So we have this years best 200+mph hyper cars. This is the car category where the term screaming death machine really comes to mind. It was a close competition and unlike last year we only had two engine fires this time around.
From a small company in France the Pulsar 7200K
The Pulsar is an entirely carbon-fiber body and frame. Power is supplied by a 3L turbo charged magnesium/ALSI 20 valve DOHC inline 4 that produces a mere 399HP. Power is managed through a sequential double clutch 7 speed transmission. Three piston carbon ceramic brakes stop the Pulsar in 101feet. Top speed is only just above 200mph. While this car suffers from a rather small engine, the engine does produce a rather wide torque curve from 2500-7000 rpm. It is also the lightest at only 1.3t with the cleanest emissions and best fuel economy. The interior features hand made leather seats with all of the current bells and whistles. While it still doesn’t have the best road manners around we found it to be a fun car to whip around corners in town, being rear wheel drive helps add to the fun.
Pascal Union Works of England
London 4R-XT
The London sports a carbon-fiber monocoque with aluminum body. Its 5.7L twin turbo pushrod V8 produces 1007HP at the crank. The engine is very peaky with the fun not really starting until after 6000rpm. Power is sent through a sequential double clutch 7 speed all wheel drive system with a 50/50 split. 6 piston carbon ceramic brakes bring it to a stop in just over 100 feet. It comes with luxury racing buckets and all of the bells and whistles. One thing that did catch our attention was the 5 point harness was of the highest quality. We were able to find videos of cars hitting the wall at over 150mph and the occupants walking away uninjured. Of course all of the safety comes at a price other than just the price. This car weighs a lot. 2.1t and because of that weight and the late power of the engine even the 400hp Pulsar was able to beat it across the line in the standing km. We thought its split down the middle twin opening hood was unique though we were glad we shouldn’t have to work on it during the testing phase.
Griffin Automotive
Griffin Ddraig
The Griffin is an all carbon-fiber car. It is powered by a 6.1L 32V DOHC ALSI engine (say that 3 times fast). The engine has no fuel octane requirement and is rumored to run on just about anything flammable. It is peaky but not to terrible. Power is sent through a sequential double clutch 7 speed to the rear wheels with the opportunity for plenty of wheel spin all the way through 4th gear. The Ddraig is one of the few to break 200mph on the standing km. Its 6 piston calipers on carbon ceramic disks bring the Ddraig to a stop in just over 95 feet. The sport bucket seats are the typical hard plastic, though the entertainment is still well appointed. Even with all of the driver aids the Ddraig can be quite a handful to keep on the track
Desert Mountains Automotive
H112 (Benchmark)
It appears that DMA’s solution to a Hyper car was take something basic and throw a bunch of money at it. Even then they couldn’t get it very comfortable.
Boss Motorsports
432 GT
This was probably the scariest car we have ever driven! 1700 horsepower to the rear wheels! It is literally what you expect from an insane overpowered car with only one thing on its mind. Its fun with 400+ftlbs of torque up until you reach 4000rpm then it gets insane peaking at 1412ftlbs at 6500rpm and a reasonably flat power curve from 6500rpm to its redline at 8000rpm 1777hp at 7100rpm. So maybe I should talk about the car some. It is an all carbon-fiber car mid engine rear wheel drive thing of insanity. The engine is a 7.1L V8 twin turbo with 5 valves per cylinder. A manual 7 speed transmission with a viscous differential tries its best to put power to the ground. 6 piston vented disk brakes stop the insanity in just 95 feet. Hand made leather seats and every bell and whistle imaginable round out the interior. Getting the 432 GT up to its top speed was no walk in the park it took us the better part of the day to successfully accomplish this feat. Two of our drivers refused to try after spinning at over 250mph. Even the STIG turned down a second attempt. Even with traction control on the rear tires were spinning all the way past 100mph. And its not the fault of the traction control it is a quality system. We eventually hired the STIG’s insane cousin, the one that is supposed to have a third testicle. After a couple of attempts and taking the entire width of the runway multiple times he was able to max it out a 282mph.
GSI Leviathan
The Leviathan is an all carbon-fiber rear wheel drive car. The engine is a 7 liter V8 twin turbo DOHC with 4 valves per cylendar that produces right at 1000hp. It has a very flat torque curve of 790ftlbs from 3000 to 6000rpm. Power is sent through a sequential double clutch 7 speed transmission. 3 piston/2 piston vented disk brakes stop the leviathan in a little over 96 feet. Hand crafted leather, luxury infotainment and a 4 point harness rounds out the interior. For a car in this class the Leviathan didn’t always seem like it was trying to kill you at every moment. There were a few times where we would push a little too far and the we would wind up going straight for the grass so its not one you can relax entirely with.
Lenraj Odin
The Odin is like most in this class a all carbon-fiber car. The chassis in this one is notably stiffer than most and has tighter tolerances at all the gaps, except for the clearance between the hood and the top of the engine which unfortunately caused some cracking in the paint by the end of our testing. The engine is a 5.8 liter DOHC 32 valve V8 twin turbo that produces 1183hp and 878ftlbs of torque. The transmission is a sequential double clutch 6 speed. It has 4 wheel carbon-ceramic disk brakes with 6 pistons each. The Odin will stop in just over 95 feet. The sport seats are reasonably comfortable, a full infotainment system and 4 point harnesses rounded out the interior. One thing to note is that the driver assists were top notch, probably about the only thing that kept us from ending up in the grass more often than we did. Even with the top notch stability control the Odin always seemed to want to suddenly strike at the slightest mistake.
Polmot
Extravaganza
The extravaganza is like most of its brethren is all carbon-fiber. It does use a rather small 4L flatplane turbo charged V8 that produces a mere 780hp. The Extravaganza is a bit sluggish until you get the engine past 4500rpm. Unfortunately it also weighs a good 300kg more than any of the other sub 1000hp cars which causes it to take 18.78s on the standing kilometer. Max speed is 219. Stopping is very good at 93 feet 8 inches which will test the seat belts every time you really mash the brakes. It is quite comfortable with hand stitched leather and a luxury sound system. Once you get into the power band of the engine the car seems happy to slide around the corners sideways in a mostly controlled fassion.
Solo Cougar
The Cougar is an all carbon-fiber all wheel drive car. It is also one of the few that went with a naturaly aspirated engine. The Cougars engine is a 5.0L V8 40 valve engine that produces 686hp and 450ftlbs of torque. While not overwhelmingly powerful good aerodynamics give it a top speed of 251.8mph. The Cougar is the most comfortable and is easy to handle, it wasn’t exhausting to drive around the track for hours on end. Eventually the engine did start to overheat which brought the fun to an end until it cooled. The interior features hand stitched leather, premium infotainment and a 4 point harness that had 1.5 inch straps so thin we concerned whether or not they would hold in a crash.
Manhell Automotive
SME
Bakeneko SS
Push rods! Who other than SME builds crazy cars with 2 valve push rod engines. So under The Bakeneko’s well crafted carbon-fiber exterior sits a 847hp 7.0L turbo charged push rod V8. But heck it has a good wide power band and its torque peaks at just 3700rpm. Even with only 847hp it does the standing km in 17.82 seconds the next best makes 1000hp and beats it by only 0.36 seconds. The body and engine are well built and smooth. The 6 speed sequential transmission is one of the best we tested with very smooth and quick shifts. The power is sent to all four tires with a 42/58 split. Stopping distance is a respectable 94 feet with 6 piston calipers in the front and 1 piston calipers in the back on carbon-ceramic disks. The interior uses a set of sport seats that are surprisingly comfortable. A full entertainment system with Blue-ray and 12 speakers rounds out the interior, with everything having a very good fit and finish. The Bakeneko is a very high quality car tying DMA’s submission for $45000 less.
Mulholland
Firefly
The Firefly uses a glued aluminum frame with a carbon-fiber body that is exquisite. Everything fits so tight ans smooth the chassis from an engineering standpoint is a work of art. The engine is a 4.9L turbocharged V8 with 1029hp that is happiest above 5500rpm. The sequential seven speed transmission sends power to all four tires with a 34/66 split. Shifts are smooth and precise. Stopping can cause whiplash with a stopping distance of 87 feet. With so much attention to detail the active wing was a dismal disappointment. It would often get stuck in one position or the other and at the end of our testing sessions it actually had a large portion break off on the track. The Firefly is very comfortable, and comes equipped with a very advanced array of drivers assists that did a good job of keeping the car pointed in the proper direction.
M
Atlas
The Atlas is an all carbon-fiber rear wheel drive 1077hp beast. The body and frame are well built with even gaps throughout. The engine is happy from 5000 to its 9000rpm redline. It has a smooth shifting 7 speed sequential gear box. The brakes are a little odd, with carbon-ceramic disk with 4 piston calipers in the front and a vented disk with a 1 piston caliper in the back. Despite or maybe because of its odd set up it has an impressive 90 foot stopping distance. The luxury seats and infotainment are high quality with a very high level of detail. The sound system features multiple speakers in each position that are custom matched for frequency range. The driver assists are top notch but are still challenged by the engines power.
Kurena TLS
The Kurena is an all Carbon-fiber rear wheel drive car with a magnesium block twin turbo charged 7.0L V8. The engine produces 1000hp at 7100rpm and has a fairly flat torque curve from 3800 to 7000rpm. The Kurena uses a sequential single clutch 7 speed transmission to power the rear wheels and does so without doing too bad at lighting the tires on fire. It is stopped by a set of carbon-ceramic disk brakes with 4 pistons on front and 2 in the rear. The interior features hand crafted leather and a 12 speaker surround sound with a blue ray player. A full suite of driver assists help keep the car on the track and out of the grass. The ride was quiet and comfortable without feeling much of the out of control you would expect from a 1000hp super. Despite this much of the car felt cheaper than the rest, but for less than $200,000 I guess that is fine.
