Marussia Motors ( ) was a Russian

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

company founded in 2007. It was the first Russian company to produce a

supercar A supercar, also known as an exotic car, is a street-legal sports car with race track-like power, speed, and handling, plus a certain subjective ''cachet'' linked to pedigree and/or exclusivity. The term 'supercar' is frequently used for th ...

. It designed, and manufactured prototypes of both the B1 and the B2 sport cars. Marussia was led by former motor racer

Nikolai Fomenko Nikolay Vladimirovich Fomenko (, born 30 April 1962) is a Russian musician, comic actor, professional motor racer, former president of Marussia Motors and former engineering director of Marussia F1. Biography Born in Leningrad on April 30, ...

. The Marussia B1 was launched in December 2008 in the new Manege hall in Moscow. In 2010, it acquired a "significant stake" in the

Virgin Racing Virgin Racing (subsequently Marussia Virgin Racing) was a Formula One racing team which was under management of Manor Motorsport, Wirth Research and Richard Branson's Virgin Group and competed in with a List of Formula One constructors#Team's ...

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

team, which was later renamed

Marussia F1 The Marussia F1 Team (subsequently Manor Marussia F1 Team) was a Formula One racing team and constructor which was based in Banbury, Oxfordshire and then later Dinnington, South Yorkshire, Dinnington, South Yorkshire in the United Kingdom and co ...

. The team competed in F1 from to . In April 2014, the Marussia Motors company was disbanded, with staff leaving to join a government-run technical institute. The Marussia F1 team continued unaffected as a British entity, independent of the Russian car company. However, on 7 November 2014 the administrator announced that the F1 team had ceased trading.

Models

B1

The first

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and first car made by Marussia Motors. It has a

rear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout In automotive design, an RMR, or rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout is one in which the rear wheels are driven by an engine placed with its center of gravity in front of the rear axle, and thus right behind the passenger compartment. Nowa ...

. Marussia has announced they will build 2,999 examples of the car. The car has been produced at the Marussia Motors production facility in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, with the company's first showroom following in the city in September 2010. Structure is light and strong semi-monocoque and powered by

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for auto racing, automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotiv ...

-built V6 engines developing between 300 and 420 bhp depending on the specification.

Specifications

Engine 1 - Marussia-Cosworth 2.8 litre Turbo *Placement: В Mid-Mounted *Volume: 2.8 litre Turbo *Max Power (hp): 360, 420 *Max Torque (Nm at RPM): 520 (600) / 4000 *Type: Petrol, Turbocharged V6 *Fuel:

Sunoco Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware state law and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Dating back to 1886, the company has transformed from a vertically integrated energy ...

*Lubricants:

Valvoline Valvoline Inc. ( ) is an American retail automotive services company based in Lexington, Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky. It licenses the name for a number of Valvoline-labeled Motor oil, automotive oil, Oil additive, additives, and lubricants. It ...

Engine 2 - Marussia-Cosworth 3.5 litre *Placement: В Mid-Mounted *Volume: 3.5 litre *Max Power (hp): 300 *Max Torque (Nm at RPM): 410/4000 *Type: Petrol, Naturally-Aspirated V6 *Fuel:

*Lubricants:

Weight And Performance *Gross Vehicle Weight (kg): 1100 *Top Speed: 155 mph (250 kmh) *0-100 Acceleration (km/h): 3.8 sec (420 hp) Suspension *Type: Independent *Front: A-arm, "pushrod" scheme *Rear: A-arm, "pushrod" scheme *Hydraulic Booster: + *Discs: Ventilated *Brake Calipers: 4-piston *EBD: + Dimensions ( mm) *Length: 4635 mm *Width: 2000 mm *Height: 1100 mm *Width: 2680 mm Transmission *Drive: Rear-Wheel *Gearbox: 6-speed

Automatic Automatic may refer to: Music Bands * Automatic (Australian band), Australian rock band * Automatic (American band), American rock band * The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band Albums * ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce album), a 1983 el ...

Tires *Type: Pirelli P-Zero Rosso/Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 *Front Size: 245/35/20 *Rear Size: 285/35/20 Fuel System *Tank Capacity (Litre) 80 *Fuel/Octane Number Petrol/95 Chassis *Type: Aluminum Semi-Monocoque

B2

The B2 features a more aggressive and "brutal" design and is available with the same engines as the B1. B2 was first shown to the public at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. The list price of this model was about 100,000

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

. A total of 500 units were scheduled to be sold out in 2012.

Specifications

Engine 1 - Marussia-Cosworth 2.8 litre Turbo *Placement: В Mid-mounted *Volume: 2.8 litre turbo *Max power (hp): 360, 420 *Max torque (Nm at RPM): 520 (600) / 4000 *Type: Petrol, Turbocharged V6 Engine 2 - Marussia-Cosworth 3.5 litre *Placement: В Mid-Mounted *Volume: 3.5 litre *Max Power (hp): 300 *Max Torque (Nm at RPM): 410/4000 *Type: Petrol, Naturally-Aspirated V6 Weight And Performance *Gross Vehicle Weight (kg): 1100 *Top Speed: 192 mph (310 kmh) *0-100 Acceleration (km/h): 3.8 sec (420 hp) Suspension *Type: Independent *Front: A-arm, "pushrod" scheme *Rear: A-arm, "pushrod" scheme *Hydraulic Booster: + *Discs: Ventilated *Brake Calipers: 4-piston *EBD: + Dimensions ( mm) *Length: 4635 *Width: 2000 *Height: 1100 *Width: 2680 Transmission *Drive: Rear-Wheel *Gearbox: 6-speed

Tires *Type: Pirelli PZero Rosso *Front Size: 245/35/20 *Rear Size: 285/35/20 Fuel System *Tank Capacity (Litre) 80 *Fuel/Octane Number Petrol/95 Chassis *Type: Aluminum Semi-Monocoque

Marussia F2 SUV

The Marussia F2 is an SUV model. According to Marussia it can be used as a mobile command center, as a military vehicle or as an emergency vehicle. The prototype was shown on May 2, 2010. 300 units of the F2 were supposed to be made in 2012 by Valmet Automotive.

Body

The Marussia B1 and B2 models are based on the same semi-monocoque chassis with a steel spaceframe covered by carbon fibre panels - differing only in body shape.

Engine

Both Marussia sports models are mid-engined, with the engine mounted transversally on the back axle. The English company

supplies Marussia with two different V6 engines. One is a naturally aspirated 3.5 litre producing about 300 horsepower and the other is a 2.8 litre turbo-charged engine offered in 360 or 420 horsepower variants. The 420 horsepower engine allows Marussia cars to reach a claimed top speed of 250 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds.

Transmission

The B1 and B2 use a six-speed automatic

gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...

. A six-speed manual gearbox allegedly was in development.

Safety and reliability

The energy-absorbing cockpit is a three part space frame of steel tubes of different sections. The front and rear subframes are attached to a central cell. In an impact, the subframes are designed to absorb energy by deforming. The B1 and В2 vehicles have passed Russian safety tests and obtained their certification.

Motorsport

Formula One

Marussia Motors managed their own factory works team after buying into a large stake of the

Formula One team. Later becoming

, the team competed between

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and part-through

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. In its first F1 season, it placed 11th in the Constructors' Championship, improving one position to 10th the following

year A year is a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. In scientific use, the tropical year (approximately 365 Synodic day, solar days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds) and the sidereal year (about 20 minutes longer) ...

. Thanks to Bianchi's exploits at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix, the team won its first and only 2 points in F1. In 2014, the team participated until the

Russian Grand Prix The Russian Grand Prix () was an annual motor racing event held at Sochi Autodrom – a permanent circuit built around the Olympic Park in Sochi – as part of the Formula One World Championship. The race was first held briefly in the 1910s ...

, entering only one car driven by Max Chilton in the team's final GP, due to the events at the previous Japanese Grand Prix where the team's lead driver,

Jules Bianchi Jules Lucien André Bianchi (; 3 August 1989 – 17 July 2015) was a French racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Nice, Bianchi was the grandson of endurance racing driver Mauro Bianchi and the great-nephew ...

, was involved in a serious accident and suffered an ultimately fatal head injury. On 7 October 2014, after a short period under administration, the team ceased its operations and folded. The team's assets were sold at auction in December 2014.

Plans and prospects

Marussia Motors had stated that it was its intention to open at least two new showrooms in 2011, with

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

named as probable locations. The company wished to market its cars to large

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an countries and some in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

within several years, with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to follow. Planned steps to support this included manufacturing vehicles in Western Europe and increasing its product range. Marussia Motors anticipated presenting 7 models at the 2011

Frankfurt Motor Show The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the ''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'' (''IAA'' – International Automobile Exhibition), is one of the world's largest mobility trade fairs. I ...

that were to include a new

sports coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and typically with two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the Fr ...

, a luxury SUV, a luxury sedan, and a small city car. However, owing to their discontinuation in 2014, the projects never came to fruition.

In popular culture

The Marussia B2 appeared in the

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic raci ...

s '' Need for Speed: World'', '' Need for Speed: Most Wanted'', ''

Need for Speed Rivals ''Need for Speed Rivals'' is a 2013 racing video game developed in collaboration between EA Gothenburg, Ghost Games and Criterion Games, and published by Electronic Arts. It is the twentieth installment in the ''Need for Speed'' series, and the ...

'', '' Driveclub'', '' Asphalt 7: Heat'' and '' Asphalt 8: Airborne''. The Marussia Formula One cars appeared in '' F1 2012'', '' F1 2013'', '' F1 2014'' and '' F1 2015''.

References

* *

External links

*
The newest 2010 Marussia B2 blueprints
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marussia Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Russia Sports car manufacturers Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Cars of Russia Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2007 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2014 Russian brands Car brands 2007 establishments in Russia 2014 disestablishments in Russia