Okay folks, here’s a curly one for you all. As its submission to this year’s LA Auto Show design challenge, Mitsubishi has entered this, the MMR25 concept race car.

Looking more arachnid than automobile, the MMR25 boasts a number of ‘innovations’ that Mitsubishi claim will be all the rage on the rally stages and racing circuits of the future. Take, for example, those wheels. While each of the four main ‘wheels’ is fixed to an axle and is roughly circular, they’re actually made up of eight sub-wheels, each with its own cigar-shaped tyre and internal electric motor.

Those eight sub motors (thirty two for all four wheels) plus the four electric motors for the main wheels add up to a shitload of complexity, plus the whole assembly would surely generate some pretty screwy handling characteristics as each contact patches rapidly changes shape throughout every revolution. Mitsubishi calls it 8X4 wheel-drive. I call it a pit boss’s worst nightmare.

If wheels-within-wheels weren’t oddball enough for you, then listen to this: rather than have the driver sit in a cockpit where he can easily view his surroundings using a pair of good ol’ fashioned eyeballs, Mitsubishi have elected to cram said driver into a windowless pod, where video images of the outside world are presented to the driver on some kind of futuristic wrap-around flatscreen TV. Pointless? We say, "yes". There’s other dubious ‘improvements’ that I’ve neglected to mention, however if you’re really interested you can read all about them in Mitsu’s press release below.

On a positive note, it does look pretty cool.

Mitsubishi Motors Enters its Innovative 2025 Rally Racer for LA Auto Show’s Design Challenge

Continuing its world racing heritage and its industry leading expertise in electric vehicles, Mitsubishi Motors has introduced the most revolutionary racing technology that will defy automotive racing standards in the year 2025.

Mitsubishi’s MMR25 is an all-electric race car powered by a revolutionary drivetrain the future has not yet imagined. This forward-looking, high output powertrain is comprised of four lightweight, high-efficiency, in-wheel electric motors whose output is boosted with the help of eight supplemental motors. The batteries are next generation units, which are more powerful, fully recyclable and can run up to 1,000 miles on a single charge. Specially developed uniform composite Nano fibers give the Lithium batteries their long life and reduced weight. These powerful, yet compact battery packs are located in the center and on each side of the vehicle and are positioned low to the ground for enhanced stability and a lower center of gravity.

The MMR25 incorporates an omnidirectional wheel design that consists of eight independently-controlled electric motors within each wheel hub. This makes the MMR25 the first and only “8 x 4” wheel drive vehicle. The rotational direction of the tires allows the vehicle to be driven forward while pointing the nose of the vehicle in any direction, instead of drifting you can actually drive sideways (or at any angle.) Innovative “Oblique Aerodynamics” gives the vehicle aero advantages when driving sideways.

A driver sits inside a windowless pod just below the center wing. The center wing spoiler is located directly over the cabin, which rises and lowers as the vehicle moves sideways. This pod is surrounded by a seamless, 360-degree panoramic screen displaying images from outside cameras. Removing the heavy glass windows significantly reduces vehicle weight and enables the driver to see changing environmental and track conditions throughout the day. Special Memory Metal Alloy is used in fabricating the sophisticated front and rear spoilers, which also act as suspension blades.

[Source: Mitsubishi]
[Images: Mitsubishi]