Premiere mishap
Alpine Alpenglow Hy4: The alpenglow failed to materialize
With the Alpenglow Hy4, Renault subsidiary Alpine provides an exciting glimpse of the brand's future. The concept study has a breathtaking design and is powered by a hydrogen combustion engine to reduce emissions. The futuristically designed sports car was actually supposed to do a few demonstration laps as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Actually. But nothing came of it.
Compared to the first Alpenglow study, which was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 2022, the French company is now showing the next stage of development with the Alpenglow Hy4. To this end, Alpine has refined the design and integrated a newly designed crash box into the carbon fiber body to absorb impact energy. However, the position of the three hydrogen tanks in the side boxes and behind the cockpit has been retained.
Only four cylinders for the time being
At 5.20 meters, the Alpenglow Hy4 is extremely long. The track has been widened to 2.10 meters, so the overall width is now 2.15 meters. As the 1.10 meter flat car has become a lot wider, the former single-seater has become a two-seater. A rather narrow one, however, which is more suited to a stable two-person relationship, as a first glance over the gullwing doors into the cockpit reveals.
The test vehicle is based on an LMP3 racing car chassis. The flat design language is strongly reminiscent of the Alpine A424, which competes in the prestigious hypercar category of the World Endurance Championship. An unusual feature is a low-positioned, transparent spoiler at the rear of the study. To reduce NOx emissions, Alpine relies on gaseous hydrogen for propulsion.
Under the carbon fiber hood of the Alpine Alpenglow Hy4 is a 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine with turbocharger from the racing car manufacturer Oreca. The 340 hp engine has hydrogen direct injection with 40 bar pressure and reaches a maximum speed of 7000 rpm. Power is transmitted via a sequential racing gearbox with centrifugal clutch. The performance is said to be comparable to that of a gasoline engine, with a top speed of around 270 km/h.
The engine requires special development work, as hydrogen is injected in gaseous form, which makes it more difficult to produce a homogeneous mixture than with gasoline, which is injected in droplet form. Later, a V6 engine specially developed by Alpine is to replace the in-line four-cylinder.
Simply did not start
The futuristic-looking sports car was actually supposed to do a few test laps in front of around 90,000 spectators before the six-hour WEC race on the second weekend in May in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. But nothing came of it. The car's electronics refused to work and the Alpenglow Hy4 failed to start even after several attempts, which can happen with a prototype. The concept study had already completed 700 test kilometers without any problems. Sometimes the devil is in the detail.
The Alpenglow Hy4 is still a prototype and serves as a test laboratory. It is very likely that we will see it as a racing car in the WEC World Endurance Championship in the future, as a dedicated hydrogen class is planned for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2027. When asked whether there will also be a derived road version of the study, the French left it open - albeit with a smug wink. (cen/Guido Borck)
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.