Back to
basics with the Volvo P1800 Cyan in northern Sweden
Cyan
Racing chief engineer Mattias Evensson and his crew headed to northern Sweden
with the Volvo P1800 Cyan, throwing the car sideways between the snow walls in
-20 degrees Celsius.
"The
Volvo P1800 Cyan is our way for us to combine the best from the past and today,
moving away from the power, weight and performance figures of contemporary
performance cars,” said Mattias Evensson Volvo P1800 Cyan Project Manager and
Head of Engineering at Cyan Racing.
The team
traveled close to 1000 kilometers north of the Cyan Racing headquarters in
Gothenburg, Sweden, to the frozen lakes and snow drenched roads of Åre, Mattias
Evensson’s hometown.
The
location provided the team with the right conditions to explore the
characteristics and limits of the Volvo P1800 Cyan in challenging conditions.
“What
really struck me from this expedition was that the car is so easy to drive and
that you do not need to provoke it to get it where you want,” said Mattias
Evensson.
“All of
the properties that we have tried to achieve were almost amplified by driving
it on the low grip of snow and ice.
"The
basic concept of the car seems to work really well, it does not matter that
much if you are on a bone-dry racing circuit, a wet and twisty country road or
on the crisp ice here in northern Sweden. You still feel confident and in
control.
"I
would say this concept has somewhat been lost along the way for the performance
cars of today. For us, this is returning back to basics."
The Volvo
P1800 weighs less than 1000kg, featuring no driver aids, a dog-leg manual
gearbox and an engine designed to deliver increasing power all the way to the
redline.
“Our aim
has been to make a car with a sound base design that leaves it to you as the
driver to explore the limits, rather than leaning on electronic driver aids to
control the power and weight as with most modern performance cars,” said
Mattias Evensson.
“And
it’s all connected with the engine response, the chassis balance and the low
weight, making the car playful and rewarding.”
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