Fast-Autos supercar news

Fast-Autos News

New supercars at Frankfurt

Now it is the turn of the Frankfurt Motor Show to be in the limelight – a huge exhibition spread around many halls. Forget all the mundane and boring cars on view, and let's see what's happening in the supercar world.

Aston Martin DBS

For a start, Aston Martin has launched the DBS, a two-seater version of the DB9, sharing the same aluminum space frame, but getting a more powerful engine – 510 bhp against 450 bhp – and more aggressive lines.

Aston Martin talks a lot about weight reduction, but in truth the lightweight carbon fiber panels and lighter carbon ceramic brake discs just shave a few pounds off the weight of the DB9, which is odd. After all, the DB9 is an older design and has two extra seats compared with the DBS, so what is going on?

Hard to say, but the fact is that only the extreme specialists – people like Pagani, Lotus, Caparo and Noble – are able to really reduce weight. Everyone else is so busy adding electronics and other gizmos, not to mention huge wheels, that the weight just does not come off. The use of 20-inch wheels instead of 18-inch wheels adds a lot of weight, and is done just to please the stylists.

The Aston Martin DBS is not only about 20 lb heavier than the Ferrari F599GTB Fiorano, and has almost 100 bhp less, so there is no contest when it comes to acceleration and top speed. Aston Martin has always lagged Ferrari in power output, though – no different today than 50 years ago.

Even so, the DBS is an elegant supercar which will win many friends. After all, not everyone actually wants to drive at over 150 mph, even though they may want to own a 190 mph supercar.

Bentley Continental GT Speed: 600 bhp

Bentley has also produced a more sporty version of the fine Continental GT – the Continental GT Speed. It has the same body as the GT, so you get a full four seater coupe, but now with an engine souped up to 600 bhp. Incidentally, the 600-bhp club is quite exclusive – I reckon there are only about 15 engine types producing more than 600 bhp in the world.

This extra power takes the top speed up to over 200 mph, and it must be the only full four-seater in production able to reach this speed. The car will get to 100 mph in 10.3 seconds, which is very quick for such a big lump of metal.

Bentley has improved the handling of the Continental GT models, and the Continental GT Speed gets the sharper handling, and more sporty settings for the stability control and automatic gearbox.

Evidently, Bentley has succeeded in cutting the understeer of the car, which is a good thing as this was one of the car's weaknesses. You might remember that the Continental GT is very heavy, and so is the GT Speed, despite the fact that the weight has been by 77lb (35kg). Hardly going on a diet – it is like a 200 lb man boasting that he has reduced his weight by 3 lb. I don't think his friends would be impressed.

As I have said before, it is a pity that Bentley has not invested in production equipment to produce the aluminum space frames developed by Audi – maybe Audi is keeping the technology to itself. With an aluminum body, Bentley would be facing the world of expensive oil and the need to be 'environmentally friendly' head on. Enthusiasts would also find that Bentley Continental GTs weighing under 4,500 lb would accelerate much better, use less fuel, and handle better – ah, but it's just a dream.

Jaguar releases XF

Jaguar, which made a big song and dance about its C-XF in the USA, has now unveiled the production version – the XF. As expected, it is virtually identical to the C-XF. It will be interesting to see whether the BMW concept car is also a true indication of future BMWs, as that also look pretty radical.

Unfortunately, Jaguar has not used the aluminum body technology of the XJR and XK for the XF, presumably because the Ford bosses decided it was uneconomic for the higher volumes. This is another great opportunity missed, and makes Jaguar look as if it is not ready to face the new world that is beginning to loom large.

So, what you get is an extra 20 bhp over the Jaguar S-Type R, but in a car weighing about 50 lb (22 kg) more – at over 4,000 lb (1,816 kg). As a result of this excessive weight, the performance is slightly inferior to that of the much bigger XJR, which is much lighter owing to the aluminum body.

Hardly progress, except that the car looks great, and will no doubt seduce people in the showrooms. the Jaguar XF certainly looks sporty, but is actually slightly higher than the old S-Type, and is otherwise about the same size.

As with the S-Type, there is a whole range of models, but we're only really interested in the SV8 as the 420 bhp supercharged model is called. It is quick, but nothing like as quick as if it weighed 3,600 lb (1,635 kg).

It does have some natty interior controls and lighting, though.

Hyundai and Kia coupe concepts

Both Hyundai and Kia – Kia is now owned by Hyundai – have just shown sporty concept cars. Hyundai's Veloster is one more in a series of concepts designed to show the world that the company can produce really sporty cars.

Of course, Hyundai does produce the Tiburon (Coupe in Europe) which is not a bad front-driver, but not what the two companies are after. Watch out for them nibbling at the mass-produced sports car market soon.