IFR Automotive Aspid
700kg Aspid showcases Spanish firm’s weight-saving expertise
Caterham meets McLaren F1? That’s the sort of route your mind takes on encountering the Aspid. Revealed at the London motor show, the car is a showcase for Spanish R&D company IFR Automotive.
IFR’s aim is to make cars and their components as light as possible, which is why the 700kg Aspid, with its 400bhp supercharged 2-litre four-pot, can reach 62mph in a claimed 2.8sec and 100 in 5.9.
Its chassis is made from an ‘aluminium extrusion composite’ called Alexcom with panels between spaceframe tubes. The hollow, blade-like wishbones are also also aluminium extrusions.
Inside, where there is much visible carbonfibre, the instruments are concentrated in a single steering-wheel-mounted screen called Unidrive. It’s the visible part of a wiring and electronics system claimed to be much simpler and lighter than those of most modern cars, employing only a quarter as many microprocessors.
Despite this, Unidrive will enable the driver to adjust the car’s suspension settings and engine map, and can also accommodate telematics and multimedia systems.
