Skip to main content

  British-tuned hybrid car zooms into the Super 1000 Championship Back to results

The One Show on BBC One featured the 'Greenest Rally Car' - a Honda Insight hybrid with a bespoke Safety Devices roll cage.  The car was modified by Paul Andrews of Oaktec Engineering in Lancaster.  Safety Devices Chief Engineer, Aeron Lloyd, commented "The Honda Insight is not commonly raced or rallied, so Paul's car called for a bespoke Safety Devices roll cage.  The cage was designed around the constraints of the batteries, which are housed in the boot.  The final design ensured the driver and passenger would be safe in the event of a roll over, without compromising on stiffening the shell."

The car combines an electric motor and gearbox with a 1L low-emission, fuel-efficient petrol engine and tuned hybrid system, which work together when accelerating to give the car more efficient performance. 

The Honda Insight was welcomed into the F1000 club six years ago and it was on the understanding that its pace would be monitored to ensure even performance for the benefit of Paul as well as other competitors. Back then, the Motorsport community considered the car a bit of a joke due its slow speed and its space ship-like appearance.  Paul used his engineering know-how to harness the energy usually lost when the car slows down to tap into the car's potential - he installed a very high performance battery which holds a lot more power than a standard hybrid road car battery and he implemented a system of controllers that increase the rates of the flow of energy between the front of the car and the rear, where the batteries are.  It is a testament to the work of Paul and Oaktec that the Honda Insight now has a significant advantage over other F1000 cars. With this in mind, a chat between Paul and the F1000 Club has resulted in the car being re-classifed into the modified category known as Super 1000. Impressively, the Honda is already holding a strong position in the Super 1000 championship.

Paul's convinced the technology is shaking off it's 'boring' image, and with fuel efficiency at around 100 miles to the gallon, he's confident the Honda Insight has a promising future for everyday motorists.

Safety Devices has also designed and installed a roll cage into the second generation of Oaktec hybrid Honda, the Civic, which has had a very successful racing history since.  Safety Devices regularly complete this type of work for a range of adventurous customers.

The story aired on The One Show, BBC One, Tuesday 6th September 2011.
 

For more information about bespoke designs, contact Aeron Lloyd,
tel: +44 (0)1638 560524, email: motorsport@safetydevices.com.

 

Safety Devices Motorsport division has four decades experience and expertise servicing the Motorsport arena with roll over protection. Our founders designed the world's first automotive roll cage. Working with some of the biggest names in the industry Safety Devices is Europe's largest roll cage manufacturer and boasts the world's most extensive product catalogue comprising over 2000 cages. In addition to cages we offer complimentary safety products of harnesses and impact padding.