[size=150]JSC Cinquanta Anni - 1995[/size]
In 1995 it had been exactly 50 years since JSC S.p.A had built its first racing engines, marking the debut of a new engine marque and a future automobile builder.
Company needed something very special to commemorate its 50-year history while also to gain some much needed publicity as Europe was only slowly pulling way from economic depression.
Symbolic of a race engine manufacturer turned into a premium sports car brand the decision had been made in early 1992 that nothing would better celebrate JSC heritage than a state of the art supercar!
First shown in a 50th jubilee art book printed in November 1994, the JSC Superquattro Stradale was born:
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The 1995 JSC Quattrocorsa Stradale
The 1990s were in many ways the golden years of the supercar. Many new brands had been established recently and technology had pushed the boundaries of performance to new heights. Exciting new build materials and ever more efficient engine and suspension setups were being introduced every year so this period better than any before, was a perfect time for JSC to get back to their roots of ultra-high performance. In its own field the Quattrocorsa Stradale would be at the very top of the game.
At the time two different classes of supercars were present, something new to the industry. The “entry level” supercars were built by established manufacturers and were built with some form of series production in mind. High performance was achieved while keeping the costs down to an acceptable level to actually turn a profit. Then there was the second class, which would later be know as hypercar. On these cars, expense was not spared and the latest high technology was applied wherever possible. These cars cost as much as 3-4 times that of the “entry” level supercars so they were simply built to perform, not to make money.
JSC followed their long-standing philosophy with the Quattrocorsa: It had to have supercar peformance, but also the drivability and practicality of a grand tourer. In essence, the Quattrocorse found itself in between the two classes, combining high tech and tradition as well as power and economy. The name “Quattrocorsa Stradale” was a reference to a four-wheel drive, race-inspired street-driven sports car.
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Following the success of some recent design studies and sports car prototypes, the responsibility of styling the Quattrocorse was given to young Giancarlo Zotti. Hence this would be the first top-of-the-line creation by JSC to incorporate in-house styling. What the world saw at unveiling in February 1995 was a combination of traditional Italian supercar wedge style, space age aerodynamics and a sort of cultivated aggression that Zotti’s designs would later be known for. The Quattrocorsa was intended to be a grand tourer with supercar performance, so the aerodynamics needen’t be ultra-efficient at creating downforce; rather the new design allowed the stylist to follow the design language he wished and create a memorable shape with very original detailing.
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To achieve a blend of speed and luxury with reasonable build costs, it was decided that the Quattrocorsa would utilize tried and tested steel tub rather than new and ultra-expensive carbon fiber. A strong stainless steel framework was made that was able to mount a large-capacity engine in the middle longitudinally, and incorporate a cutting-edge four wheel drive system. Body panels were glass-reinforced plastic with nomex-reinforcements at the most critical areas. With all the new technology and luxury equipment fitted on a steel frame, the new car was never going to be super light; in the end it tipped the scales at 1661 kg. But that was not a problem as this was supposed to be a high-speed grand tourer and not a race car. The glass roof added 24 kg to total weight but was just so nice to have… The rear glass allowed direct view to the engine compartment so that JSC’s engine expertise would be there for all to see.
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The suspension of the Quattrocorsa utilized dual wishbones front and rear, and now for the first time, a semi-hydraulic active suspension system was used. The car had acceleration sensors onboard that fed a central computer information about the driving conditions. With computer-assisted hydraulics the suspension would be soft and comfortable where desired and hard and flat where needed. The result was a car that would corner at high speeds with no body roll, yet be able to cover speed bumps and cobblestone surfaces with ease. Indeed, the car could produce cornering forces of up to 1.24g with its stock tires.
Full-time four-wheel drive with variable torque split was used. This allowed seamless acceleration in all weather-conditions and while the system added quite a lot of weight, the rewarding driving dynamics more than made up for it. This was a car that was equally at home on a ski-trip to Cortina and on a track day at Spa. The system had an active center differential that worked in conjunction with the suspension system in accordance to driving circumstances. Rear end had a limited slip differential to further enhance grip. Power was transmitted through a 6-speed manual gearbox that was fitted behind the engine. This allowed the drive to front axle be delivered using a single, three-jointed propeller shaft.
Variable-rate power steering and traction control helped to make the Quattrocorsa a friendly car to drive in all kinds of weather. Huge 305-mm ventilated disc brakes all round with 4-piston calipers front, 2-piston calipers rear were used with an advanced ABS system. The car could stop from 100 km/h in 31.1 meters braking the production car world record at the time. 19-inch wheels were 3-piece magnesium items with center-bolt locking. Tires were 255 mm front and 315 mm rear. Four wheel drive allowed slightly narrower tires to be used in the rear which kept the bodywork slim at the hips - good for aerodynamics.
The interior had a glass roof, full leather upholstery, automatic climate control and electrically adjustable seats and mirrors with memory. JSC spent heavily on safety: special side-impact protection was used, both passengers had front and side airbags and the seatbelts had an automatic tightening system. The projector-style headlights were powerful and didn’t need to be retracted to be useful.
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The greatest expense of the Quattrocorsa development project was the aerodynamics. 18 months of computer modelling and wind tunnel work didn’t come cheap. But the result was a very efficient CD of 0.29 along with perfect 50/50 downforce balance. The body didn’t actually develop positive downforce, but it did make almost zero lift - 15 kg front and rear to be precise, at 200 km/h. Achieving a low drag coefficient with enough cooling for a big twin-turbo engine and negating lift in the process was no easy task. To balance between the different requirements, active aerodynamics were applied. Both the front lip spoiler and the rear wing had electric servomotors to adjust their angle; also the main cooling intakes had thermostatically controlled flaps to minimize drag when cooling didn’t require constant air flow. Altogether this meant that the Quattrocorsa, a 200-mph supercar, would only spend 12 liters of fuel per 100 km/h on average; nothing short of amazing considering the 1660-kg total mass. As for top speed, exactly 200 mph, or 324 km/h, was deemed sufficient. High-speed aerodynamics were tuned for absolute grip and stability rather than ultimate top speed. As the designers put it on Road & Track’s interview: “200 mph is enough for all possible driving scenarios. We could get more speed, but the result would be an inferior automobile.”
SCHEMATIC SHOWCASING THE THERMAL AIRFLOW DESIGN OF THE QUATTROCORSA STRADALE
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So what about power? At the prototype stage, even an evolution of JSC’s V12 Formula One engine was tested, but it turned out not to be reliable enough while also being very expensive indeed. Instead, JSC took the recently introduced 8C35-95 V8 “customer engine” and turned it to eleven. A new, bigger and stronger cylinder block was made, and existing quad-cam 4-valve heads used with larger valves and ported flow paths. Variable valve control was taken straight out of the production engines, with more aggressive cam profiles naturally. Displacement came to be 4.25 litres with a 8:1 compression ratio. Twin turbochargers had ball-bearings and liquid-to-air intercooling. Instead of Bosch’s normal EFI that was used on customer engines, JSC utilized their in-house racing engine management with individual throttle bodies and running on 98-octane fuel, the engine labeled “Estremo895 Doppioturbo 600” made 600 hp at 7200 rpm and 613 Nm at 6500 rpm. Much more power could have been made with this setup, but extreme fuel efficiency and wide torque curve were preferred in keeping with the grand touring focus.
The valve covers had chrome plating commemorating JSC’s classic racing engines from 50 years back:
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Peformance was deemed satisfactory with a 4.25-litre capacity - not going ultra large in displacement helped keep the engine more lightweight.
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SPEC TABLES
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COMPARISON WITH RIVALS
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[size=85]The Quattrocorse was very competitive against its main rivals. Of the usual rivals, only the McLaren F1 was faster but lacked all the comfort and sophistication of the JSC product - essentially the two had a different buyer profile. And the F1 cost more than twice what the JSC did…[/size]
