drive
Ultima Evolution ready to race
The Ultima Evolution boasts over 1,000bhp per tonne. – AFP/Relaxnews pic, April 10, 2015.The Ultima Evolution offers 1,020bhp on tap and a racing pedigree, yet is lighter than a Bugatti Veyron and 10 times cheaper.
Revealed this week, the Evolution is the newest model from British sportscar manufacturer Ultima, a firm that my not have the highest profile but nevertheless has been building highly competitive, serious road-legal and FIA-compliant race cars for nearly two decades.
Tipping the scales at just 950kg, the car is not just half the weight of a Bugatti Veyron; it's lighter than pretty much any car out there that can claim membership to the 200mph club.
Propelling the car into that very special club is a Chevrolet-sourced, 6.8-litre V8 engine to which the company has attached a supercharger to boost power to 1,020bhp. And, because it weighs so little the Ultima boasts a power-to-weight ratio of 1,050bph per tonne.
In comparison, the original Bugatti Veyron's ratio worked out at 523bhp per ton thanks to a 1888kg kerb weight and a 987bhp 16-cylinder engine.
The Ultima's power-to-weight ratio translates into a road-legal 0-100km/h time of 2.3 seconds, a 0-160kph time of 4.9 seconds, a 0-240kph time of 8.9 seconds and flat out the car can hit 386kph.
The Veyron needs 2.46 seconds to go from 0-100kph and even the updated Super Sport model, which has a bigger, 1148bhp engine, only shaves 0.26 seconds off that time. However, with a top speed of 431kph, the Bugatti comprehensively beats not just the Ultima but every road-legal production car ever made.
However, the Ultima still has one trick left up its sleeve. Its makers claim that it can cover 402m in 9.2 seconds, hitting a top speed of 251kph in the process. If those figures can be independently verified, then that would be a new world record for a road-legal production car.
The Ultima is available as both a hard-top coupe and as an open-top roadster. And, despite being a very track-focused car there are several surprisingly practical features.
The Ultima, priced from £95,000 (RM509,252), can be specified with parking sensors, a reversing camera, Bluetooth connection, Sat Nav, an Alpine stereo and heated rear windscreen. However, don't expect to be able to pick from 22 different graduated shades of leather or a host of exotic wood veneers when ordering one – this is a vehicle for adrenaline junkies rather than those obsessed with creature comforts.
And for the ultimate sense of adventure, the Ultima can be ordered as a kit that you can complete yourself, as well as a factory-built model. – AFP/Relaxnews, April 10, 2015.
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