Suzuki’s latest design concept has the potential to bring racing car appeal to everyday highway driving with the unveiling of the road-going Hayabusa GT prototype.
But driving this sleek sports car will be no ordinary motoring. The compact two-door is based on the successful Hayabusa single-seater racing car one-make class, which has been operating in Japan. Ever since the first Hayabusa open-wheeler racing cars took to the track, people have been asking for a road-going car version for street and open road use.
Suzuki’s response is a super light enclosed GT coupe with perfect weight distribution front and rear, a low centre of gravity and minimal front/rear overhang. The bright yellow prototype is built on a short wheelbase and sports a sleek body with excellent aerodynamics aided by a flat floor and an efficient rear end shape.
Styled in a moving belt-type wind tunnel in the Suzuki Sport factory in Japan, the Hayabusa GT has its engine mounted mid-ship driving the rear wheels. The body is made from fibreglass reinforced plastic and carbon fibre, fitted to a specially designed aluminium alloy space frame. This has been analysed by the Suzuki Motor Corporation for extra crash worthiness.
To ease access to the interior, lift-up gull wing doors are a design feature, providing a special touch to the car while adding a practical dimension. Like the formula racing car carrying the same designation, the Suzuki GT’s name stems from the well-known and highly respected Suzuki Hayabusa engine that powers the GSX1300R high performance motorcycle.
This 1,299cm3 four-stroke, 16-valve, double overhead camshaft will rev to 11,000 rpm, produces a lusty 129 kW (172 horsepower) of power at 9,800 rpm and 138 Nm of torque at 7,000 rpm. Operating on a compression ratio of 11.0 to 1, the advanced and powerful petrol engine feeds through a six-speed sequential gearbox. Weighing in at a featherweight 550kg, it provides a scintillating power to weight ratio of 234 kW per tonne.
To assist the car’s low centre of gravity, the exhaust pipe is located on the left side of the chassis rather than underneath. Suzuki has endeavored to use as many original factory parts as possible, not only to reduce costs but also to preserve the originality of the sports car.
The Hayabusa car employs double wishbone suspension and is fitted with 15-inch diameter, 6.5J wide aluminium alloy wheels, shod with 175/80 R15 tyres. Built on a 2,320mm wheelbase (or less than a production Suzuki Ignis), the Hayabusa GT is 4,050mm long.
While no plans exist to put this radical concept into production, the design highlights the technical innovation Suzuki is renowned for and provides a pointer towards future technology.
