McMurtry has shown the first pre-production version of the Spéirling PURE, and in a walkthrough posted to the company's channel, driver Max Chilton got his first look at the production spec car. It is a complete redesign, and the headline change is width. McMurtry says this car measures 1.795 metres across, up from 1.65 on the car Chilton has been testing, roughly 15 cm wider. The extra track is mostly tyre. Chilton says he cannot think of another car with as much of its width taken up by rubber. The batteries now live inside the side pods of the monocoque, the finish is a clear step up from earlier cars, and the whole thing is aimed at being a track car owners can actually run without a Formula 1 support crew standing by.
The interesting part is not the performance, it is the running cost. The video positions the Spéirling against GT3 racing as its cost benchmark, not Formula 1, and that is a deliberate choice. GT3 is the category most wealthy track day owners already understand, and its per kilometre costs are a known quantity in club motorsport. McMurtry says it targeted a cost per kilometre below a GT3 car while keeping what it describes as Formula 1 grade performance. It also stays on off the shelf LMP2 spec Michelin tyres, which the video puts at around 2,000 a set, rather than bespoke rubber. For a buyer, that is the whole pitch: a car with fan generated downforce that barely drops off in the wet, paired with the kind of maintenance bill that lets you keep driving instead of counting laps. That last point is what separates this from most single seaters.
On the walkthrough, McMurtry's Tom takes Chilton through the changes. The suspension is new but keeps the same concept, including a third spring for the downforce load and, for the first time, electronically adjustable dampers as an option. The battery is described as roughly five times more thermally stable than the previous car, which McMurtry says lets it run hard in 35 degree heat, and a new 100 kW portable charger is meant to give five to seven track runs a day anywhere with three phase power. The company says the car sits under a GT3 weight, runs taller profile tyres for better kerb strikes, and carries 40 percent more suspension travel with adjustable damping. Chilton, who raced in Formula 1, claims the finish now looks indistinguishable from an F1 car of his era. Power is quoted as adjustable up to 1,000 horsepower from a dial on the wheel. Elsewhere the video covers a longer door and a reshaped monocoque that McMurtry says now fits a person up to six foot seven and shoes up to size 14, a roll hoop moved to make entry easier, and pedal and steering adjustment that no longer needs tools. There is a new gearbox with straight cut gears, a new powertrain and more motor torque. A removable windscreen wiper and an optional heated screen are new, aimed at wet track days, and the car now has a proper air conditioning and ventilation system.
Bottom line: Wild performance is the easy part for a car like this, and McMurtry seems to know it. The harder and more interesting brief was making a fan car with F1 pace something an owner can charge in a coffee break, fix in their own garage, and run on 2,000 tyres. If the flying doctor service and the low running costs are real, McMurtry has built something rarer than a fast car, a fast car people will actually use. The hill climb record attempts owners are reportedly already planning will tell us soon enough whether the pace lives up to the finish.
Commentary on a third-party video. Figures and claims are as presented in the source and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.