With word that Lamborghini is to apply the Superleggera treatment (less weight, more power, stratospheric price tag) to the brawny 477 kW Murciélago LP640, it begs the question, how much further can supercar manufacturers push the boundaries of their already outrageously fast products?With word that Lamborghini is to apply the Superleggera treatment (less weight, more power, stratospheric price tag) to the brawny 477 kW Murciélago LP640, it begs the question, how much further can supercar manufacturers push the boundaries of their already outrageously fast products?
The world of supercars has become a veritable arms race is the quest for more power and greater speeds and it had to spark from the appearance of a car that would stand up to the major players in the supercar industry and look them square in the eye whilst goadingly mouthing the words “come on then!”
To many – myself included – this car was the McLaren F1, a 386 km/h challenge to the rest of the supercar establishment and the laws of physics. It broke onto the scene in 1992 and, more than 15 years later, it continues to be drawn into comparisons with the likes of the Ferrari Enzo.
Every prizefighter, however, has to be usurped and the iconic F1 had to make way for the Bugatti Veyron. The first production car to break the seemingly unattainable 250 mph (402 km/h) and 1000 hp (746 kW) barriers, it exists on the boundaries of what a car can do – as Top Gear’s James May showed us during his 407 km/h blast in the Bug, the tyres disintegrate after 15 minutes at top speed and the fuel runs out after just 12 minutes.
The quest to overcome the forces and temperatures that held both the Veyron and the F1 back from their titanic achievements saw the one car put McLaren on the map and the other turn into one of the most costly projects in the history of the Volkswagen Group. So, where does the supercar go now? Yes, some manufacturers are trying to run their outlandish creations on biofuel in a quest to quell those well-heeled enthusiasts with a conscience, but are economy and environmental friendliness really the hallmarks of a supercar?
It boils down to why such cars come to be in the first place – outright speed and power. Apart from the pub bragging rights and occasional blast around a track, is there really a need for more power and speed? Short of stripping a supercar car down to its bare bones and strapping an Acme rocket to the roof, can the likes of the Veyron be surpassed and will anyone care if it is?