Australia's sports car makes debut in Indonesia
Australia's sports car makes debut in Indonesia
By Russell Williamson
ORBITAL Engine Company may be an unfamiliar name to
Indonesians, but it is one which is likely to become very well-
known in the near future.
The Australian-built Orbital powered S2S sports car -- on
display at the Jakarta Auto Expo -- is being shown for the first
time outside Australia and may have a particular significance for
Indonesian consumers.
Although there is yet no official confirmation, the company is
believed to be the preferred supplier of engines for Minister of
Research and Technology B.J. Habibie's Maleo national car
project.
The Maleo car -- together with the S2S -- was designed in
Melbourne, Australia by the Millard Design Group, but will be
built entirely in Indonesia.
So far, the project has been under the jurisdiction of
Indonesia's investment coordinating body, BPIS, but The
Automotive Post has learned that the formation of an actual
vehicle manufacturing company to build the Maleo is very close.
To add further fuel to speculation that an official
announcement on the project is imminent, a number of Indonesian
officials were in Melbourne recently to drive Orbital's EcoSport
vehicle.
This vehicle is based on Ford's small five-door hatchback
Festiva, but features an Orbital 1200cc three-cylinder two-stroke
engine with Orbital's unique combustion process.
This is the first production car that the Orbital engine has
been fitted to, and is the result of more than a decade of
research and development.
Just 100 EcoSports have been built and are being delivered to
a range of government departments, motoring bodies and Orbital
shareholders in Australia for some long term on-the-road testing.
The major benefits of the Orbital Combustion Process
technology are extremely low emissions and reduced fuel
consumption.
Orbital claims independent tests of this engine conducted by
Porsche -- representing more than 100,000 km -- have proven the
engine's durability, reduced emissions and fuel consumption.
The company claims emissions are about 85 percent below
current Australian standards, while a city cycle fuel consumption
of as little as 6.0 l/100km is achievable.
However, despite the engine's size and configuration, its
applications are not limited to small urban commuter vehicles.
To emphasize this point, the company built the S2S, which is
not intended as a production model -- but rather a working
concept vehicle -- to show off the benefits and applications of
its engine technology.
The S2S is a mid-engined, carbon-fiber bodied two-seater
coupe, and uses the same 1.2-liter three-cylinder OEC engine as
the EcoSport.
The S2S weighs about 750kg and its engine produces 57kW. Top
speed is estimated at 190kmh, while fuel consumption is expected
to be below 5.0-liters per 100km.