DeltaWing Technologies, the company behind the revolutionary DeltaWing race car, announced their intention to partner up with car makers to make a road-going version of it. They even released an official rendering to show us what it would look like.
The racing DeltaWing is a unique and interesting car. The road-going DeltaWing, however, looks kind of weird to be honest. They have changed the design to make it a four-seater and in doing so they ended up with a fat bit in the middle which is very unsightly.
The designers were of course told to maintain the narrow front-end, as it is the most iconic features of the car and the reason it is so aerodynamically efficient. DeltaWing is actually pitching the idea of a street-legal as a super-efficient car that will help whichever car maker that helps them build it with the 2025 CAFÉ standard of 54.5 mpg.
They are proposing a diesel or CNG engine, maybe even a hybrid for the road-going DeltaWing . In any case they say DW will be up to 35 percent more economical than normal cars. They don’t discuss that handling issues that such design brings on, nor do they want to talk about the aesthetics. It is not a stretch to say it looks plain funny.
“Many of the aerodynamic, lightweight and handling benefits of the race car can translate to the street,” said Don Panoz, chairman of DeltaWing Technologies Inc. “We are competing at the highest levels of road racing with half the weight, half the horsepower, and nearly half of the fuel consumption. We believe we can deliver similar results on the street without compromising safety, comfort and performance. We have a formula that’s highly efficient and still fun to drive.”