Yes I went there.
6 Likes
Diesel?
Supercar?
What?
1 Like
Gotta make oneself visible somehow.
Much time was spent abusing the lasso tool in PS, but finally the much anticipated first mid-engined Diesel sports car in the World is here, in its entire purpleness:
And to answer your most important question: NO.
It isn’t as fast as you think it is. It is still 1990 Diesel technology we are talking about here.
But more on the performance later.
Yes we at IMR spent almost a year building a mid-engined Supercar that’s slower than a Corvette (ZR-1). And we’re damn proud of the result. Based on a robust steel tube frame we made quite possibly the most unique sports car ever a reality. We’re especially proud of the fact that the entire mechanicals of the car are proven mass-produced IMP hardware you can find in our pedestrian family cars. The most significant part is the engine. Obviously we used a proven and reliable IMP D640T engine (the largest and most powerful passenger car diesel we currently have) that has been modified to fit the bigger injectors, fuel rail, Turbocharger, and intercooler of the D675T-230 found in medium-duty Monolith trucks. With a few adjustments to the boost and fuel system the engine now produces 298hp @ 4400rpm instead of the previous 173hp @ 3700rpm, while the torque jumped from 381Nm @ 2000rpm to 564Nm @ 2100rpm, while also having improved throttle response and not falling flat on its face after peak hp. We’d have loved to use a direct injection system, but our new rotary pump system simply wasn’t ready yet.
That much torque needs to be transmitted to the wheels, but IMP has never built a mid-engined car before and neither do we plan to do so in the near future, so we bought a 5-speed transaxle also used in the new Lamborghini Diablo because it’ll fit the transmission bolt pattern and is rated for similar torque.
The front suspension too is adapted from an existing IMP vehicle, while the rear suspension had to be the only thing we had to develop all by its own.
Now, 298hp isn’t a lot compared to similar vehicles, but thanks to the massive torque available at low rpm it’ll outaccelerate a Ferrari 348tb from 0-100kph (5.5s vs. 5.6s) despite the weight penalty of the cast-iron diesel engine.
Furthermore we put a heavy focus on the reduction of the drag coefficient in the interest of reducing fuel consumption and countering the unfavourable power-to-weight ratio. Thanks to that it is capable of reaching a top speed of 288kph verified at VWs Ehra-Lessien high speed test track.
Much more important is the fact that in a simulated economy run we achieved a record fuel consumption of just 7.19L/100km. We are confident that it’ll take a while until anything with this kind of performance will beat that figure.
We can’t make a statement on the future development of the concept just yet, but we’ll keep the idea on hold for now.
Stats:
Custom IMP D640T-V300 Inline six pre-chamber injection diesel engine, 92x100mm, 3989cc, SOHC 24V, 298hp @ 4400rpm, 564Nm @ 2100rpm, 253kg (wet)
5-Speed manual transmission, MR layout
1453kg curb weight
0-100kph: 5.5s
Top Speed 288.7kph (179.4mph)
Average fuel consumption: 7.19L/100km (13.9km/L, 39.2mpg UK, 32,7mpg US)
Projected price: 210.000 D-Mark
6 Likes
The IMR D-Sport looks nice and I really like the idea of “just making” a Diesel engine, anyway.
I have to say though, in 1990, this would have flopped so hard. 
In other words, a little too far ahead of its time.
In general though, nice designs, fellow german!
Shouldn’t you be at Wörk fellow teuton?
What makes you think I am not? 
Arbeit is life Arbeit macht frei
Absolutely, yes… of course… Heinrich.
Bevor mein ruhmreiches Unternehmen noch zur Waffel-SS verkommt, lassen wir es dabei bleiben.
Yeah, but is it award-winning?
That roof scoop!
Maybe it is a periscope 
More like those tail lights… 
Dutch Caravan owner’s club <25.000€ Tow Car of the Year 2005