Each year the LA Auto Show pits the best of the best of designers from the automakers to try and design some creative looks at our automotive future. Last year, it was all about "green," but this year, the project's called Motorsport 2025, and it's designed to show off what the race car of 2025 will look like. While we don't have the full gamut of responses to show off yet, we do have a sneak peek at Mitsubishi's entry to the quasi-esteemed contest based totally in unreality. It's called the MMR25 Rally Racer and yes, it's meant for the rally courses of the future. Frankly, we were kind of hoping dirt would be abolished by 2025. Full press release after the jump — along with a rear view of the dirty red racer.
Mitsubishi Motors Enters its Innovative 2025 Rally Racer for LA Auto Show's Design Challenge Continuing its world racing heritage and its industry leading expertise in electric vehicles, Mitsubishi Motors has introduced the most revolutionary racing technology that will defy automotive racing standards in the year 2025. Mitsubishi's MMR25 is an all-electric race car powered by a revolutionary drivetrain the future has not yet imagined. This forward-looking, high output powertrain is comprised of four lightweight, high-efficiency, in-wheel electric motors whose output is boosted with the help of eight supplemental motors. The batteries are next generation units, which are more powerful, fully recyclable and can run up to 1,000 miles on a single charge. Specially developed uniform composite Nano fibers give the Lithium batteries their long life and reduced weight. These powerful, yet compact battery packs are located in the center and on each side of the vehicle and are positioned low to the ground for enhanced stability and a lower center of gravity. The MMR25 incorporates an omnidirectional wheel design that consists of eight independently-controlled electric motors within each wheel hub. This makes the MMR25 the first and only "8 x 4" wheel drive vehicle. The rotational direction of the tires allows the vehicle to be driven forward while pointing the nose of the vehicle in any direction, instead of drifting you can actually drive sideways (or at any angle.) Innovative "Oblique Aerodynamics" gives the vehicle aero advantages when driving sideways. A driver sits inside a windowless pod just below the center wing. The center wing spoiler is located directly over the cabin, which rises and lowers as the vehicle moves sideways. This pod is surrounded by a seamless, 360-degree panoramic screen displaying images from outside cameras. Removing the heavy glass windows significantly reduces vehicle weight and enables the driver to see changing environmental and track conditions throughout the day. Special Memory Metal Alloy is used in fabricating the sophisticated front and rear spoilers, which also act as suspension blades.