Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of the Splinter Wooden Supercar

You may remember our post on the Splinter wooden supercar late last year. At the time, the grad students behind the project being led by Joe Harmon only had renderings of what the Gaia-approved exotic would look like. They deserve extra credit, however, for having the actual car ready for the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta last week. While they've yet to reach the running prototype stage, they did marry the car's body to its all-wooden chassis. Renderings are one thing, but seeing photos of the actual car is inspiring. The body is comprised of basket-woven wood that's coated with resin in a mold, which we suppose makes it a different kind of carbon fiber altogether. Next up is actually fitting the drivetrain, which thankfully is not made of wood, and getting the Splinter moving under its own power. We may have doubted at the beginning that this project would ever be completed, let alone be this cool, but consider us converts.



[Source: Building the Splinter via Jalopnik]

click above image for more renderings of the Splinter supercar

We're not sure what sort of beneficial impact one would get from making a supercar out of wood composites, but if there is one, the students behind the Splinter supercar will find out. The Splinter will be a 600-hp, 2,500-pound goer with wood used for the chassis, body, and parts of the suspension and wheels.

The car is powered by a twin-supercharged Northstar V8. To keep all that heat from doing bad things to the wood, the exhaust exits from the top of the block and out through mufflers in the wing -- which, as you might guess, makes the non-wooden wing quite hot. Other oddities innovations include Osage Orange leaf springs, and seating that puts passengers' legs between the upper and lower A-arms of the suspension. And those multi-colored spokes you see on the wheel? Yep, made of wood.

The Splinter is a graduate project for some students at NC State. They say "we aren't trying to sell anything, we aren't trying to save the world, and we aren't advocating that everyone should drive a wooden car. This project is a scholastic endeavor in which we are simply trying to explore materials, learn, share ideas, and stimulate creativity." We support that no matter what you make your supercar out of. But for the chance to do 190 MPH in what is essentially a motorized tree, hey, sign us up.

[Source: Joe Harmon Design via Winding Road]