#Daily Round-Up 4
It’s been a busy weekend here at Antiyita, where most of the journalists are underway test driving and reviewing what has been on display. We’ll be doing a little bit of that later on and throughout the week, but for now it’s time to see what else has been announced at Antiyita!
Zavir reintroduced its Luna Spider, adding another body style to the premium compact’s range. Not only is it the best looking variant in the range, its one of the smartest compacts I’ve seen in a long while. The more powerful engine options should be particularly fun to drive with the roof down, though there’s certainly an air of budget GT car about it. That’s some we really like, and it should make for a nice alternative to the similarly priced budget sports car available today.
Cornaldie gave us a new luxury super-SUV in the form of the Scandera SuperTourer. The orange colour was not a preferable choice in my opinion, and the ton of chrome on the front may put some off, but they seem to have nailed the luxury aspect and even crammed 7 seats into this thing. So, it’ll be like a container ship to park, but it should be as comfortable as Emirates First Class. The big emphasis on safety is nice, even though this thing should be able to survive a collision with anything given its size. Plus, with 400+ hp under the bonnet, its decently quick too. Not enough to satisfy the psycho-SUV drivers who want supercar levels of power, but enough to keep most drives interested. That said, other rivals do pretty much the same thing as this for similar amounts of money, and I was hard pressed to see something that really sold it to me.
Zast then gave us the Ancora, a V12 hypercar with a serious teeth problem. Honestly, this thing looks great other than that front grille looks so out of place and off. Still, it’s a nigh-on 900hp bright green monster, surely it must be quite fun to drive? And the answer is yes. It’s mad, very loose and quite scary, but fun. All of the driving aids optioned on this model did absolutely f*ck all to keep this thing under control, and even the very high quality tires can barely hold all that wheel spin back.
But, it’s far from rough; the power delivery is huge but consistent, it’s geared well, the active aero certainly does its job and the suspension is quite well setup too. It has a tendency to oversteer, but it isn’t overly sharp, which is nice, as the last thing you want in a car this mad is to be having to constantly correct its twitchiness. On the contrary, the interior is very cheaply made and the brakes are actually scary to use.
So then, you need balls of steel to drive it, but if you like driving in a near-death experience all the time, this is the car for you.
Nuntius have introduced a new trim of their Exercis van. I know absolutely nothing about vans, but can agree with them when they say “No east asian auto show is complete without Vans”.
Zorg showed us some updates to their lineup, including announcing that their 3.0l i6 Turbo is going to be featured on more models as well as a whole host ‘Individual Options’ that allow you to modify how your car looks to no end. That should certainly satisfy the customers, desperate to ensure their car is absolutely unique.
JHW gave us the Harrier 6 budget limousine, featuring an improved version of their design style. The 2.9l i6 powering it is a little lacking at 200hp, and there’ll be some looking for more power, though the promise of a HUD system is interesting. Little else in terms of details have been given out, but it $53k asking price is a fairly tempting offer.
AL Autos gave us two more cars, these being Statuere which seems to have a slight side chrome problem, though from the front, it’s easily the best looking car they’ve made so far. It’s packed with the usual luxury features, and has an appropriatley powerful 575hp V8, though the auto gearbox could have been replaced by a sequential unit. Prices are high as you’d expect, but it’s a car to consider if you’re in this part of the market.
This was followed by the the Habillis supermini, which we felt was a little out of place. 30 MPG, even US MPG, is very low for such a car, and the high price puts it in the range of most compacts. It should certainly be as practical as most equivalent cars, but the running costs seem to be oddly high for such a small car.
I had the chance today to drive the new Assoluto Fatalita. Here’s what happened:
[quote]#Roadtest: Assoluto Fatalita V
I’ve been told throughout my 7 year career as a motoring journalist that this job has its perks, and that for all the regular cars you have to slog through (as nice as they are), you’ll get to do incredible roadtests of some of the best cars on the planet. One such moment occurred little over a week ago when I received an email - barely a few hours after landing in Anikatia - from an Assoluto employee who wanted to offer me a roadtest in the Fatalita V. Well of course I was going to say yes to that.
As part of this roadtest, I have to stress why I’m being given this opportunity. It’s the company’s 90th birthday this year and to celebrate, they want to give me some time in the Fatalita V. Not sure how that works a birthday celebration given that it’s for me, but oh well, I’m not saying no to driving a supercar.
This 5th iteration of the mid-engined machine follows closely in the footsteps of the Type 4 in terms of design, but there are some major changes. The front grille is now large and has less aerowork covering it up; it’s grown two roof ducts on its back; the exhausts now sit right at the edge of the back of the car, though they’re still next to the tailights. What hasn’t changed though is the shape; it’s still the classic smooth body that has come to define their mid-engine models, and they arguably still do it better than everyone else.
I’ve been given really rather limited time in this car - I knew there’d be a catch - meaning I have just over an hour to work out what it’s like. Surely that can’t be too hard.
I get it out of the pre-arranged pickup destination as fast as possible and head straight for the mountains. And, on first impressions, it’s good. Really good. Very comfortable for a supercar, quite a bit more than the previous generation. More to the point, you could probably use it everyday at this rate if you wanted. And, it’s fast. Very fast. 0-60 in 2.6 seconds means it can quite easily match the lower end of the hypercar market for acceleration. Yet, it’s also quiet. Obviously it screams when you force it to, but otherwise, the engine is quite tame when it comes to noise. I’m not sure whether that’s a good move on their behalf or something that could take away from the excitement.
It’s at this moment that I see the ‘Active Exhaust’ button and promptly press it; oohhhh, that’s better. Now I can hear the 4.4l turbo V8 shout its way up to 9000 rpm properly. And within minutes, the roads are climbing and getting twisty.
You soon learn this car’s limits; they’re very high and easy to reach, but it doesn’t feel like it constantly wants to break them. The handling is nice; not the best, with the back end feeling very fixed due to the tight sway bars and massive rear tires, but you can coax powerslides out of it with ease, and it certainly holds it self very well when doing this. Roll angles are very low, meaning flat cornering is easy to achieve at lower speeds. On some of the long sweeping bends on these Anikatian roads, you can get a feel for just how much G this thing can pull when it wants to.
However, most of the corners here are tight and filled with hidden inclines, which really puts the suspension through its paces. It’s all active, and it works very very hard indeed. There’s an unnatural feel to its response, but that’s only because it’s constantly adapting and adjusting. I’m undecided on whether I like it or not; this is not a car for purists by any means because of this feature.
On the contrary, it does allow you to drive at an unbelievable pace. That level of tech also extends to the E-LSB and the well tuned brakes, and the result is a driving feel that gives you huge confidence for a supercar. I dare say it’s even easy to drive, though that doesn’t quite feel appropriate given that I have 706 hp sitting behind me. The grip, the response, the way its goes and the way it stops are all phenomenal. Technically, then, this car is astounding, and more than anything else, they’ve managed to make a laptop-car feel rewarding to drive.
But I can’t help but think that it could be madder. Maybe I’m trying to make this car something that it just isn’t or wasn’t intended to be, but I just got the impression every once in a while that it was a little too well dressed up in electronic gear. The essence and heart of the car are hidden away, and only by turning everything off can you start to find it, but even then it doesn’t have the same level of intensity or excitement as other cars. I guess I myself am just looking for something that’s more of a supercar.
Then again, I only had an hour with it, and before I knew it I had to turn around to get back to the city in time. It reminded me how nice it was when you drive it normally. I’d put it out there that this probably one of the easiest supercars to live with around today. But it’s not quite super enough for my taste, even though technically its an incredible achievement.
I liked the updated styling, the comfort and the usability, and the noise too. And, it certainly impresses when being driven quickly; if you want to drive something that feels like Forza or Gran Turismo in real life, this is the car to go for.
But, it’s not the supercar I want it to be. It’s too techy and doesn’t have enough soul to be something truly special. There’s no doubt a passion here to make the fastest car they can, but it’s too focused on that for its own good. I’d be happy to own one, but I couldn’t get past living with the knowledge that there are better options out there.
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That’s all for now, see you later this week!
-Gavin Anderson
that tail light design.
