If you're the kind of F1 fanatic who harbours an inner child, and who perhaps drives down your street at a set velocity pretending you're on a pit lane speed limiter, or who takes as little time as possible at the petrol station to see how quick a 'box box box' you can achieve, Volvo might be about to make your day - the Swedes are testing a kinetic energy recovery system, or KERS, on a road car.
All right, we know McLaren's P1 has beat them to the punch, but as not all of us have over a million Euro to splash out, perhaps the Volvo set-up is of more interest. The 'Flybrid' KERS technology is said to add an 80hp performance boost while simultaneously being capable of reducing fuel consumption by up to 25 per cent. The flywheel-based hybrid technology is undergoing a four-year evaluation as part of Volvo's Drive-E powertrain research programme.
The KERS flywheel has been trialled on the rear axle of an S60 with a 254hp T5 petrol engine under the bonnet. Under braking, kinetic energy from the brakes, which would otherwise be wasted as heat, is directed to the KERS, where it spins a 6kg carbon fibre flywheel at speeds of up to 60,000rpm. Then, when the car is moving again and the stored energy is needed, it can either boost power or reduce load on the engine and therefore cut fuel consumption. By the way, under braking, the T5 engine is switched off automatically.
Volvo reckons the energy stored in the flywheel is actually sufficient to power the car itself for short periods, with one powertrain engineering expert saying that it would be possible to turn off the combustion engine for half the time when driving, according to the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). A bold claim, indeed. It also says that city driving, with lots of braking and accelerating, is when the system is at its best.
It also, however, can cut 1.5 seconds from the 0-100km/h time by diverting 80hp to back up the 254hp of the T5 engine, which is perhaps of more interest for those who dream of being an F1 driver...
Anything else?
Volvo is claiming that this is the first full-scale trial of a rear-axle mounted flywheel system in a front-wheel drive passenger car, and the scheme is the result of a partnership between Flybrid (part of the Torotrak Group), Volvo and the Swedish government.