Marussia B1
Marussia is a new member to the landscape of exclusive sports cars. The manufacturer is the first and only Russian maker of fast sports car. We had a closer look at the two family members and the heritage behind the brand at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Nikolay Fomenko and Yefim Ostrovsky have founded the Moscow-based and privately financed company over the past year. The company has grown to a total of 200 employees working on new products such as the B1, B2, but also a brand new SUV. The SUV will debut in April next year and focus on the European and Russian market. The same story goes for the B1 and B2 focus. The B1 is road legal in Russia and certified for Europe by the end of this year.
Marussia B2
The Marussia sports car is engineered on the basis of a special chassis, created by Russian engineers. It is a fast sports car with noticeable aerodynamic characteristics. Marussia states that they have used high-tech materials and components in the production of the vehicle. Both CEOs believe that the key factors producing these products are innovation and reliability.
The B1 and B2 use the same chassis including a separate front and rear sub frame. The cars are equipped with a 3.5 litre V6 engine from Nissan. A second engine will be added to the line-up soon. This Cosworth V6 produces up to 420bhp. The mid-engine setup is accompanied by front- and rear-engined versions of the chassis. A six-speed gearbox with only one clutch transfers the power to the road. A CVT-transmission is in the making.
The main difference between the B1 and B2 is the body shell. The B2 is still in a concept phase and will be finalized in the upcoming months. The intriguing design and Enzo-style stays, as with the B1. Nice to know, the B1 design was chosen in a competition between young Russian designers.
The interior of both cars has similarities. The minimalistic design includes a few controls, a square steering wheel, a Head-Up Display for the navigation system and three separate video screens. The left screen, in front of the driver, shows drive information such as speed and engine characteristics. The second screen in the middle lets you control the multimedia inside the car. Audio, video, Bluetooth, 4G Yota Internet access (only Russia) and VoIP are provided to the driver and the passenger. The third screen shows the passenger a movie, mobile TV, an internet page or footage from the rear view camera. It is even possible to play Playstation games while driving. A nice competition would be ‘Who’s faster around the Nurburgring?’ The Marussia or your passenger playing the PS3?
Marussia is working on expending its brand rapidly. A production facility in Belgium is being built right now and opened soon. This enhances European sales and open the possibility of direct contact with customers and dealerships in Europe.
Marussia is currently enlarging its production of the B1. Already fifteen have been made and forty will follow in the upcoming months. Next year 150 B1s will be manufactured according to the Russian maker. The price of the B1 is approximately 100.000 Euros. The European price stays unknown until the certification has been finalized.
0 comments:
Post a Comment