aLittleWhile reviews…
The 2017 Gryphon Gear “Lilith” Prototype
Gryphon Gear, an outfit whose cars are as impractical and inaccessable as they are ludicrously fast. Many are familiar with the marque, but few have seen one of their creations in person, and even fewer have owned one. As great as a Gryphon Gear is to watch and read about, there isn’t much of a market for them, and that’s an issue that must be addressed if they are to stay afloat. The folks at Gryphon Gear are, of course, aware of this, and they have been working hard to develop a more marketable machine without compromising on their ethos. To cut to the chase, we have a very special opportunity before us today. You and I are going to take a look at a fully functional Gryphon Gear prototype which aims to, in the words of Gryphon Gear lead designer Strop, “…outperform the competition for the same price, while using less fuel to boot.”
So, first off, the competition and the price. Knowing Gryphon Gear you might expect the competition to be still within the upper echelons of street legal performance and the price to be well into six figure territory, “affordable” relative to their previous offerings. Well, not quite. This prototype is still brain-meltingly fast, but even after the monstrous markups necessary for a car of this breed it is projected to sell for a price of about $92,000. While still nothing that your average Joe can justify, it’s quite a surprise coming from the GG gang.
Now, you may be a bit skeptical. $92,000? “brain-meltingly fast”? You want specifics? Well, here they are. 0-62 miles per hour is dealt with in 2.6 seconds, and it keeps on pulling to accomplish 50-75 miles per hour in 1.1 seconds. My track day team clocked a quarter mile time of about 9.66 seconds with a trap speed of 155 miles per hour with Lilith, and Gryphon Gear tells us she’s capable of a top speed of 240 miles per hour. On public road ready, sport compound summer tires she pulls 1.22 gs on the low speed skidpad and 1.42gs on the high speed skidpad. Braking performance is top-notch, slowing down from 62 miles per hour to a complete stop in about 85 feet and 6 inches. In the hands of an experienced driver Lilith is allegedy capable of a sub 7 minute time on the Nürburgring Nordeschleife. We can’t tell you quite what that time would be, but we can tell you that Lilith lapped the Automation Test Track in 1:54.64, and with all of the requisite electronic nannies and predictable, understeering handling behavior it’s not as difficult as you might expect to harness all of that performance. What is this thing supposed to cost again? Oh, that’s right. $92,000.
This prototype features all aluminum construction with pushrod suspension technology making an appearance on both axles. Driving the rear wheels, we have a 4.1 liter twin turbo flatplane crank V8 churning out 848 horsepower, situated mid-ship of course. Despite this vehicle tremendous power figures Gryphon Gear reckons she can achieve of a fuel economy figure of about 24 US miles per gallon combined. I couldn’t help but put such a claim to the test while I was testing Lilith’s manners on public roads, and I’m happy to report that figure is right on the money.
Speaking of road manners, what’s this thing like to drive when you aren’t on a circuit or in Mexico? Well, as you might expect, it’s not bad, it even has a welcome surprise or two in store, but it’s not a particularly luxurious experience. Before I get to the bad, let’s start with the good. The ride quality during more relaxed driving is actually quite nice. Lilith is equipped with progressive springs, which absorb small bumps and road imperfections quite nicely, and despite the behemoth exhaust pipe on this thing she operates rather quietly, especially at lower RPMs. Lilith isn’t incredibly low slung, so clearing curbs and speed bumps shouldn’t be too big of an issue despite not being able to adjust the ride height. As I’ve already mentioned, fuel economy is exceptional for a performer of this caliber, so you should be able to make it more than a few blocks in the city on a single tank unlike other similarly fast cars. Lastly, in spite of utilizing a flatplane crank, Lilith’s V8 is actually rather well balanced. She can’t compete with a luxury car’s V12 for sure, but it’s an impressive level of smoothness from such an engine nonetheless. Gears are changed with a buttery smooth and lightning fast dual clutch automatic, which is a godsend in start-stop traffic. Now, for the bad, although maybe calling it “the bad” isn’t quite appropriate. This car, while it tries to be more well-rounded than previous Gryphon Gear offerings, is still very performance focused as you would expect. This car isn’t pitched as a jack-of-all trades, so some compromise is to be expected, especially at this price point considering what kind of performance you are getting for your relatively meager $92,000. The cabin, while it features exceptional fit and finish and rather sharp looks, ultimately sacrifices quite a bit in the name of weight savings. Racing bucket seats are far from ideal for touring duty. When it comes to the entertainment system, all you get is a big LCD screen with a radio, two speakers, and a USB port meant to be used in conjuction with a smart phone in order to upload and download telemetry and navigation data. Although the system is rather simple, and the sound quality of the speakers may leave something to be desired, the LCD interface is remarkably well executed and a joy to use. So, while Lilith is underequipped inside compared to what other cars these days are offering, at least what little she has to offer works extraordnarily well.
I have to say, this prototype is very promising. I hope you readers appreciated getting this sneak peak as much as I did. If anything like this ends up on the market soon it just might do the trick and solidify Gryphon Gear’s future. It may not be as safe of a bet as an SUV, but I hope it’ll get the job done if this thing sees the light of day. The enthusiast market may not be the biggest, but with Lilith offering million dollar performance for a 5 figure price tag I think she’ll tap into enough of the market to be a success. Before I send you off, I will emphasize that the car we looked at today is a prototype. This may not be an accurate representation of the vehicle that may hit the market soon, but if anything changes I’m confident it will only be for the better. I’m really impressed with the folks at Gryphon Gear. It’d be a shame to see them go under, so I wish the best of luck to them and thank them for giving me the opportunity to take a look at Lilith.
