The Saleen 1, also called the Saleen S1, is a two-seater sports car developed and built by American automobile manufacturer Saleen Automotive. It was unveiled at the 2017 LA Auto Show, and is the first car developed entirely by Saleen since the

Saleen S7 The Saleen S7 is an American hand-built, high-performance sports car designed and built by American automobile manufacturer Saleen Automotive Inc. Developed jointly by Steve Saleen for the initial concept, direction and engine, Hidden Creek Indu ...

ended production in 2009. Production of the Saleen 1 is planned to be 1,500 units yearly, with a starting price of US$100,000 each.

Specifications

Powertrain

The Saleen 1 is powered by a proprietary 2.5 litre

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

inline-four engine A straight-four engine (also referred to as an inline-four engine) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout ( ...

developed by Saleen (based on the GM LKW Ecotec3 engine, it has a cast aluminum cylinder block with cast-in iron liners and uses a forged steel crankshaft), with an bore and stroke, and rated at and of torque. The engine is mid-rear, transversely mounted and drives the rear wheels.

Transmission

The Saleen 1 is equipped with a 6-speed

manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canadian English, Canada, British English, the United Kingdom and American English, the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed ...

as standard, however a paddle shift automatic transmission is expected to be offered as an option.

Suspension

The Saleen 1 uses

double wishbone suspension A double wishbone suspension is an independent suspension design for automobiles using two (occasionally parallel) wishbone-shaped arms to locate the wheel. Each wishbone or arm has two mounting points to the chassis and one joint at the knuckl ...

on the front and rear axles of the vehicle, allowing for easier tuning of suspension

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and properties such as

camber angle Camber angle is one of the angles made by the wheels of a vehicle; specifically, it is the angle between the vertical axis of a wheel and the vertical axis of the vehicle when viewed from the front or rear. It is used in the creation of steerin ...

toe Toes are the digits of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plantigrade''; ...

Wheels

The car is equipped with alloy wheels with diameters of 20 inches at the front and rear. The

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tires have

codes In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ch ...

of 255/30 ZR 20 for the front and 335/25 ZR 20 for the rear. The brake calipers and rotors measure 15 inches in diameter at the front and the rear.

Interior features

The interior of the Saleen 1 is finished mostly in leather, suede, and

Alcantara Alcantara, Alcântara ( Portuguese), Alcántara (Spanish), Alcàntara, Alcàntera, El-Qantarah and (El) Kantara are all transliterations of the Arabic word ''al-qantara'' (القنطرة), meaning "the bridge". Alcantara may refer to: People * ...

. Other amenities include

Sirius radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. Like ...

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, and a six-speaker sound system.

Performance

The manufacturer claims a top speed of for the Saleen 1. The car has claimed acceleration times of 3.5 seconds for and 11.3 seconds for the quarter mile. These acceleration times are achieved through a

power-to-weight ratio Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measurement ...

of 0.17 hp/lb (0.28 kW/kg). The Saleen 1 is also capable of 1.2g of lateral acceleration in a turn.

Racing

Saleen Cup

The Saleen Cup was launched in partnership with

SRO Motorsports Group SRO Motorsports Group (formerly the Stéphane Ratel Organisation) is an international sporting organisation best known for promoting and running a variety of racing events and series, including the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, Intercontinental GT ...

in 2019 to demonstrate the capabilities of the S1. A modified version of the Saleen 1, called the Saleen Cup car, is the exclusive car raced in the series. The Cup car features race-spec aerodynamics, FIA standard safety equipment, and slick racing tires. The Saleen Cup series consists of eight races at four tracks around the United States, listed below: The 2020 Saleen Cup was cancelled the weekend before its scheduled opening event.

GT4

Saleen plans to further modify the Saleen 1 Cup car for GT4 homologation for the 2020 season. Saleen's plan includes the introduction of a factory racing team, with at least one driver sourced from the winners of the summer 2019 Saleen Cup.

References

{{reflist

External links

Saleen 1 official website
2010s cars Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles Saleen vehicles Sports cars Cars introduced in 2017