Honda-sponsored Deep Orange 9 project seeks to create next generation rallycross vehicle
January 11, 2018
Honda R&D Americas is the primary sponsor of the new Deep Orange 9 (DO9) concept vehicle project, which tasks graduate automotive engineering students with building a next generation rallycross vehicle. The car will be the first of its kind: a high-performance, ultra-tough motorsports vehicle with a clean, fuel-efficient hybrid powertrain, advanced technical features, and highly dynamic handling and acceleration.
Deep Orange 9 is also supported by Aisin Group and JTEKT Corporation as Leadership Sponsors, BFGoodrich as Track Sponsor, and Red Bull and the Specialty Equipment Market Association as Marketing Sponsors. Students are also incorporating unique concussion research into DO9 in collaboration with the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare system.
The DO9 project will also present new ways to market vehicles to motorsports fans. In a collaboration with the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute, undergraduate students studying consumer behavior, sports marketing, and marketing research will leverage consumer research to segment and target customers for DO9.
Deep Orange 9 is an extremely unique innovative, project-based learning program that produces highly capable automotive engineers by immersing them in the world of vehicle manufacturers and suppliers.
“The extreme engineering behind motorsports has often been used as a test bed that pushes the boundaries of consumer vehicle technology,” said Robert Prucka, Kulwicki Endowed Professor in Motor Sports Engineering at CU-ICAR, who leads the program. “Deep Orange 9 students are tasked not only with developing an innovative vehicle with the power and handling requirements of an emerging motorsport, but with finding new ways to improve driver safety, fuel efficiency and vehicle emissions in these highly dynamic driving situations.”
For more information, visit: http://newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/clemson-university-prototype-program-announces-next-generation-rallycross-vehicle.