Frankfurt is starting to come alive as the automotive world pours in to the west German city for its annual car show. A number of big teasers came out over the last few days, and I’ve even had the chance to drive a car already!
Contendiente’s marketing team as either had a big boost in funds or they hired some new talent; the company’s presentation is looking so much tidier, and the preview of their stand at the show looks exciting for the Spanish marque.
The new Enemgio (2019 MY) is a much improved design compared to the odd looks of the current model, while the specs are looking better too - 70 more horsepower whilst keeping very decent fuel economy for a hot hatch-esque vehicle. 0-60 in 4.9 seconds is very, very impressive too, especially if the price remains similar. That said, an increase in cost could easily be justified given those stats.
The new Victoria sports car is more of a mixed bag. The design sort of works for me, but is also choppy, especially around the front flanks. Styling aside though, it’s a 225hp sub-900kg mid-engined road-going go kart. $36k sounds very reasonable too. Are Contendiente becoming the budget performance company?
Ridgewell-Jeong Motors it’s newest concept, it’s new budget supercar idea, the Eden. It seems to run in the same vein as the GBf Bellua, even sharing similar styling (I’m sorry, but “Eden is a completely unique design” is not accurate) and very similar specs. How it goes about achieving its 0-60 time of 3.2 seconds and 200 mph “aerodynamically limited” top speed is different though: a 2l i4, producing 468 hp, which is astounding for such a small engine (their statement “highest specific output for a gasoline engine ever” might need to be verified though, fairly sure there have been a few race engines that have topped that). Still, it’s a lot of power.
It packs plenty of interesting tech, albeit dressed up in acres of marketing guff, including active push rod suspension and carbon fibre monocoque. At its core, it seems to be a very, very capable car. I look forward to a test drive, where undoubtedly, I’ll be seeing how well it compares to GBf Bellua, though I should make clear that with no pricing currently available, it’s not clear if this is a competitor (something tells me that carbon fibre construction isn’t going to come cheap either).
Gryphon Gear unveiled the upcoming 2018 Jörmungandr, the fabled 500 km/h hyper car (that’s 310 mph for us imperial folk) born out of their Mercury concept in 2015. 2111 hp is delivered from God via its 10.1 turbo V12, and coupled with its current suspension setup and aero work, it’s capable of 6:32 around the Green Hell. 6:30 really is in site now, it seems.
The design is much more cohesive and constant, as a result of its aerodynamic makeover, and they’re even claiming you can just about use it on the road. We’ll have to wait and see if such claims ring true, and whether or not journalists end up in the hedge during test drives.
Himmel have unveiled the full 2017 lineup for their prestigious E.O. sports car, and I’ve had the chance to drive the new, super sporty GT-N version on its home turf.
Review: Himmel E.O. Florio GT-N
“The German’s ought to realise painting a car orange doesn’t count as making it ‘fun’”
Himmel’s E.O. has been the butt of many a joke over the years, though it’s safe to say that this variant is about as far from a Beetle* as it gets. This Florio GT-N model is the latest in a growing line of “pay more for less” versions of the car - less features, but of course, the pay off is less weight and of course, more power. Its 3.9l N/A Flat 6 is a 9k rpm screamer that fires out 511 hp via 7 speed sequential to the rear wheels. Bog standard then for this part of the market, but its 1290 kg kerb weight is impressive. That comes courtesy of carbon fibre body panels and very limited luxuries, though they’ve still made room for leather seats and plenty of comfort. It’s a really clever combination, and feels quite old school if anything.
The looks are finnicky around the front. Lots of edgy lines and winglets to convery sportiness, but they also make it messy and lacking in flow. Though the menace in its headlights is very nice indeed, and the cheeky roof scoop hiding on the back is a nice touch. The back is better, but a little dull and, once again, lacking in flow. There’s not enough connection between the top and bottom for it to really wow.
Not quite enough of a supercar then in the looks department. Performance though? Oh yes. It’s very supercar. Or rather, super sports car. Razor sharp acceleration with plenty of power band to mess around with, and with that 7 speed DCT sequential, it’s lightning fast on the changes. Doesn’t feel as engaged as some cars in its class, but boy does it feel professional and advanced.
Weirdly, however, the suspension is nowhere near as sharp. It’s certainly accurate, but it rolls more than you’d expect. I was expecting it to be firm and planted, but its softer instead. It holds the road, that’s the for sure, but it also gives in earlier than you’d expect. The lower weight (compared to the base model) could be the reason they made it softer, as it doesn’t need to lug so much around, but it hardly matches up to the performance focused nature of the rest of the car.
That said, it does feel very supple; the sway bars are soft and don’t yank you about, the aggressive camber gives you tons of grip and it manages to remains fairly comfortable too, though I certainly couldn’t do a long journey in it.
Maybe it is a supercar then. After it’s looks and power than matter in a supercar - handling is more of an afterthought. Here though, I feel like it ought to be more of a sharp car in the corners. More of a racer. And as I said earlier, the styling just isn’t quite there to be something really special. It lacks character, which is to be expected of a German car, but it also lacks substance, which I wouldn’t expect of an E.O. Everything’s there for this car to be fantastic, it’s just been setup weirdly.
Unless I’m missing the point, this car is either too confused to know what it is or too mixed to be one solid package. It’s good, that’s for sure. I simply expected more.
*‘Beetle’ is simply a placeholder for the automation equivalent of such a car, which, at this point, I don’t believe exists.
- Gavin Anderson
