Pininfarina Sintesi

Pininfarina Sintesi was a concept car designed by Pininfarina and unveiled in 2008 at Geneva Motor Show. The name 'Sintesi' means 'synthesis' in the Italian language.

Context

Pininfarina Sintesi - Study of the layout of the volumes

The Pininfarina Sintesi was a 4-door 4-seat coupe. The design did not consider the car as a shape that covers the mechanicals, but one that gives a shape to the mechanicals around the passengers. The concept was born from the manufacturer’s need to communicate his way of interpreting the car of the future. With the Sintesi, Pininfarina introduced concepts including "Liquid Packaging" and "Transparent Mobility":^[2]

• "Liquid Packaging" refers to the concept of putting fuel cells and motors in each wheel. The result is that the space for passengers is much more generous – in proportion to the total volume of the car – without detracting from the tapered and aerodynamic (Cd = 0.27) profile . According to Pininfarina head of design Lowie Vermeersch the size of the engine and transmission to a major extent determines the shape of the vehicle and conventional powertrains are still too bulky. That’s why for the Sintesi, designers have developed a new fuel cell powertrain that can be spread out into different locations in the car.^[3]
• "Transparent Mobility" refers to the communication system where a vehicle can exchange information with other vehicles and traffic technology, through wireless technology.

“Our source of inspiration,” said Vermeersch, “was man’s freedom over technology, a car in which technology gives creative freedom back to the designer and allows us to explore new forms and future scenarios. But at the same time, we did not want everything to be limited to a flight of fancy, we wanted our approach to be very concrete. Which is why we combined and tested our ideas with the innovative technologies provided by our partners in this project.”^[4]

Awards

The Pininfarina Sintesi won the Red Dot Award for 2008, among more than 1900 competitors from 48 countries.^[5] This prestigious award ranks among the largest and most renowned design competitions in the world.

Style

The exterior design features large windshield surface and front spoiler. Both the front and rear doors had a verticale opening system. The overall flowing and smooth look of the side view is combined with the sharp edges that characterize the wheels, the front end and the rear end, while the side air intakes and outlets give a sporty touch to an already dynamic design and create an interplay of covex and concave surfaces.^[6]

Technical information

The fuel cell technology was developed in partnership with Nuvera, which developed the Quadrivium Fuel Cells system, the various components of which were distributed around the car, with four fuel cells positioned near to the wheels.

The total output is around 700 hp. The center tunnel integrates a bio-fuel tank and a reformer capable of producing hydrogen. In terms of performances, the Pininfarina Sintesi has a top speed of 115 mph and can scoot from 0 to 60 mph in just 7.5 seconds.

Sintesi was equipped with a wireless system called Clancast, developed by Reicom, which manages all the communications between sensors and the control unit, between the car and passengers and also among different vehicles.

References

External links

• Official Pininfarina Sintesi Website