2025 IED Project Equa

• Compact single-seater under four meters, inspired by motorcycles and sidecar racing

• IndyCar cues in its proportions and driver-focused cockpit

• Developed by IED Torino students with Dallara as part of a thesis project

A Concept That Shrinks the Supercar

The 2025 IED Project Equa comes from the latest collaboration between IED Torino and Dallara, a thesis program that asks design students to rethink what a high-performance sports car might be. Six proposals came out of it, and each one carried a different answer. Equa’s answer is scale.

It’s billed as a Mini Hypercar — a single-seater that measures less than four meters long. The form is tight, compact, pared down. Instead of trying to stretch the proportions into something dramatic, the designers turned inward, looking at motorcycles and sidecar racing for inspiration. The result is a car that feels condensed and purposeful.

Design Rooted in Function

From the images, Equa doesn’t look ornamental. Its surfaces are clean and sculpted, each one seemingly there to serve a role. The body has the same stripped-back quality you’d expect from a racing prototype, only condensed into a smaller footprint.

The cockpit sits at the heart of the design. Ergonomics were shaped around the posture and focus of archery, with the driver’s gaze and concentration treated as the true centerline of the car. There’s no space wasted on passenger accommodation or luxury flourishes. The idea is singular: one driver, absolute focus.

Motorsport in Its DNA

Equa draws heavily from the language of IndyCar racing. The compact single-seat cockpit, the focus on essential surfaces, and the way air seems to be managed through the body all reflect lessons from open-wheel competition.

One of the most striking touches is a reinterpreted Halo device. In Formula cars it’s a safety requirement. Here, it’s both functional and symbolic — a structural element that anchors the design while signaling its motorsport roots.

It’s details like this that give Equa its identity. Compactness alone doesn’t make a sports car interesting, but compactness with engineering references does.

Key Features of Project Equa

• Length: Under 4 meters
• Seating: Compact single-seater configuration
• Inspiration: Motorcycles and sidecar racing
• Performance Influence: Derived from IndyCar engineering
• Cockpit: Ergonomics shaped by archery principles
• Structural Element: Reinterpreted Halo device as a symbolic feature
• Design Language: Sculpted, functional, minimal surfaces

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