Peugeot Speed of light

Description de l'auteur :

Peugeot Speed oflight - Cristian Sano, 25 ans, Roumanie

ABOUT THE CONCEPT

I.Starting ideas.

This year's competition theme "Design the Peugeot you dreams of seeing in the near future" gave me a lot of freedom, but i found out that it is difficult to choose if you have many ideas. I chose to build something different from what i have seen so far, to reflect some of my personality, to make the design steps a challenge. For the design formula i used these ingredients:

1. The dream of flying
- one of the oldest dreams of mankind - this is why i gave an aerodinamic shape to my car and made its body look a little like a plane or rocket.

2. The need for speed
- the air intakes from the sides were inspired by jet fighters, also the interior is designed for the driver to sit like a F1 pilot, very close to the ground so that he can feel the speed more intense. If you look at this car from behind, you might notice some resemblance to a dragster.

3. The need for something new
- hollow center wheels - they exist but few people know about them and how they work, so i tried to design a working solution using a bearing system (i can send the drawings if you need them). The main advantages that these wheels bring to my project are that people will notice the difference and start asking questions (how do they work? are they easy to use and replace? how is the engine power transmitted to these kind of wheels?); also, they might transform my concept car into an engineering challenge as well.

4. Pure driving, ego
- this car is made only for its driver. When speeding on the asphalt, nothing comes in between, no music, no passengers.

5. Peugeot Asphalte concept
- this project is a mistery to me. I didn't like its design, being so aggressive in the front and so small behind, but the two rear wheels made me wonder what's behind the Asphalte. My concept has its wheels the same way.

II. Names.

1. Arrow - coming from its shape. The car could sit on an arrow shaped podium. This name suggests speed as well.
2. Rocket - referring to speed mostly.
3. SOL - Speed Of Light - "light" refers to the materials as well, carbon fiber, aluminium - carbon alloys, etc, that make this car very light.

My preferred name is SOL.

III. Other things regarding this concept.

Why a race car? Well, it is about the competition. Maybe soon there will be one real competition between car concepts, having their creators as pilots. Regarding practical aspects,i am a novice in car design, so i concentrated on design lines. Without the knowledge that a car designer has i might propose some practical solutions that often alter the design lines and might be obsolete as well. Probably the hollow wheels are obsolete too ... but they surely make people react. I would like Peugeot to build a car that is different, that gives rise to a lot of reactions at motorshows (i am thinking of the reactions that Dodge Tomahawk generated, even if it is ugly and unpractical in some people's oppinions, it got imprinted in many minds). This is what i am trying to achieve with my proposed concept, to make a difference and get into people's minds this way.

Many thanks to Peugeot for organizing these design competitions. In the creation process i learned a lot about cars, i improved my 3d modelling skills, and i hope to make it to the finals. In the EXTRAORDINARY case that i win, Norev can use for the reduced scale model some miniature bearings for the wheels, that would be cool for them too.