Celebrating speed at Goodwood
It’s all about the Goodwood Festival of Speed this week, including the incredible electric McMurtry Spéirling that blitzed to a new hillclimb record of just 39:08 seconds with Max Chilton behind the wheel. Are confess we had never heard of McMurtry but you can bet everyone in the automotive industry is well aware of it now.
While hillclimb runs were the order of the day, the event also saw the debut of a bunch of new models, including one very special van and this one comes from a name we are all more familiar with.
The Ford SuperVan 4 is, as its name suggests, the fourth SuperVan from the blue oval and the first to be fully electric. Inspired, but looking nothing like, the new Ford E-Transit Custom, the SuperVan boasts a whopping 2,000hp and 1,800Nm of torque, enough to propel it up the famous 1.16 mile Goodwood hill in just 46:59 seconds to take the title of fastest van up the hill and give it sixth place overall on the day. Before you get too excited and cancel your order for an E-Transit though, it is just a demonstrator, but wow, what a thing.
Another electric model that made its debut at the famous home of the Duke of Richmond was the Polestar 5. Granted it was still disguised, but the four-door GT will be launched in 2024 and the Swedish brand says it will feature a brand new powertrain developing 884hp and 900Nm with 800V architecture. Expect the camo to stay on a little longer though because before the 5 comes along Polestar still has to launch the 3 and 4 electric SUV models.
From electric we move to hybrid, but again not one you are ever going to find on sale in a showroom. The Porsche 963 will be entered in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the hybrid LMDh prototype class in 2023. Developing 680hp the 963 will continue testing for the rest of 2022 before making its official debut in the 24 Hours of Daytona in January 2023 as part of its attack on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the US.
It wasn’t the only motorsport Porsche to make its debut though, with the launch of the new GT4 ePerformance prototype. It’s based on the chassis of the 718 Cayman GT4 but unlike the petrol model, the ePerformance version utilises a 1,088hp electric motor, although that fuel power is only available in qualifying mode. For racing, the motor will provide 612hp for a 30-minute race.
Then we go old school, although with a new model that fans have been waiting years, even decades for. BMW chose the celebration of the 50th anniversary of its famous M division to debut its new M3 Touring at Goodwood, with a turbocharged straight-six petrol engine developing 510hp. Deliveries begin in November and the new model will feature M xDrive all-wheel drive and BMW claims a sprint time to 62mph of 3.6 seconds. While the Touring has been specially engineered and tuned to suit its estate credentials, what you really want to know is how much luggage space it has right? Well the standard load is 500 litres, but fold down the rear seats and that expands to 1,510 litres, all of which can be driven around at speeds of up to 174mph with the optional M Driver’s Package, provided you’re planning on delivering the load to the end of a long runway.
These are just the main debuts at the Festival of Speed, but others such as the new Kia EV6 GT, Porsche Reimagined by Singer Turbo Study and the Mercedes-AMG One all put in an appearance at the event, as did Nigel Mansell, who celebrated the 30th anniversary since his F1 world championship title win. Mansell was one of many famous drivers at Goodwood, joined of course by dozens of famous cars and bikes.
