle’s overall weight. Along with that, you should not heavily modify a vehicle in a way that makes it unsafe to drive in general, including driving on racing tires in less-than-ideal weather.

Your car’s power to weight ratio probably isn’t that fragile, and reducing the weight by removing a few pounds really isn’t going to make your car that much faster. In fact, weight reduction is only part of the formula for making fast and efficient race cars, no matter the segment. Weight, body shape, aerodynamics, and tuning are all major focus points of creating a genuinely fast race car.

There is more to performance than the power-to-weight ratio

You can only go so fast on surface roads anyways. The highest speed limit here in America is 85 mph, so unless you plan on tacking on extra insurance for your vehicle to hit up the track, chances are you won’t really see the benefit of weight reduction anyways. Along with that, standard sports cars may be focused on providing drivers with an enjoyable driving experience, but unless you own some of the worlds most expensive supercars and hypercars, chances are your vehicle was designed to balance luxuries and comforts with performance, so unless you were to heavily modify the drivetrain and aerodynamics of the vehicle, improving your vehicle’s power-to-weight is only a fraction of the solution.

RELATED: 11 Powerful Vehicles Under $50,000

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