6 Exciting Technologies That Will Feature On Future Performance Cars

1. Electrification

As Tesla has proved with the Model S, the instant torque offered up by an electric motor is hilarious, awesome fun. But most importantly for the future of performance cars, electric motors are incredibly good at getting you up to speed fast. No waiting for revs to build, just pure accelerative force from a standstill.

The likes of the McLaren P1, Ferrari LaFerrari and Porsche 918 utilise this to great effect through hybrid systems, where electric motors get the car away from stationary, before internal combustion engines take over for the faster stuff.

Eventually, though, pure performance cars will see ICE ditched. Batteries will become more efficient, and cars will have better energy regeneration through the likes of body-mounted solar panels and regenerative braking. As younger generations grow up without wicked noise being a byproduct of big power, performance will be all about electric.

2. All-wheel drive

Yeah, rear-wheel drive might be the traditional go-to for tarmac performance cars, but expect that to change. We already have super intelligent all-wheel drive systems like that on the Ford Focus RS, which give the car rear-driven dynamics with all the security of AWD. As these systems improve, and the intelligence of torque transferring from electric motors is refined, only niche, enthusiast cars will remain rear-wheel drive.

Expect to see lightweight all-wheel drive systems on all high-end performance cars that tease out understeer, rotate the car under power, and offer monumental grip powering out of corners.

3. Carbonfibre

Extensive use of carbonfibre is still only really the preserve of hyper-expensive hypercars, but that’s all set to change. The BMW i3 and i8 pioneered the use of recycled carbonfibre, which is about 70 per cent the strength of ‘virgin’ carbonfibre at 10 per cent of the cost. It’s already made its way into the Zenos E10, one of our favourite sports cars, and as more manufacturers get in on the action the price will continue to tumble. Don’t be surprised to see carbonfibre-clad hot hatches within the next decade…

Computers are playing an evermore important role in the way we interact with a car, and head-up display units are quickly moving to the forefront of that. In most cars they’re still using simple reflections to display your speed on the windscreen, but we’re not far away from augmented reality integration. BMW itself is already working on a bike helmet that has a clip in glass slide that covers your eye to display information without obstructing your view.

This will find its way into cars of all shapes and sizes, but it’ll be particularly interesting as a performance aid. Any time you’re not looking at the road while driving fast is either dangerous or will slow down your decision making. Imagine a windscreen that displays your speed and revs not beneath the glass, but hovering on the peripheries of your vision, no matter where you look. On track, it could lay the racing line out in front of you, or put down a marker to show your braking point on the previous lap.

5. Active aerodynamics

When you think active aerodynamics, you probably think of the Pagani Huayra’s movable flaps, or a rear wing that pops up at speed, but it can be far more complicated than that. When McLaren revealed its MP4-X race car concept last year, it had fascinating plasma-generating wings.

To try to put it simply, the panels of the car have electrodes fitted to them, which could be turned on in corners to turn the surrounding air into plasma. Then science happens, and downforce is increased. The electrodes could then be turned off when the car is on a straight, reducing downforce and drag, allowing for a higher top speed.

Sensors in the car could interpret data such as air pressure on each panel, steering input and yaw to figure out how much downforce the car requires at any given time.

6. Interpretive driver aids

Now we’re starting to get a bit science fiction, but we’re still talking about totally achievable technology that isn’t too far off. Even Jaguar Land Rover has been experimenting with this sort of thing.

Reading minds is still a way off hitting everyday life, but it’s definitely coming, and at that point the possibilities are endless. Tune your brain into the car’s internal monitoring systems and it could automatically adjust traction control for when you want grip or to get the back a bit loose, or it could adjust your inputs based on what it knows you meant to do through that corner. From a safety point of view, emergency braking the second you see a hazard ahead could save vital milliseconds.