But he's not always the fastest. The past two years, McGuinness has placed second in the all-electric contest, despite his team spending vast amounts of money developing and improving its bikes. For 2014, Mugen has not only made significant improvements to the third iteration of its "God of Electricity" – the English translation of Shinden – it's built two of them.For 2014, Mugen made significant improvements to its "God of Electricity" bike.
Interestingly, nestled deep within their twin-spar carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CRFP) frames one can find a bit of tech from the Americas. The Japanese company has been working with Mission Motors to develop a motor and, presumably, other components specific to its needs. The result? The electric bikes now boast a compact oil-cooled power plant capable of putting out 100 kW (134 horsepower) along with an impressive 220 Nm (162 pound feet) of torque.
According to our friends over at Asphalt & Rubber, that's a 10-hp increase from last year. Along with slimmer, more aerodynamic fairings and a bit more battery capacity, the team has hopes of the 529-pound bike rounding the course at an average speed of 115 mph. If it does, that would be a new record and likely enough to put it ahead of all comers.
Of course, there are some other entries who also have that top podium step in their sights, including Team Vercar Moto, who have recruited Mark Miller from MotoCsysz and a yet-to-be-revealed machine from the newly-revived Begium brand Saroléa. While we wait to to hear more about who's coming to this year's TT Zero party, scroll below for press releases from both Mugen and Mission Motors. You can also see more pics of the Shinden San with
Mr. Shin Nagaosa, President of M-TEC Co., Ltd., today announced the release of the new contender from TEAM MUGEN for victory at this year's Isle of Man TT Zero Challenge class, to be held during May and June.
M-TEC originally created the in-house TT Zero project as a means of developing and initiating their young engineers in the emerging technologies that are fast becoming prevalent in all forms of modern motorsport, and competed for the first time at the Isle of Man TT in 2012. Since then with two consecutive second-place finishes under their belt the team is gunning for a victory in 2014 with an all-new challenger, "SHINDEN SAN".
The development for this year sees a new oil-cooled 3-phase brushless motor that is increased in power output while at the same time is lighter and reduced in size. The team has taken the opportunity afforded by this new layout to increase the battery capacity over the 2013 machine and installed new control systems take advantage of the performance capabilities.
Also with SHINDEN SAN the engineers have used the data gained from previous years racing and testing to optimise the aerodynamics of the machine and adopted newly-developed suspension in order to maximise the speed potential.
Having ridden with the team in the previous two years TT Zero events John McGuinness will be returning with TEAM MUGEN, bringing with him once again his brilliant track record and expertise on the mountain course, and this year he is joined by the highly experienced Bruce Anstey, himself a nine-time TT winner.
With this talented rider line-up, and the experience and development gained in 2012 and 2013, the aim of the team is for SHINDEN SAN to raise the bar to a new level with a target at the same time, of course, to achieve victory.
* The Isle of Man TT Races are a traditional international bike race event, which has taken place since 1907 on the Isle of Man located between England and Ireland. The TT Zero Challenge class was first run in 2009 as a time trial format over the 60km mountain course on the public roads on the island, with the regulations requiring a zero CO2 clean emission power unit.
Machine Specification
·Machine Name : SHINDEN SAN
·Overall length / width / height (mm) : 2,125 / 680 / 1,130
·Wheelbase (mm) : 1,485
·Ground Clearance (mm) : 130
·Seat Height (mm) : 840
·Total Weight (kg): 240
·Tyre (Front) : 120/70ZR17M/C (58W)
·Tyre (Rear) : 200/55ZR17M/C (78W)
·Frame : CFRP twin-spar type
·Motor Type : Oil-cooled, 3-phase, brushless motor
·Maximum Output (kW [ps]) : 100 [134]
·Maximum Torque (N·m [kgf·m]) : 220 [22.4]
·Battery Specification : Laminate-type Lithium-ion
·Battery Output Voltage (V) : 370 or more
MISSION MOTORS SUPPLIES TEAM MUGEN FOR 2014 ISLE OF MAN TT ZERO
San Francisco, California, USA–April2, 2014–Mission Motors, a developer of cutting-edge electric vehicle technology, has been named a supplier and sponsor of Team MUGEN SHINDENSAN superbike for the 2014 Isle of Man TT Zero Challenge.
"Mission has an active motorsports program, with projects in both hybrid and electric racing," said Mission Motors CEO, Derek Kaufman. "We are honored to be a marquis supplier and sponsor to Team MUGEN Shinden as they look to eclipse last year's records."
Team MUGEN Shinden director added, "MissionMotors and MUGEN have had a good relationship creating and developing exclusive electric power units for the Isle of Man TT project."
Mission is a leading specialist in electric powertrain innovation, working with many major vehicle manufacturers on all aspects of HEV/EV powertrain technology. Mission's project team employed this expertise to support Team MUGEN Shinden during engineering design and development activities. "We are introducing some exciting new technology for the MUGEN SHINDEN SAN race bikes," said Mission's Director of Powertrain Systems Engineering, Mark Sherwood. "Our engineers have worked alongside Team MUGEN Shinden to learn from their race data. For the 2014 Isle of Man TT, we have engaged in rapid new product development that truly raises the bar for electric motorcycles on and off the racetrack."
With initial integration work now completed, track testing will continue through the spring. Mission is confident that Team MUGEN Shinden has what it takes to capture their first TT Zero victory and a new lap record.
About Mugen Motorsports
MUGEN designs, develops, assembles, and markets automotive engines for racing. Mugen also designs, develops, manufactures, and markets motorsports engines, chassis, parts, and components for Honda cars, including technical services at racing circuits. http://www.mugen-power.com/english/
About Mission Motors
Mission Motors designs, develops and produces optimized electric powertrain components that incorporate the company's proprietary technology. The company offers energy storage systems, drive systems, control systems, and software intelligence for automotive, powersports, marine and heavy equipment applications. Mission Motors is a full partner to vehicle manufacturers, meeting their development, production supply and aftermarket needs. Mission helps its customers bring higher performance electric and hybrid vehicles to market faster and at lower development cost. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Mission's team combines expertise from the automotive, powersports, robotics, battery and software industries. Learn more at http:// www.ridemission.com
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