What is it
The Yamaha Sports Ride Concept is a pint-sized supercar built by Yamaha in collaboration with Gordon Murray, the genius behind the McLaren F1 and numerous Formula One championship winning race cars. Sounds good, right?
Signature feature
The concept is based around a mid-engine layout and carbon-fibre tub. But before you go writing this off as another expensive sports car: you should know it's not. Murray's iStream manufacturing process promises to make ultra-light vehicles extremely affordable to produce — cheaper than the Alfa Romeo 4C, perhaps even competitive with the Mazda MX-5.
What else is new
Well, it looks like a miniature Honda NSX and it's as radical as a BMW i8 and honestly we don't know much more about it than that. Is it too good to be true? Murray and Yamaha have teamed up before, on the 2013 Motiv concept. Since that car's debut, we haven't heard anything about it. Hopefully this Sports Ride Concept doesn't just become some Wikipedia footnote like its predecessor.
Under the hood
Yamaha provided no information on what engine could nestle behind the seats. It's not a big car, so a V-6 is probably out of the question. One of Yamaha's motorcycle engines would be a likely candidate. A bike engine, with their small displacement, high-revving nature, and respectable fuel economy could make this an eminently entertaining little machine.
When can we buy it, and for how much
It's sadly just a concept. If it does go into production, sleep happy knowing that you won't need a second mortgage to afford one.
Cool quotient
4 stars (out of 5)
The concept has massive potential, but will Yamaha have the guts to jump into the sports car market?
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