Fast-Autos supercar news

Fast-Autos News

Bristol Fighter gets 1,012 bhp!

Move over Bugatti – the most powerful production car is now the Bristol Fighter T, which has an engine developing 1,012 bhp at 5,600 rpm. Bristol says that the top speed of the car has is around 270 mph, but it has a limiter at 225 mph, which is just 4,.500 rpm in top! Not many will be made, making this a realy exotic car.

Acceleration is not as good as you might expect – or maybe it is just modesty at Bristol Cars – at 'under 3.5 seconds' whgereas the Bugatti Veyron is well under 3 seconds. The difference is largely academic – like the top speeds – but a mid-engined four-wheel drive car will accelerate more quickly than a front-engined rear-drive car. The Bristol Fighter just doesn't have enough weight on the rear wheels to get under 3 seconds.

Twin turbo V-10

How did they get this huge amount of power? Well, like the other Bristol Fighters, the T has a tuned Chrysler V-10 engine of 8 liters. Bristol tunes the engine to 550 bhp, but the for the Fighter T they have added a pair of water-cooled turbochargers to almost double power so they could exceed that magic 1,000 bhp figure, getting 1,102 bhp at 5,600 rpm, with 1,036 lb ft (1,400 Nm) of torque at 4,500 rpm. That is quite a high speed for maximum torque, but the engine still produces a massive 800 lb ft (1,080 Nm) of torque from 3,000 rpm, upward.

Needless to say the car has a special six-speed gearbox to take the torque, while the frame has been stiffened up, as has the springs and anti-roll bars. The suspension geometry has also been revised. Tires are also larger, at 285/19 fronts and 335/19 rears. The side exhausts, coming out just in fromt of the rear wheels make the car look a little different.

The Bristol Fighter S has a top speed of over 200 mph, partly owing to good aerodynamics, but The Fighter T is an absolute stormer with a power-to-weight ratio of about 600 bhp per ton and a top speed of well, you name it!

....And an Ascari with 625 bhp

Also moving up in the power stakes among exotic cars is Ascari with the A10. This is similar to the KZ1, except for the more powerful engine – still naturally aspirated – and uprated suspension, brakes and wheels. It is intended as much for racing as use on the road, and so comes as standard with an FIA roll-over cage.

Ascari claims it will outperform a Ferrari Enzo, and is a real challenger for cars like the Pagani Zonda F. However, to keep it exclusive, Ascari says it will build only ten, compared with 50 KZ1s.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster

Aston Martin has introduced the roadster version of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. This is almost the same as the coupe except that it has a reinforced aluminum frame to compensate the the lack of the roof. As is obligatory these days, the hood is operated electrically.

You get the same performance as the coupe, but not the stunning looks. Just depends where you live which car you should buy. At the same time, the new sequential six-speed gearbox, operated by paddles, has been introduced on all V8 Vantages - as an option alongside the manual six-speeder.

BMW goes metal top

Meanwhile, BMW is now offering a metal-roof convertible on the 3 Series. It is quite neat, but again lacks the style of the coupe. Great for tjhose warm, sunny days, though, like the Aston.

VW puts some power in the Passat

Also joining the power race is VW, which at last has given the new Passat some real power – 300 bhp. VW tried to market a W-8 version of the previous Passat, but ther were few customers, partly because the Passat has such a reputation for being as good but boring sedan – justified, too.

The new Passat R36 changes all that, being powered by an enlarged version of the narrow V-6 in the Golf R32. The 3.6 liter direct injection engine – direect injection is the way they are going in Europe - develops 300 bhp, which should give the Passat a good turn of speed. As standard, the engine is coupled to the six-speed DSG semi-automatic gearbox.

Like the Golf R32, it has VW's four-wheel drive system to get the power onto the road – VW realises that there is a limit to how much power you get through the front wheels, and it is about 250 bhp.

With a 0-60 mph time of 5.5 seconds, the R36 will be no slouch, though top speed is limited to 155 mph - a pretty hot pocket rocket - in sedan or wagon form. To handle that power, suspension is uprated, the brakes are bigger and the car sits on 235/40-18 tires.

Of course, we are all wondering whether the 3.6 liter engine will fit into the Golf, and when we are going to see an R36 Golf, or maybe it will be the new coupe coming in the next year or so.

Mitsubishi's new direction

Mitsubishi really means to capitalise on the success of the Evo models and really go sporty with the new Lancer range. Previously, the full range has been sold only in Japan, although a few markets do get the rather gutless coupe. Now all that changes. There is a full range of Lancers coming for world markets, and they are all look very sporty - at least the images revealed so far do.

The car has an aggressive fromt end, and the coupe looks pretty smooth. Can't wait for the Evo 10!