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V24 Le Mans Kit Car for 2007
Posted by KitcarUSA News on Friday, March 16th, 2007 at 10:17 PM |
 I recently had the pleasure to be invited to the Ukraine to sample the new and revolutionary kit car entry for the 2007 Le Mans race! Until last year the Cardi was a Russian owned car design studio but on the invitation of the Ukrainian State Automobile Conglomerate was invited to fabricate the new state entry for Le Mans. Designed by the son of the pre-war Auto Union V16 race car, the Cardi is an astonishing piece of revolutionary design. The amazing thing is that after Le Mans it is to be made available in kit form to buyers in Europe and North America.
Cardi do not yet have their own test track so all testing and development has taken place on public roads. When you look at the tech specs of this car that last factor seems even more amazing. The Cardi is a twin engined V24 with automatic drive by expanding belt and pulley drive. Each engine front and back (the latter longitudinally placed) is three litres so the resulting machine is an astonishing 6 litres in total capacity.
I could hardly believe that the assembly of 10 international auto journalists was going to be allowed to take this veritable monster out onto public roads. Fortunately the road concerned was what in Europe is called a dual carriageway – so at least there would not be any cars coming towards us!
The car belies its engine capacity as it appears relatively sleek in typical LMP bodywork – although a little chunkier than normal for the breed. It was explained to us that the total power output was in excess of 800 bhp but that the automatic drive made it more controllable than otherwise one might expect.
The drive from both engines is fed into a large counter-weighted flywheel that spins at up to 15,000 rpm and releases its energy through an all wheel drive belt drive system. The only drawback is that there is an effect similar to early turbo lag. But once the power comes in…. well, I am getting ahead of myself.
 2 V12 engines for the Cardi = 800bhp
Most of the test drivers came back white faced but with a grin on their faces. When it was my turn I donned helmet and climbed in to the surprisingly roomy cockpit. The sound of 24 cylinders firing up is awesome and the whole car twists slightly as the flywheel spins up to speed. With shouted instructions from the chief technician to watch out for the “flywheel kick” I gently pressed the accelerator and turned out onto the highway.
No excitement just a smooth flow of power – almost disappointing. The onboard digital display showed a zero to 60 mph of around 4 seconds – which is hardly Le Mans prototype performance but then the flywheel kick happened. The next 40 mph came up in 2 seconds. At one hundred mph there is total lack of drama. But then the surreal acceleration continued. 100 to 150 took just 1.5 seconds and g forces were starting to affect my chest. Cars on the road seemed to be coming at me in reverse. Just time to notice that the steering was very positive and relaxing when the car seemed to squirm slightly before squatting down and eating up the next 50 mph in exactly the same time differential as it had taken to go from 100 to 150. Rapid calculation showed that it had taken just 9 seconds to go from zero to 200 mph and was showing no sign of diminishing the rate of progress. The engines were making themselves heard now – a double V12 yowling that makes the hair on the back of your neck rise.
Braking was smooth and up to par for a racer. Just a whiff of hot carbon and the Cardi was down to more human scale speeds and ready to take the roundabout back up the dual carriageway to the factory. This time I was readier for the engine characteristics and floored the throttle as soon as she was pointing straight. From a rolling 40 mph the Cardi was up to 235 mph in 7 seconds. All without fuss and accompanied by the crescendo of noise that once heard in never forgotten.
A kit car? Why not? Le Mans – again, why not? The Ukrainian State Auto Conglomerate has decided that price for kits will be set dependent upon the position the Cardi finishes at Le Mans. If it finishes in the top three it will be sold at the equivalent of $60,000.00 US but a position in the range of 4th to 10th will see a 15% reduction in price. The hunger for American currency is making for a potential bargain!
If you have never heard 24 cylinders at full pitch go to Le Mans this year. Better still – buy a Cardi.
Chris Beddows
Chris Beddows is a veteran auto journalist based in Canada. chrisbeddowscommunications (a t) shaw.ca
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