Driving Sports

In this Extra! we take a look at the new Urban Commuter concept from Rinspeed and have a preview of the new Porsche Hybrid 911 -- it's not what you think!

Welcome to your Driving Sports Extra for the third week of February 2010.

Rinspeed drops big ideas in the shape of a little car. And hell freezes over as Porsche announces a Hybrid (psst! It’s not what you think!)

Ah, Switzerland. The country best known for cheese and political neutrality. Not too surprising then, when Swiss tuner and concept house Rinspeed produces something like this: the UC?

Set to make a Geneva debut, Rinspeed refers to this not just as a car, but as an “Entire Mobility Concept.” That’s because it’s not just designed for roads, but it can also be loaded into a specially designed railcar for long-distance hauls.

The UC? uses an onboard 3G internet connection to let passengers book a train slot while on the road. The same connection also provides video chat, video conferencing, email and even more of the very stuff you shouldn’t be thinking about when driving.

Is this a pure speculative concept? Not really. The tiny speedster is designed to actually go into production. No, seriously. It is. Rinspeed is even talking to the major European rail lines.

So let’s consider the specs: The all-electric drivetrain can produce up to 96 ft-lbs of torque and the little car a top speed of about 75 mph. Total range, 65 miles between charges.

Rinspeed says the design brings to mind the classic war-era Fiat Topolino. Probably due to the Fiat 500 we presume this car is based on. But as for the UC and the Topolino? I’m not actually seeing that.

The traditional steering wheel in the UC? has been replaced by a force-feedback joystick connected to a drive-by-wire system. It has more stuff, too, but I stopped reading after mention of the Swaroviski crystal covering the 230-volt plug.

Hybrid. Porsche. What has the world come to.

Set to make its appearance at the Geneva auto show, presumably far, far away from the Rinspeed commuter car. The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid is said to be opening a new chapter for the history of the auto maker.

This being Porsche, the hybrid system isn’t what you may think: This one was designed especially for racing.

On the front axle are two electric motors producing 60kW of power each. But slung out the rear, in traditional 911 fashion is a rip-snorting 480-hp flat six.

The Achilles heel of any hybrid for race use is the sheer weight of the battery packs most systems require. Porsche solved this issue by getting rid of the batteries altogether. The electric motors here are powered by nothing more than an electric flywheel.

So screw economy, this one is all about speed. God bless Porsche.