GMA Gordon Murray's T50 hypercar


Gordon Murray Automotive (GMA) is a British automobile manufacturer of sports cars based in Shalford, Surrey, England. Founded in 2017 by former Formula 1 and McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray, the company's initial focus is on limited-run hand-built supercars. Its T.50 car entered production in 2023. Official website: Gordon Murray Automotive
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@Bridster thanks for sharing this info and hope you dont mind me posting the full table of specs, I am just blown away by the numbers.

The car will weigh about 985kg if the power to weight ratio is a huge 672PS per ton. This car is going to be stupidly fast, with split second throttle response.

I hope the engine and exhaust note will sound outrageous.

Engine Spec

No. cylinders: 12
Capacity: 3,994cc
V-angle: 65°
Power: 652 bhp
Aspiration: Naturally aspirated
Bore: 81.5 mm
Stroke: 63.8 mm
Compression ratio: 14:1
Max power: 663 PS @ 11,500 rpm
Power to weight ratio: 672 PS per tonne
Weight to power ratio: 150 kg per 100 PS
Max torque: 467 Nm @ 9,000 rpm
Flexibility: 71% of max torque @ 2,500 rpm
Maximum rpm: 12,100 rpm
Valve train: Gear driven double overhead camshafts
Inclined axis 4 valves per cylinder – variable valve timing on inlet / exhaust
Induction system: RAM induction airbox – 4 throttle bodies – Direct Path Induction Sound
Exhaust system: Inconel and Titanium
Lubrication system: Dry sump
Cooling system: Water-cooled – twin aluminium front radiators
Oil cooling system: Single aluminium rear radiator
Ignition system: 12 individual coils 12-volt
Starter/alternator: 48-volt gear driven integrated starter / generator
Exhaust emission control: 4 catalytic convertors with Lambda sensors and secondary air injection
Engine block: Aluminium alloy
Cylinder heads: Aluminium alloy
Connection rods: Titanium
Valves: Titanium
Total engine weight: 178 kg
Engine mounting: Semi-structural-inclined axis shear mounting (IASM)
Power density: 166 PS-per-litre

GMA_case_study.webp
 
Cosworth are probably the greatest engine builders in the world. They have a huge and very successful racing history, especially in F1 and have also developed some great car engines over the years. Remember the Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 engine, the Ford Sierra and Escort Cosworth models, the brilliant and legendary Opel 2.0 16valve engine from the late 80's early 90's.
 
This car will be very interesting!
But only max 467 NM...! You must use the revs on this car, but that’s half of the fun I guess.
Will the official picture of the car be much different from the production version? The design doesn’t seem to be very modern.
 
120Nm/l is really the best you can get out of an NA engine currently. This one has 116Nm/l, the Valkyrie V12 that produces 740Nm has 113Nm/l. The current highest figure (that I am aware of) is still the V8 from the Ferrari 458, which gets exactly 120Nm/l (540Nm from 4.5L). The Cosworth V12s could probably get more, but they are both using port injection instead of direct injection to meet emissions, which hinders the efficiency of the combustion somewhat.

Either way, the torque amount doesn't really tell you much in isolation. What determines how quickly car accelerates is torque at the wheels - and that is determined by your gearbox ratios. With very short gears you can have way more torque at the wheels than cars that have higher engine torque on paper but taller gears. Of course, the drawback to short gears is that you run out of them at lower vehicle speeds than if you had taller ones. Which means you need to shift up and that means that you end up in a taller gear anyway. However, the T.50 will be able to get away with using much shorter gears because it revs all the way to 12000 RPM. In a normal engine, if it had the same gearing, you might have to shift up at 6000RPM, but in the T.50, you still have another 6000RPM to go in this very short gear - while the 6000RPM car, to reach the same vehicle speed, would have to get there using a taller gear (which would supply less torque to the wheels). Hence why power (which is Torque x RPM) actually determines the car's acceleration, not torque.
 
While we wait for the unveil on Tuesday, I thought it would be fun - be it that we know the power, the torque, the weight, gearbox ratios and can make a good guess as to the aerodynamics - to first calculate what speeds the T.50 will reach in each gear, then the wheel torque in each gear, and then possible acceleration!

First, let's look at the Mclaren F1:
F1 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
Mph 65 95 125 150 180 230
W Torque (Nm) 4086 2770 2163 1758 1467 1176

And for the T.50:
T.50 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Overdrive
Mph 53 72 95 122 154 201 252
W Torque (Nm) 5536 4094 3082 2396 1897 1454 1163

This is assuming the T.50 is using the same diameter wheels as the F1 (which might be true, the F1 is using 17 inch wheels and the T.50 is using 18 inch but with lower profile tires) and the wheel torque is assuming 10% drivetrain loss. The torque displayed here is also not the peak torque, but torque at peak power. That's still not perfect, but is a closer match than peak torque when calculating acceleration.

What you can immediately notice is that while in the F1 the first gear is good for 65 mph for those magazine 0-60 times, in the T.50 they don't bother and the whole car is geared much more aggressively, maxing out at "only" 201mph in 6th gear (although more might be possible with the Overdrive gear). This will lead to much better acceleration, as you can see from the wheel torque numbers. In the first few gears, the T.50 has some 40% more wheel torque on average than the F1, although, of course, if you compare the torque at the same vehicle speeds (F1's 2nd gear compared to T.50s 3rd gear), the difference is only 11.2%. Theoretically, the difference should be only 5.7%, because the T.50 has 5.7% more power than the F1. The discrepancy probably comes from the fact that the T.50 reaches peak power at only 11500 RPM, but goes all the way to 12100 RPM - leading to a higher max speed in gear. Accounting for that, the difference shrinks to 7.5% vs 5.7% expected.

Anyway, to acceleration numbers! For these, I am assuming slightly larger frontal area for the T.50 than the F1 (as it's 3cm wider and 1.7cm taller): 20 sq ft vs 19.3 sq ft - and slightly higher drag coefficient: 0.34 vs 0.32 (as it's supposed to have a lot more downforce). For the 0-60mph I couldn't be bothered to calculate the tire friction limits and I am just assuming it would complete the sprint 0.2s quicker than the F1 thanks to more modern tires. I am assuming 0.25s for shifts (since the car is manual) and I am assuming 1100kg kerb weight.

0-60mph: 3.2s
0-100mph: 5.6s
0-124mph: 7.6s
0-150mph: 10.5s
0-186mph: 16.3s
0-200mph: 19.4s

Until 150mph the numbers seem pretty realistic, about on par with the 720s (which has 780-800hp, launch control and DCT), but after that they are more like the P1. That might be a bit too optimistic, considering the F1 does 0-186 in 22s and 0-200 in 28s, but there you go. Maybe the more aggressive gearing and the lower weight really help that much. Or maybe the site I was using to calculate the drag losses wasn't that accurate for higher speeds. All these numbers are also based on the T.50 having the same diameter wheels - if its wheels are larger, then the max speed in each gear will be higher and the torque and acceleration lower. Also I am not an engineer or physicist, so obviously take these with a pinch of salt.
 
Bridster said:
While we wait for the unveil on Tuesday, I thought it w...
Click to expand...
Great write up and estimation/analysis. I agree with what you have written, but I do think the T50 could be quicker than this as initial traction from new spec tyres could be much better than the F1. At lower speeds up to about 130mph the gearchange speed will be very important as the gear ratios are pretty close and if this is not a quick change box then the times will definitely lag those of the 720S, but then as it is so much lighter, maybe 350 to 400kg than the McLaren and with only 70PS less power the T50 has quite an advantage with its power to weight ratio. At higher speeds above 150mph then power to weight is not the more dominant factor but actually power/aerodynamics and gear changes/ratios, this is when the 720S could come back but I am not sure if the 720S has a better CD drag factor than the T50 but it has more power. Anyway its going to be a fascinating car this T50 and I am more than excited when it is unveiled tomorrow.

EeG62_1X0AAJwVn?format=jpg&name=small.webp


Here are some teasers:

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https://twitter.com/i/status/1289610978363969539

https://twitter.com/i/status/1288862905086214145

https://twitter.com/i/status/1290193856676286464
 
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Rolf said:
Great write up and estimation/analysis. I agree with what you have written, but I do think the T50 could be quicker than this as initial traction from new spec tyres could be much better than the F1. At lower speeds up to about 130mph the gearchange speed will be very important as the gear ratios are pretty close and if this is not a quick change box then the times will definitely lag those of the 720S, but then as it is so much lighter, maybe 350 to 400kg than the McLaren and with only 70PS less power the T50 has quite an advantage with its power to weight ratio. At higher speeds above 150mph then power to weight is not the more dominant factor but actually power/aerodynamics and gear changes/ratios, this is when the 720S could come back but I am not sure if the 720S has a better CD drag factor than the T50 but it has more power. Anyway its going to be a fascinating car this T50 and I am more than excited when it is unveiled tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I really don't think the 0-60 will be better than 3.2s, even if it's on Cup 2 Rs, though. In contrast to most cars today, it needs 2nd gear to reach 60. If it didn't, then it would be 3s flat. I can't think of any RWD car that does 0-60 in less than 2.7s (without roll-out). But the cars that do all have launch control. 0.3s deficit for not having launch control is pretty conservative, I think. Maybe someone could possibly manage to launch it perfectly at some point, but probably not unless they are a Jedi.

Either way, the 0-100km/h should be about 3.4s, and the 0-200km/h is 7.6s, so the 100-200km/h might be as good as 4.2s. 720s only does 100-200 in about 4.7s and the F1 (if you trust the Japanese test) managed it in 5.1s. So at mid range speeds, overtaking, rolling races - the stuff that matters a lot more than sprints from stationary - the T.50 should be insanely fast. As you would expect with that power to weight :sneaky:.

Not sure we'll get any numbers tomorrow as they are clearly not the focus of the project, but hopefully the car will get measured at some point. Not that they really matter anyway, but... it's part of the fun:p.
 
Bridster said:
Mhm, yeah, seems like I was talking out of my ass. Chec...
Click to expand...
You got me thinking there... :) I'm still wracking my brain trying to think of a super/hypercar which does 60-62mph (96-100km/h) in first. There's got to be some out there on the fringes, no? Something like a 'Segg or a Hennessey?
Nevertheless, it just goes to show how mightily this new crop of DCT-equipped cars accelerate - new 911 Turbo S with its 0 -100 km/h in 2.6 seconds is just dilly especially considering that it has a gearchange in between. Shiiite!
 
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