Lore
As early as 1986, Munot was interested in expanding into the ever increasingly popular supermini segment. Such a car would be positioned as a more discerning option compared to all the cheap city cars, an entry-level Munot to complement the Drache sedan, and in the face of more and more restrictive environmental regulations, a leader in efficiency for future cars. Implicit was also an underlying concern in some, that small cars were slowly taking away the urban upper-middle class customers that Munot was popular amongst. The economic crises and rising gas prices of the 90s only helped to underline the need for a small Munot - the future was efficiency.
To design this car of the future, the company did it’s tradition of setting the Schaffhausen, Basel, and the newer Geneva teams in competition. The winner was the Geneva design team’s prototype, led by Dr. Thierry Maudet, and a prototype made entirely of aluminum was shown in 1993. A survey at the same 1993 auto show indicated that an overwhelming 95% of participants approved of a supermini Munot, and 80% approved of the Geneva design, rubber stamping it for final development and production. The victorious team decided to name their creation the “Volonté”, reflecting the car’s goal of a futuristic, youthful, and strong energy in it’s design.
In order to meet these goals, the Volonté needed to be light and low drag, without sacrificing comfort or safety. A five-door hatchback style was the only body available, featuring a spacious yet streamlined body with a drag coefficient of only 0.33. Though the prototype’s aluminum body was too expensive for mass production, a significant number of body parts were made of aluminum to reduce weight. This included the wheels, which were 14 inch alloy as standard. The underpinnings of the Volonté were shared with the Drache to streamline production and reduce cost; the same MacPherson/trailing arm independent suspension scheme was used along with the traverse FWD layout. A classic 5-speed manual gearbox was installed as standard with a mild final drive to maximize gearing efficiency. ABS front disk and rear drum brakes were standard for safety reasons. Completely equipped, the Volonté weighed only 950 kg.
The engine itself was a major engineering feat in of itself. Having deemed that the Zweicam-NEA architecture too complicated for a car of this size and market category - especially since the aluminum block casting was not giving good enough yields - a completely new, tiny engine had to be designed from scratch. Dr. Remo Ogi led the design effort, creating Munot’s first multivalve SOHC engine. Based on a cheaper and more reliable “grey metal” (cast iron) block, this small engine was a slanted-4, in order to increase the amount of available space in the engine bay. The team designed a four-valve head controlled by a single VVT cam, with this relatively complex system requiring new design principles. The benefits were deemed worth it though, as the initial 1.1L engine was perhaps the most efficient one to date. Furthermore, extensive muffling ensured a low cabin noise.
Nevertheless, as Dr. Maudet put it, the goal was not to design a cheap Munot, but rather a small Munot. Aside from the innovations in hardware, the Volonté also featured a generously equipped interior. Featuring soft touch plastics, remote central locking, a four-speaker cassette stereo, five plush upholstered seats, heat and AC, four-door power windows, and electric and heated rear-view mirrors, the standard interior was comparable to it’s more upscale siblings. The center-console dashboard was a throwback to the early Munots; in addition to the digitized Auto Information Computer it also featured an external temperature sensor. Driver and front passenger airbags were standard, a special passenger cell was designed whereupon the engine would travel underneath the cabin in an accident, and the Volonté became the final car to be equipped with the Traction Restraint System, in order to retain a high level of safety despite it’s size. The Omnidirectional Impact System (OIS) found in the 5th Generation of Munot cars was later designed into the Volonté.
Options for the Volonté include a 4-speed automatic; traction control (later made standard and replaced as an option by ESC); an interior package with leather upholstery, sunroof, automatic climate control, and a six-speaker CD/cassette stereo; and rear parking sensors. At launch, three trims were available. The base-model A as depicted; the T (Touring) trim with a more powerful engine and interior package/rear sensors as default; and the TS trim with a more powerful engine, larger 15 inch performance tires, more powerful brakes, and traction control as default. A TSI trim was added featuring a direct injection injection later in the series.
Of course, it was still the cheapest Munot by being the smallest, starting at $17,500 AMU, but the difference between it and the compact car-sized Drache was not that big. However, in terms of efficiency, it couldn’t be beat. The most economical 1.1L engine consumed only about 4.8L of fuel per 100 km, while still propelling the A model to 100 km/h in a relatively quick 13.98 seconds.
As for where it stands? Time alone would tell how successful the Volonté’s introduction would be.
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