Concept Cars Home
 

Image credits: © Chevrolet. GM Corp

2007 Chevrolet WTCC Ultra news, pictures, and information

An athlete takes centre stage: The exciting racecar study WTCC Últra will be the highlight of the Chevrolet Europe presentation at the Paris Motor Show from September 30 to October 15, 2006. The ready-to-drive concept car was developed by a GM team around the globe. It is the optical vision of a new touring car generation and takes the Chevrolet body language to the extreme. The compact Chevrolet WTCC Últra (length/width/height: 4,325/1,905/1,570 mm) will celebrate its world premiere on the Chevrolet stand in Hall 5.2 of the Expo in Paris.

The trade and the general public will also get to see for the first time the new Chevrolet Epica Diesel, which will be launched in spring 2007. The mid-class sedan is powered by a two-litre common rail diesel wîth 150 hp. After the Captiva Diesel, which will reach the European showrooms in autumn and is celebrating its French premiere in Paris, the Epica is thus Chevrolet Europe's second diesel.

World premiere: Exciting racecar study Chevrolet WTCC Últra

The bold and aggressive design of the racecar study sounds out the limits of Chevrolet's design language. The WTCC Últra is a design icon that bends the present WTCC regulations. Words like 'aggressive, muscular and dramatic' describe the car's design. Sharp lines contrast wîth more organic, flowing surfaces. The WTCC Últra is propelled by a 190 hp diesel engine. Its proportions give the impression of a car that looks fast even when it's standing still.

Source - GM
'It's a wild thing': The Chevrolet WTCC Últra has got what it takes to be the star of the Paris Motor Show – and not just because its rear spoiler shoots so brashly up towards the heavens. The bold and aggressive design of the racecar study takes the Chevrolet body language to the extreme. 'We wanted to explore the concept of a Chevrolet muscle car reinvented for Europe,' says David Lyon, Executive Director GM Asia-Pacific Design. 'A concept that celebrates Chevy's racing heritage wîth a very forward lòòking design.'

The ready-to-drive concept car set to premiere in Paris was developed by a GM team around the globe (for more details, see page 4). It is the vision of a new generation of touring car- a design icon that bends the present WTCC regulations. 'In addition to the premiere of the Chevrolet WTCC Últra, we are also celebrating our second victory in the World Touring Car Championship,' says the boss of Chevrolet Europe, Wayne Brannon, referring to Rob Huff's success in Brno in Czech Republic on September 3. 'Our com-mitment to the WTCC is of enormous value for emotionalising the brand.'

In line wîth Chevrolet's diesel offensive, the compact WTCC Últra (length/width/height wîth spoiler: 4,324/1,906/1,569 mm, wheelbase: 2,650 mm) is equipped wîth a powerful 1,991 cm3 diesel unit generating 139 kW/190 hp. The basic version of the four-cylinder engine is the common rail unit wîth four-valve technology and variable turbine blade ge-ometry currently powering the Chevrolet Captiva and due to go into the Epica from spring 2007. The increase in performance was achieved by raising the turbo boost pres-sure.

The WTCC Últra has a sophisticated independent wheel suspension on McPherson struts on both axles. The lower wheel control at the front is taken care of by an A-frame arm, while at the back, two additional wishbones and one trailing arm link the wheels precisely to the chassis.

To keep the unladen weight as low as possible, the designers of the WTCC Últra have made plenty of use of modern lightweight materials. The body parts are finished in 'Stealth Blue', a further development of the familiar Chevrolet blue, and are made of a glass fibre and carbon fibre laminate. The flat underbody of the fully functioning touring concept car, which also graphically divides up the vehicle because of its dark colour, and the front and rear spoilers are made of a plain weave carbon fibre composite. The win-dow frames and the air inlet grilles at the front are finished in semi gloss dark grey. They make an attractive contrast wîth the glossy silver-painted wheels and the polished alu-minium door handles, number plate and centrally positioned tailpipes.

Another aerodynamic feature apart from the flat underbody and the spoilers is a rear dif-fuser to create additional downforce.

The design: As dramatic and exciting as possibleFor Ewan Kingsbury, the Lead Designer of the WTCC Últra, 'aggressive', 'muscular' and 'dramatic' are the words that first spring to mind when he is asked to describe the design of the new project. 'As the chosen theme of the car was a concept racecar, this immediately gave me license to push the passion and aggression of the styling to the extreme'.

The proportions of the WTCC Últra give the impression of a car that looks fast even when it's standing still. 'A car's proportions are the biggest factor in its appearance, so all the early work concentrated on this area,' said 25-year old Kingsbury, who studied transport design at Coventry Úniversity in England and subsequently worked for Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) Design before moving to GM in Australia. With the WTCC Úl-tra, the designers pushed the front screen forward to create a more aggressive frontal bias, wîth the added bonus of visually shortening the front overhang. The track was wid-ened significantly to 1,685 mm at the front and 1,670 mm at the rear, giving the car a more muscular and powerful stance.

The lines and surfaces were created to project the impression of great energy under tension, captured at the moment before unspringing. 'The intention was to give the con-cept a fresh, exciting and aggressive combination of surfacing and graphics,' explains Kingsbury. All the lines on the car, plan view lines included, accelerate rearward of the front door, to give the car more speed, and keep the visual weight in the correct position. A dramatic effect is created by the steeply rising sweep of the lower window-line, which, together wîth the small separate front quarter-light window between the A and B posts, serves to create a fresh identity.

The sharp, accelerating graphics contrast wîth more organic, flowing surfaces. Kings-bury: 'A dominant surface feature evident in the car is the use of ‘broken' lines in many areas. This is most obvious in the waterline on the bodyside. This line contributes to the frontward biased proportions, by drawing the eye forward and down.' Equally striking are the powerful wheel arches to accommodate the 20' slicks needed to keep the car on the road.

New Chevrolet front end graphics form the main fuselage of the body. The front section is dominated by two grill apertures which are visually split by a body colour section to accommodate the Chevrolet logo.. 'When designing the front section, we took inspira-tion from birds of prey,' explains Kingsbury. 'The form of the lights is crucial to exhibit the correct expression.' The indicators, which are fitted into the top of the light unit, have been used to graphically ‘hood' the main LED projector element, while the reflectors are captured by an aluminium surround.

The interior: As ergonomic as a production-line Chevrolet

'Our general aim was to bring the sporty nature of the exterior design inside,' explains Breony Crittenden the designer in Australia responsible for leading the colour and mate-rials design. 'We opted for raw dark surfaces by using, for example, unpolished metal or matte carbon fibre inserts. By doing this, we kept a little secretive about the material, and called this design principle the '§téälth theme'. But Batman fans will get their money's worth in the WTCC Últra, too: The upper part of the dash is finished in rubberised paint - and was inspired by the suits in the film 'Batman returns'. Overall, the Últra's interior consists of materials and textures selected for their performance characteristics creating an aesthetic of functional beauty. .

For weight distribution, the driver is situated as far back and as low as possible. All the control surfaces of the car are designed to be exactly where the driver requires, from the §teering wheel and sequential gear selector, to the adjustable pedalbox and the console-mounted electrical switches. The inner door releases in the front doors are also situated further back than usual to be in reach of the driver. The §teering wheel is similarly rear-ward of normal, and houses all the technical information readouts for the driver in two screens. The main circular screen displays the gear selection and tachometer, as well as oil and water temperatures, fuel and oil levels, and brake bias. Four push buttons on the wheel control the functions of the main screen. The second screen situated in the top of the ergonomically designed wheel rim displays the tachometer as a graphical display, to aid the accurate timing of gear selection. The surface treatment around the circular screen emulates the wheel arch design on the exterior.

The seat also borrows aspects of the exterior, comprising complex interwoven surfaces that echo the broken lines of the exterior. The striking form of the frame and the uphol-stery is designed to support and protect the driver, and is made from carbon fibre com-posites wîth self-skinning polyurethane cushions. Aggressive sculpting of the frame and cushions provides ergonomic support of the driver to ensure a comfortable driving posi-tion. The surface of both the cushions is broken up by an asymmetrical pattern of raised dots, designed to give added grip to the driver. The seat provides head and neck protec-tion via wings that project either side of the head support, and a six-point racing harness is employed to keep the driver in position. The love of detail is also evidenced by the embossed Chevrolet insignia on this harness belt. Nowhere on the car are there any printed logos or letters – everything is embossed, milled or cast.

The project: As global as the Chevrolet brand

'The WTCC Últra is the most global concept vehicle GM has ever created,' says Peter Bramberger, GM Design Manager in Australia. Indeed, the way it took shape is indica-tive of Chevrolet's international alignment. The initial concept and early design work was developed in South Korea by Max Wolff and Steve Eum from the GM DAT Advanced Design Studio. The dynamic look of the car stems from 'down under' – it was the Aus-tralian GM design department that came up wîth the exciting contours and the no less striking interior. Not the first hot Chevrolet GM's Australian subsidiary has styled: Cur-rently a team at GM Holden is working to turn the Chevrolet Camaro concept car into re-ality.

The design of the WTCC Últra was coordinated and approved by GM Design Vice President, Ed Welburn (ÚSA) and David Lyon, Executive Director GM Asia-Pacific De-sign (South Korea). GM Vice President Bob Lutz was involved in the project from the very beginning and enthusiastically supported it.

All the exterior design development was carried out at GM Holden Design, where the clay model was constructed. The interior was also built completely digitally in Australia. The WTCC Últra prototype vehicle was entirely constructed by the Japanese company, YDS, which had already built the Chevrolet studies, T2X and S3X. For the animation to be shown at the Paris Motor Show on the Chevrolet Europe stand, GM Technical Centre in India created the 3D data for the outer skin from the clay, and the Swiss company, Protoscar, produced and rendered the animation to a storyboard provided by GM Design

Source - GM
FORD RACING HAS ENTHUSIAST NEEDS COVERED WITH A FULL LINEUP OF CRATE ENGINES AND PERFORMANCE PARTS FOR 2013
•New 5.0-liter Aluminator V8 crate engine is now available to racers who want to build their own Mustang Cobra Jet •Restorers and modders can choose affordable V8 power ranging from the X302D to the 460-cubic-inch Z460, the biggest small-block ever offered by Ford Racing •Builders in search of modern powerplants can select 3.5-liter V6 and 2.0-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost® crate engines •Ford Racing Performance Parts offers a full range of suspension, brake, transmission and body upgrades ...[Read more...]
Joe Bortz to Host Historic Dream Car Discussion Panel
Dream car collector and historian Joe Bortz has prepared a special treat for participants at the 40th Annual Pontiac-Oakland Club International Convention in St. Charles Illinois, this coming July 17-21. In addition to bringing his four historic Pontiac Dream Cars, he has also assembled a panel, conisisting of two noted designers, a retired engineer and two veteran authors to examine the topic of Pontiac's early concept vehicles. The panel discussion will be held on Friday, July 20th at 1...[Read more...]
1991 24 Hours of Le Mans: Facing the Giants
It had been more than thirty years but the Silver Arrows would compete, and win, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jaguar would also earn its first victory in more than thirty years when it took the overall honors in 1988. And then there was Porsche, the most dominant mark in Le Mans history. But each of these three manufacturers shared something in common. Even with the victories by Ford during the 1960s there was something very interesting about the list of victors in the 24 French enduro—none of them ...[Read more...]
JAGUAR EXPANDS POWERTRAIN CHOICE WITH TWO ADDITIONAL FORCED-INDUCTION PETROL ENGINES
As Jaguar expands its product offer in key global markets it is introducing two additional petrol units to its range to enhance customer choice; the new 3.0-litre V6 Supercharged Petrol, and the 2.0-litre I4 Turbocharged Petrol. Adrian Hallmark, Global Brand Director, Jaguar Cars, said: 'Jaguar currently has its strongest range of products for several decades. Our continued growth is dependent on two things; activating the awareness of the brand, and expanding our range to enable us to access...[Read more...]
The Champion in Touring Car Racing : The BMW M3
In August 1985, a rumour surfaced in motor magazine Auto-Deutschland which emanated from a new sports car. An A Group Car from BMW that was a thoroughbred racing car according to the rules but was also to be produced in a version licensed to drive on open roads for everyday use. Speculation about this dream car that could take to normal roads and was intended for the 'Most dynamic among BMW 3 Series drivers' was right on target. But the pundits missed the mark about the motor-sport car by a mile...[Read more...]

Arrow Right 2007 Chevrolet models
Chevrolet Avalanche
Chevrolet Aveo
Chevrolet Cobalt
Chevrolet Colorado
Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet Corvette Indy 500 Pace Car
Chevrolet Corvette Ron Fellows Edition
Chevrolet Corvette Victory Edition
Chevrolet Equinox
Chevrolet Express
Chevrolet HHR Fall Limited Edition
Chevrolet HHR LT Panel
Chevrolet Impala
Chevrolet Impala SS Car of Tomorrow
Chevrolet Jay Leno's E85-powered C6RS Corvette
Chevrolet Major League Baseball Silverado
Chevrolet Malibu
Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Chevrolet Silverado
Chevrolet Suburban
Chevrolet Tahoe
Chevrolet Trailblazer
Chevrolet Uplander
2007 Chevrolet Concepts
Chevrolet Beat Concept
Chevrolet Groove Concept
Chevrolet Trax Concept
Chevrolet Volt Concept

Similar Automakers
CadillacChrysler
DodgeFord
GMCHummer
JeepLincoln
MercuryPontiac
Saturn
 
Chevrolet: 2001-2010
Similar Automakers
Chevrolet History
Other models by Chevrolet
Manufacturer Website

Related Articles and Event Coverage
2007 North American International Auto Show
2006 Paris Mondial De L'Automobile

Chevrolet
Monthly Sales FiguresVolume
April 2013172,460 
March 2013173,859 
February 2013158,541 
January 2013137,304 
December 2012167,091 
November 2012128,867 
October 2012135,305 
September 2012149,801 
August 2012169,978 
July 2012138,942 
June 2012180,098 
May 2012177,943 
(More Details)

 
150
210
Astro
Avalanche
Aveo
Bel Air
Biscayne
C10 / K10
Camaro
Cameo
Caprice
Cavalier
Chevelle
Citation
Cobalt
Colorado
Corvair
Corvette
Corvette GTP
Cruze
Deluxe Series
El Camino
El Morocco
Equinox
Express
Fleetline
HHR
Impala
Kingswood
Malibu
Metro
Model 3100
Model H
Monte Carlo
Monza
Nova
Prizm
RPO B2K Twin Turbo
S-10
Series 490
Series C
Series L
Silverado
Sonic
Spark
Special Series
SS
SSR
Styleline
Suburban
Tahoe
Tracker
TrailBlazer
Traverse
Uplander
Vega
Venture

© 1998-2012. All rights reserved. The material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.