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.