Petrolheads the world over know what a Zonda is. The Mercedes-powered supercar from small-scale supercar maker Pagani is the stuff of dreams and endless bar chatter. And now we have a new model from Pagani to fantasize about, the Huayra. Admittedly this new name does not roll off the tongue, but if history is anything to go by the Huayra's performance will be breathtaking. Incidentally, Huyara refers to a South American God of Wind.
The design of the Huayra is a clear departure from the sleek and rakish Zonda that it replaces and some may not like the look of the front end, but overall the car is certainly striking. Adding to the visual drama are "gullwing" doors a la Mercedes SLS. There are a myriad of air-vents all around the body to aid with cooling and downforce, and the Huayra has no rear wing. The Huayra is based on an all-new carbon-titanium monocoque. Semi-chrome-moly frames provide anchor points for the front and rear suspension and the overall mass of the new car is a scant 1 350 kg.
Visual drama coninues in the cabin. Extensive use of leather for the seats and trim is offset by exposed metal and carbon-fibre detailing. Instruments are backlit in a light blue hue and a touchscreen interface handles audio, satellite navigation and Bluetooth connectivity.
As before power is provided by a Mercedes-Benz sourced V12 engine. However, this time around the 6,0-litre powerplant is force-fed by twin-turbos to produce 522 kW and a whopping 1 000 N.m of torque. Power is transferred to the rear wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox developed by transmission specialists Xtrac. Steering wheel-mounted paddles ensure that the driver never needs lets go of the steering wheel to affect gearchanges.
Pagani is yet to release any performance data on the new car, but hinted that it can achieve lateral forces of 1,5 G and that top speed will exceed 370 km/h.