Quarkus is a new French manufacturer, which plans to make its debut with a hybrid sports car of at least 250 hp for a weight of less than 500 kg, displayed at more than 150,000 €. A prototype named P1 will be exhibited in Paris in January 2022.
While regulations and taxation are becoming more and more restrictive for the automobile in France, particularly with regard to cars equipped with a thermal engine, a new French manufacturer is announced with a sports car. Quarkus was founded by Damien Alfano, formerly of Valeo and president of the company MS Drive which offers pilot training courses. The brand’s first vehicle will be a radical hybrid sports car whose first prototype, soberly called P1, has just been unveiled.
A French mini-supercar
The Quarkus P1 is a two-seater mid-rear engine coupe with compact dimensions. It measures 4.10 m long, 1.78 m wide and 1.08 m high with a ground clearance of 11 cm. These dimensions will differ very slightly on the production model, which will be offered with a removable Targa-type roof panel. The car will be approved for the road but cut to be efficient on the track ; the design of the P1 leaves no room for doubt on this subject. Its prominent front spoiler underlines a gaping air intake under a perforated hood, side sills extend the extractors of the front fenders, and a longitudinal spoiler starts from the roof to join a transverse wing above a worthy diffuser. a race car. The frame is made of carbon fiber, kevlar and aluminum. Carbon and Kevlar also make up the bodywork, while a titanium roll bar protects the occupants. Thanks to these light materials, Quarkus announces a mass of less than 500 kg for its sports car, or a weight equivalent to that of a Caterham Seven.
A small compressed and electrified engine
The Quarkus is powered by a one-liter displacement engine installed in a longitudinal position, E85 bioethanol fuel and supercharged by a centrifugal compressor. This dry sump unit, capable of taking 10,000 rpm, is equipped with a carbon intake, a titanium exhaust, and an electrical back-up which has not been detailed. For more technical details, we will have to wait a little longer. This is an existing engine that Quarkus is modifying, but the supply contract has not yet been signed, the firm remains measured in its communication. It nevertheless announces a power of between 250 and 300 hp, or a weight / power ratio worthy of a supercar. Quarkus promises a stopwatch of around 3.5 seconds to go from 0 to 100 km / h and a top speed of around 240 km / h. A six-speed sequential gearbox and a self-locking differential provide the transmission. The P1 has double wishbone suspension adjustable to all four corners and benefits from 500 kg aerodynamic downforce at top speed.
TO READ. Vaillante Montlhéry (2021). A hydrogen car for Michel Vaillant
The Quarkus P1 exhibited in Paris in January 2022
Quarkus is based in Poissy in the Yvelines and plans to produce its car in France, in the Seine Valley. In search of investors, the company offers a sponsorship program which, for 125,000 € HT, will allow ten people to participate in the development of the car and to become the owner of a pre-series copy. A P2 prototype is planned for 2022. The production of the car is planned for 2025. Quarkus stresses that the car will not be subject to any ecological penalty, a precision which may however seem derisory since the manufacturer announces a sale price of between € 150,000 and € 200,000. Although, at the rate at which the scale of the penalty is progressing (ceiling raised to € 40,000 in 2022, € 50,000 in 2023), who knows how much it will rise for thermal sportswomen in four years? The Quarkus P1 will be on display in Paris from January 26 to 30, 2022 as part of the International Automobile Festival, provided that any health restrictions do not hamper the running of the exhibition.
