Mercedes-Benz F400 Carving

Research work carried out as part of the Mercedes-Benz F300 Life Jet was subsequently continued by the company's engineers in the concept car of the Mercedes-Benz F400 Carving ^[1] . In particular, security systems, driving dynamics and overall control comfort have been improved.

The car was introduced in 2001 at the Tokyo Motor Show . The name “Carving” was borrowed from skiing, where “carving” (from the English carve - cut, cut) is a series of sharp turns on mountain slopes ^[1] .

The car is a wedge-shaped, rear-wheel drive, 2-seater 2-door roadster without a windshield and without wheel arches. Management in the car is carried out on the principle of " Drive-by-Wire " ^[1] . The connection between the steering wheel and the brake system is carried out by electronics (not mechanical). In hazardous situations, automatic steering correction reduces the risk of skidding. Special systems calculate and, if necessary, distribute the brake pressure on each wheel depending on the situation, thereby ensuring high reliability of braking in corners ^[1] .

The appearance of the car resembles the previous sports concepts Vision SLR and Vision SLA . The rising doors are made in the spirit of the classic SL-class , but due to the absence of a roof model, their hinges are fixed in a different way.

A V6 engine with a volume of 3199 cm ³ and a power of 160 kW (218 hp) is installed on the concept ^[2] . This six-cylinder engine differs from the standard version in only one respect: as part of a research program, the company's engineers equipped it with a dry crankcase lubrication system that ensures a constant oil supply, even when lateral acceleration is extremely high. The sequential gearbox mounted on the F400 Carving is standard. The difference is only one - the driver shifts gears as in a sports car using the buttons on the steering wheel ^[3] .

In addition to standard on-board power supplies, the F400 Carving is equipped with two 42- volt systems, mainly designed for electronic steering ^[2] .

The main innovation of the concept car is Active Tire Tilt Control (ATTC) technology. Thanks to it, the F400 Carving wheels are designed in such a way that when turning, the camber of the front wheels changes by an angle of up to 20 degrees for greater stability. For this, special tires with sidewalls from a different grade of rubber than the main part have also been developed. The inner part of the tire, which comes into operation when the wheel is tilted, imitates a motorcycle tire: it is rounded, with a special tread pattern and rubber of a special composition, which significantly increases its friction force. They are installed on special disks with a diameter of 17 inches on the inside and 19 on the outside ^[4] . When braking in the front suspension, the toe angle changes, which gives a gain in braking distance from 100 km / h to 5 meters ^[1] .

The brake discs are made of carbon fiber reinforced ceramic. This approach provides resistance to extreme temperatures in the range from 1400 to 1600 ° C ^[1] .

Thanks to the active camber control system in the F400 Carving, the power arising from cornering is 30% higher compared to modern car chassis. Axial force improved by 15%. Due to the large lateral forces acting on the external wheels, lateral acceleration is 28% more than in sports cars built on traditional chassis technology. This solution increases the dynamics of cornering and increases vehicle safety ^[1] .

Fiber glass is used in the F400 Carving lighting system, transmitting the combined light of xenon lamps without losses, distributing it over the entire roadway with special lenses. At bends, depending on the angle of the wheels, additional side lights are activated, which also function as fog lights ^[1] .

Technical Innovation

As part of the research program on the car, the following technologies were applied ^[1] :

• Active wheel alignment system
• Electronic Brake System ( Brake-by-Wire ) - Launched under the name Sensotronic Brake Control (SBC) in 2001 with the Mercedes-Benz R230
• Active hydropneumatics with Active Body Control ( Eng. A ctive B ody C ontrol )
• Ceramic-reinforced carbon fiber brake discs - mass-produced in 2000 with Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG F1
• Carbon Fiber Aluminum Spatial Frame (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic)
• Additional headlights for illumination in a corner, which also duplicate the "fog" - launched in 2002 with the model Mercedes-Benz W211 (E-class)
• Xenon headlights incorporating fiberglass technology

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  Front view of the car

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  Car exterior

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  Side view of the car

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  Wheel angle F400 Carving

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  Car interior

• A 1:43 scale model is produced by Spark ^[5] .

• F400 at emercedesbenz.com
• Official press release and photos at SeriousWheels.com