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"xiaomi brushes the new north

at beijing shougang on july 19, xiaomi founder lei jun kicked off his fifth personal speech with a speech titled "courage". compared with the "cautiousness" when announcing the car-making in 2021, the dazzling performance of su7's average monthly sales of over 10,000 after its launch did give lei jun a lot of "courage". the only difference from the norm in this speech was that lei jun suddenly announced that the xiaomi su7 ultra prototype will challenge the nürburgring nordschleife in october 2024, and set a lofty ambition - to become the fastest four-door electric car in the nürburgring nordschleife in the next ten years, which immediately caused ripples in the entire automotive circle.

according to exclusive information from 36kr auto, xiaomi auto has invested over 100 million rmb in this project from the beginning of planning to conquer the nürburgring to now.

xiaomi's campaign in nürburgring (source: xiaomi official website)

the nürburgring nordschleife, a track that has been in existence since 1925, is 20.8 kilometers long and has 154 winding bends. it has accompanied most of the history of automobile civilization, witnessed the rise and fall of various automobile brands, and also produced many legendary "heroes" in the racing world. such a legendary track has attracted countless drivers to challenge and host famous events.

in 1968, british f1 driver jackie steward encountered thick fog and storms when participating in the nürburgring nordschleife. however, even under such harsh conditions, he still managed to win the race. after the race, jackie steward jokingly called the track "green hell". since then, the name of the nürburgring nordschleife has been passed down to this day. in 1976, f1's legendary triple crown champion niki lauda had a serious accident at the nürburgring nordschleife. the fuel-filled car hit the wall and caught fire in the second lap. this fire not only almost took niki's life, but also almost burned down the right to host the nürburgring nordschleife. but has a generation of legends come to an end?

fortunately, in 1983, the nürburgring was renovated to improve the safety of the race, attracting more and more fans to lap the track. as the performance of cars continues to improve, "whoever wins the nürburgring wins the world" has become the vision of many car companies and fans, and has also become the obsession of many manufacturers pursuing "performance". whether it is a long-established car company or a new force that has taken a different approach and chosen "electrification", one side hopes to continue to defend its throne by constantly "conquering the nürburgring", while the other side hopes to be stronger on the nürburgring track.

so here, you can not only see the porsche 911 with an extremely mysterious paint job whizzing by, but also see the tesla model s plaid, which has undergone countless modifications, quietly breaking the silence on the track.

photos of new north (source: sohu)

911 in new north (source: sohu)

tesla model s plaid at the nürburgring (source: sohu)

now, xiaomi has made a high-profile entry and eagerly joined this glorious competition. its ambition is like that of a warrior who "will go forward even if there are thousands of people against him". it is eager to conquer the nürburgring and defend its "latecomer advantage" strength in one fell swoop. but can xiaomi conquer the nürburgring alone?

as the saying goes, "know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles." xiaomi obviously doesn't know the nürburgring well, but as the saying goes, "leave professional matters to professionals." through the photos taken in front of the nürburgring, we found that there was no one else who could help xiaomi, but the famous "godfather" of the racing world - prodrive. who exactly is prodrive, and what kind of power is hidden behind this name? can it help xiaomi to become the world's number one in this competition among global automakers? what can it bring to xiaomi? and so on. obviously, this "nürburgring battle" is not only a challenge for xiaomi, but also a big test of prodrive's strength.

prodrive factory (source: prodrive)

“the largest independent racing company run by a business genius, but its business is more than just racing”

prodrive is well-known in the field of racing, especially in providing parts development, testing and tuning, and racing team operations for racing cars. their cooperation with the subaru team in the world rally championship (wrc) is particularly dazzling, and they have jointly written a legend of 46 victories. this 18-year long-term cooperation from 1995 to 2003 not only provided the subaru impreza wrc racing car with the iconic longitudinal "flat-four" engine layout, but also the excellent aerodynamic kit it designed, which provided the subaru impreza with excellent grip and downforce in the competition.

prodrive helped subaru transform from a little-known small truck manufacturer to a shining star on the global racing stage through continuous improvement and polishing of the impreza racing car. in 2004, prodrive reached new heights and established a dedicated racing department. with their cutting-edge technology, aston martin achieved great results in the le mans endurance race, reaching the highest podium seven times and winning the gt championship 11 times, further consolidating its "godfather" status in the racing world. from then on, the name of prodrive became known to everyone in the racing field.

prodrive and subaru's wrc car

prodrive and subaru launched a limited edition (source: prodrive)

prodrive and aston martin unveil le mans race car

prodrive and aston martin's le mans team (source: prodrive)

the legendary story of prodrive began with an adventure of its founder david richards, who started his entrepreneurial journey with a rally sponsored by his good friend rothmans. due to the misfortune of the previous organizer, richards took over the task temporarily and performed well. from then on, the gears of richards' fate began to turn. this successful event not only won him the opportunity to organize a larger-scale event in qatar, but also started his decades-long business career.

david richards and his career as a rally co-driver (source: prodrive)

david richards was originally a professional rally co-driver. however, due to family reasons, the salary of a co-driver obviously could not allow him to support his two children. he had to decide to turn to the more lucrative racing business. with his relationship with the tobacco company rothmans, he worked for a rothman-sponsored team for a while. but unfortunately, this job ended briefly due to the outstanding performance of the competitor marlboro team.

later, richards learned from many sources that porsche was planning to return to the racing world, so he actively persuaded rothmans to sponsor the porsche team to pave the way for his own career. since the end of 1983, this team of 14 people has embarked on a legendary entrepreneurial journey, which is the prequel to the birth of prodrive today. in addition, with a keen business sense, he found that porsche was developing a 959 rally car that met the group b regulations, and took this opportunity to form his own team. in the 1983 qatar rally, he drove the prototype car to victory. although the car was almost broken in two after the race, david richards and prodrive became famous in the rally world after this battle.

prodrive and ford (source: prodrive)

david richards and the porsche 959 rally car (source: prodrive)

unfortunately, the good times did not last long. in 1986, porsche group b cars were banned, and richards faced a severe challenge. however, with his keen business sense, he soon got in touch with wolfgang-peter flohr of bmw motorsport and successfully obtained the precious opportunity to transform the bmw m3 into a rally car. since then, prodrive has been on a roll, serving customers in belgium, italy and france, and has continued to expand its scale to manufacture competition cars.

over time, prodrive has built a number of impressive racing cars, including the track version of the m3 that frank sytner raced in. in this way, prodrive has gradually developed into a strong racing car manufacturing company, providing services to many well-known brands such as bmw, alfa romeo, honda, ford and volvo.

the bmw m3 race car developed by prodrive (source: prodrive)

porsche 959 rally car developed by prodrive (source: prodrive)

the person who really brought richards' racing car manufacturing business into a "second spring" and brought prodrive to the international stage was a mysterious person - kuze. after the wrc thousand lakes rally, kuze was deeply impressed by prodrive's outstanding performance and praised it highly. so after making inquiries from many sources, he hoped to contact richards and seek further cooperation.

finally, after mr. kuze's efforts, this accidental "encounter" turned into a cooperation between prodrive and subaru, allowing it to represent the subaru team in the wrc event. at the same time, mr. kuze also naturally became prodrive's main partner in japan. at that time, japan was in the "golden age" of automobile development, and the prevalence of jdm (japanese domestic market) modification culture also happened to originate in that period, which undoubtedly added fuel to the thriving business of "prodrive". at this time, prodrive was in the "right time, right place, and right people", and this partnership lasted for 18 years, and also opened the "modernization" journey of prodrive.

subaru racing car developed by prodrive (source: prodrive) subaru racing car developed by prodrive (source: prodrive)

as time went by, richards gradually led prodrive to the field of high-tech manufacturing. the company achieved more professional development in racing research and development and team operations, growing from a team of 14 to 400 people, and moving from a small garage to a 40,000 square foot factory. starting with the cooperation with porsche, prodrive gradually built its own racing empire under the leadership of richards.

prodrive's reputation reached its peak with its partnership with subaru. this 18-year alliance not only pushed drivers such as colin mcrae and richard burns to legendary status, but also completely changed subaru's brand image.

although prodrive has not escaped the impact of the economic cycle, and the economic recession has once affected european motorsports, prodrive has been able to constantly find new opportunities amidst the challenges, such as shifting from rally events to the higher-level aston martin racing project, extending its business layout to the chinese market with greater development potential, and its golf rally car has been racing in domestic rally events, etc. under richards' leadership, prodrive has always been able to usher in its "spring after spring" of commercialization.

prodrive dakar car "hunter" (source: prodrive); prodrive rally car "p25" (source: prodrive)

prodrive dakar racing car "hunter" (source: prodrive); prodrive's participation in chinese events (source: prodrive)

but do you think that's all the power of prodrive? obviously, mr. richards won't allow you to think so.

prodrive's talent goes far beyond racing tuning. in the off-road event of the dakar rally, the "hunter" off-road vehicle built by prodrive has become a powerful fighter for the red bull racing team with its powerful power of 600 horsepower, 700 nm and excellent aerodynamic design. the recently launched subaru wrc97 replica p25, with a light body of less than 1,200 kilograms, redefines the concept of road rally racing.

what is amazing is that prodrive's business scope is far more than just racing. with its deep experience and technical accumulation in the racing field, prodrive has expanded its business to high-end materials and manufacturing. for example, it manufactures carbon fiber interior parts for the flagship version of volvo s90, creates rear wings and active aerodynamic management systems for mclaren p1, and designs exquisite cocktail cabinets for the long-wheelbase version of land rover. its tentacles are all over every corner of luxury cars and sports cars. in fact, prodrive's expertise is not limited to the ground. whether it is airplanes in the sky, racing boats on the water, or satellites in space, it can provide lightweight and perfect aerodynamic solutions with superb composite material research and development and application technology.

prodrive participates in the manufacture of interior components for the volvo s90 (source: prodrive)

prodrive participated in the development of the mclaren p1 rear wing (source: prodrive)

prodrive's racing yacht (source: prodrive)

similarly, with the general trend of automobile "electrification", prodrive is also actively engaged in the creation and customization of high-performance electric powertrains. they have their own instantaneous dynamic analysis prototype instruments and complete verification procedures, and can produce and test electric powertrains in their own factories. for example, they helped ford develop the new transit plug-in hybrid vehicle, and even produced electric logistics delivery trucks and urban logistics delivery vehicles themselves.

prodrive cooperates to develop the evolv urban logistics delivery vehicle (source: prodrive); prodrive develops its own hummingbird bicycle (source: prodrive)

transit plug-in hybrid vehicle (source: prodrive); volta zero prototype truck developed in collaboration with prodrive (source: prodrive)

in the 40,000 square foot factory in milton keynes, uk, all materials related to "lightness" and "air" may be created. from the visual carbon fiber accessories of the boeing 787 first-class cabin, to the control system of the sailboat racing boat, to the fairing of the satellite spacecraft at an altitude of 10,000 meters, prodrive's footprints are all over the sea, land and air. its excellent manufacturing technology and innovative spirit have undoubtedly set a new benchmark for the modern british engineering manufacturing industry. and richards' "racing empire" continues to shine here, constantly writing "legends".

“why did xiaomi look for prodrive?”

after so much preparation, it is not difficult to find that lei jun has put a lot of effort into the su7 ultra's campaign at the nürburgring, and has high hopes for it. this can only succeed, not fail. therefore, xiaomi has invested in this matter at all costs, and the reason why prodrive was chosen is not only because prodrive can provide a complete racing car tuning solution, but also because prodrive has rich experience and can provide a complete solution from the development of parts to testing and lap times.

for xiaomi, the cooperation with prodrive is also a learning and progress in car performance tuning; even if we take a step back, with 3 years of experience in car manufacturing, no matter how fast we progress, it is difficult to catch up with others who have been working hard for decades in tuning. the relationship between xiaomi and prodrive can be described as "both teacher and friend".

su7 ultra (source: bilibili)

su7 ultra front wheel semi-enclosed wide body (source: bilibili)

thanks to prodrive's innovations and breakthroughs in the field of materials and its rich technology and experience in racing aerodynamics, prodrive replaced the carbon fiber + polycarbonate body covering for xiaomi su7 ultra, keeping the weight of the vehicle within 1,900 kilograms. although the weight is not much better than that of fuel vehicles, with the help of a motor of nearly 1,600 horsepower, the thrust-to-weight ratio of the vehicle is still considerable.

we mentioned power above. electric vehicles have inherent advantages in horsepower and torque. prodrive can improve xiaomi's power no more than it improves aerodynamics and lightweight. it is more of a "icing on the cake". xiaomi's three-electric system is already quite powerful, ahead of most traditional performance models. what xiaomi needs most is a lighter and more aerodynamic body, as well as more efficient battery thermal management measures, which will give xiaomi su7 ultra better handling performance and higher acceleration at the same power output, which is something xiaomi can hardly figure out in a short time.

why is it said that the aerodynamic kit designed by prodrive can make su7 ultra faster?

we carefully compared the aerodynamic kit redesigned by prodrive for xiaomi su7 ultra, which mainly includes the body surround and chassis. it is not difficult to find that there are huge differences between it and the commercially available version of su7; the exaggerated surround and rear wing, and the completely racing chassis guide components, obviously all of this is for faster speed guidance. the wide body of the front wheel adopts a design with the rear half open, one is to guide turbulence to reduce resistance, and the other is to further increase downforce and improve the grip of the car. the fixed large rear wing can form a velocity difference between the upper and lower surfaces of the airflow flowing through the rear wing and generate downforce. first, it presses the car tightly to the ground to improve grip, and second, the increase in pressure will also increase the friction between the car and the track, thereby improving the braking effect.

the huge spoiler on the rear chassis of the su7 ultra can reduce the air resistance of the car during driving by optimizing the flow path of the airflow. it can also form a specific airflow pattern at the bottom of the car to generate downforce and further improve the car's grip. what's more interesting is that there are two obvious openings on the top of the xiaomi. according to the analysis of the video blogger (keyboard car god) at station b, these two openings are directly connected to the chassis battery system of the su7 ultra, which helps the xiaomi to dissipate heat from the battery during high-load brushing.

prodrive also has its own cfd analysis process. cfd is the abbreviation of "computational fluid dynamics", which is a scientific method that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve fluid flow problems. through cfd, engineers and scientists can simulate the effect of fluids (such as gases and liquids) flowing through or around objects, so as to make more accurate predictions and analyses and improve the aerodynamic design of racing cars. these projects are exactly what prodrive is best at, and what xiaomi needs most in its battle at the nürburgring.

su7 ultra roof opening

su7 ultra's fixed rear wing (source: bilibili); su7 ultra's rear spoiler (source: bilibili)

those who are familiar with f1 events must know the 3:7 rule, 70% of the car and 30% of the driver, both are indispensable. the same principle applies to "nürburgring". prodrive may provide xiaomi with a 7-point car, but the remaining 3 points are also crucial. a good racing driver has rich track experience and skilled driving skills and can accurately feedback the status of the car to the technicians, which will undoubtedly make the entire team more powerful and invincible.

xiaomi has selected two drivers to compete in the nürburgring this time. one is david pittard, who has won the nürburgring endurance series (nls) championship many times. the other is xiaomi's internal driver ren zhoucan. david was originally one of the main drivers of the northwest aston martin team managed by prodrive, and won the championship driving the aston martin vantage gte car. during the long-term cooperation between the two parties in the competition, the tacit understanding between the two parties has been tested a lot, and this second cooperation is undoubtedly a perfect match and complements each other.

opening david pittard's personal cv, the most intuitive feeling is that david was born for the nürburgring. not only has he won the nürburgring endurance race many times, he has even been running his own "nürburgring coach" business, providing car testing, driver training and nürburgring services. it is worth mentioning that david pittard won the nürburgring 24 hours endurance race again last year, driving a ferrari 296 gt3. i'm afraid no one knows the "nürburgring" better than david.

the other is ren zhoucan, the chief engineer of the xiaomi su7 ultra prototype and head of vd (vehicle dynamics) vehicle dynamics. ren zhoucan has participated in the "lynk & co cup" series many times and won the lynk & co car challenge in 2023. at the same time, ren zhoucan is also lei jun's "master" in learning drift. what's interesting is that ren zhoucan, who has a technical background, is not only a racing driver, but also an excellent and senior engineer. what's more interesting is that according to the corporate information website "qizhidao", ren zhoucan once worked in geely research institute. as a lap driver, ren zhoucan's greatest value is obviously not to create the fastest lap time in the nürburgring, but to learn tuning experience from prodrive from an engineer's perspective and optimize the performance of su7 ultra.

xiaomi test driver david pittard (source: david pittard's personal website); xiaomi test driver ren zhoucan (source: 51 gt3)

the combination of the "favored son" of the nürburgring and the "technical master" of engineering undoubtedly provides double insurance for the lap of the su7 ultra prototype. as a chinese company, xiaomi is undoubtedly fully prepared to face the challenge of the mainstream european track, and the cooperation with prodrive can be said to be a "bloody investment". from the design and development of racing car parts to testing and the selection of racing drivers, it can be said that all aspects are "top configuration". but is xiaomi's investment regardless of cost and price really "worth it"?

"high performance, the last piece of the puzzle for china's new energy vehicles to lead the world"

xiaomi is not the first chinese manufacturer to set lap times at the nürburgring, and it certainly won’t be the last.

but su7 ultra's challenge to become the fastest four-door electric car in the nürburgring will indeed become an important milestone in the history of china's new energy vehicles.

chinese car companies are good at electrification and intelligence. we call china's technological leadership in new energy vehicles in recent years "overtaking on curves."

but there are no shortcuts to high-performance labels in the automotive field. fast acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h does not represent high performance. the lap time on the top international tracks is the most objective criterion for judging a car's performance.

our country doesn't have unlimited speed highways, nor a particularly good racing culture. is it important to take a family car to compete on the track? of course it is important.

when people in car reviews describe a car as being easy to drive, they often use relatively "illusory" concepts such as "compact chassis", "precise steering" and "smooth suspension" to describe it. consumers often think that this is a subjective evaluation and is difficult to quantify.

but in fact, whether a car is easy to drive has objective standards. and it is closely related to almost all parameters of a car, such as weight, body rigidity, power output curve, braking ability, steering wheel steering and return force, etc., and these parameters often affect the whole body.

for example, a car uses a more powerful motor, which increases performance output, but because the motor is heavier, the car is also heavier, so the inertia is greater. to drive well, the brakes must be stronger, and the suspension must also move accordingly. for such targeted tuning, the racetrack is actually the most effective testing site. and the more tuning experience you have, the easier the car will probably be to drive in the end.

in the past, chinese car companies cared a lot about the configuration of their vehicles and the cost-effectiveness of the vehicles when they were finally launched on the market, but rarely cared about whether a car was easy to drive.

xiaomi, with su7 ultra, seems to be using an anti-aircraft gun to kill a mosquito, but in fact, it has set a good example for chinese car companies, diverting everyone's attention from the two things of electric and smart to the label of performance.

after all, before the arrival of l4 fully assisted driving, the car should still be controlled by the driver and be easy to drive, which should be the most basic and important standard for a good car.

after all, if chinese cars want to be truly respected by the world, breaking the monopoly of car manufacturing by foreigners in the past is the last piece of the puzzle for chinese cars to truly lead the world.