Hybrid

The world is about to get another hypercar, and this one looks fit for a superhero.

Rodin Cars just announced that its track-only monster, the FZero, is officially going into production. The company isn’t trying to temper expectations for its follow-up to the open-wheel FZed, either. It says it’s aiming to create the “fastest car around track, without exception.”

Three years after first teasing the vehicle, Rodin feels its “no-limit” hypercar is finally ready for its moment. It will be interesting to see how the car turns out, because the company is certainly promising a lot. Its hybrid powertrain consists of a “revolutionary” 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-10 aided by an electric motor. Ricardo says the bespoke setup will be able to pump out a total of 1,160 horses and 757 ft lbs of twist. Thanks to all that grunt, the car will be able to hit a top speed in excess of 224 mph.

The FZero’s 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-10 

Rodin Cars

Just as outlandish as the car’s claimed performance is its design. We’ve described cars as looking like the Batmobile before, but this is especially true of the FZero. Its black and gold color scheme, bubble cockpit, giant fenders and even bigger rear wing give it the look of something the Caped Crusader could have driven in one of Tim Burton’s two Batman films. The design, as outlandish as it may be, serves a purpose. The vehicle was shaped to be as aerodynamic as possible and will help produce a claimed 8,818 pounds of downforce.
The FZero will also be extremely large. The car stretches over 18 feet bumper to bumper and is 7.2 feet wide. Despite this, it’s got a very low profile, with its highest point just 3.7. feet above the ground. Somehow, it will also be a true lightweight, tipping the scales at just 1,539 pounds. Even for a track-only beast that features copious amounts of carbon fiber, that’s feather light.

Rodin Cars

“The Rodin FZERO is the physical representation of the ultimate heights in vehicle performance. Without the restrictions of building to a set of rules, we are able to make the car lighter, more powerful, and produce significantly more downforce,” founder David Dicker said in a statement. “The only real restrictions we face are the laws of physics, and we have even pushed those to the absolute limit. We look forward to bringing the most intense driving experience conceivable to tracks around the world.”

Rodin has said the first FZero will roll off the line next summer. No price has been announced for the vehicle, but we expect it will be steep, especially since the speed machine will be limited to just 27 examples. There are also reports that a road version is in the works as well. Stay tuned.
Click here to see all of the photos of the Rodin Cars FZero.

Rodin Cars

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McLaren averts banality by sticking to supercar essentials: carbon fiber monocoques, scissor doors and absolutely no SUVs. The brand’s latest supercar showoff-move is the Artura Trophy race car, a competition-focused machine that’s already the second race-car spinoff from the newly introduced Artura hybrid.

On the heels of the 720S GT3, Artura GT4, and soon-to-be-discontinued 570S GT4, this latest racer takes a fine disregard to performance-choking BoP (Balance of Power) regulations, which are racing organizations’ ways of leveling the playing field by capping the power and aerodynamics setups of different manufacturers. By building a one-make race series around the Artura, McLaren is able to play by its own rules and set up their race cars as they desire. In a way, the race version is uncorked—but ironically, it starts life as a GT4-spec Artura, which has been stripped of its hybrid hardware in order to adhere to GT4 rules. 

McLaren Artura Trophy Race Car 

McLaren Automotive

In Trophy form, the Artura’s twin-turbo V-6 produces 577 hp. Alleviated from its hybrid hardware, the drivetrain is down on power compared to the road car’s 671 hp. But freed from the BoP ballast weight intended to keep competitors on even ground, the lighter racer adds an enhanced aerodynamic package with a high-downforce wing that should enable greater cornering speeds.
Would-be Pro-Am racers can take on the competition in the McLaren Trophy Championship, which will support the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe series in 2023 at events including the Spa 24 Hours. Among McLaren’s selling points is a concierge service that enables a seamless process of hotel bookings and transfers, and a paddock race center inspired by the company’s Formula 1 efforts with baked-in space for entertaining friends, family, sponsors and team managers. McLaren says the Artura’s engine-management system and aerodynamic package are easily converted to GT4 specification without purchasing a new race car, yet another selling point for racers seeking to make a small fortune from a big one.

Hyundai thinks the past can help inform its high-performance future.

The South Korean marque’s performance-oriented N sub-brand showed off a bold new concept called the N Vision 74 on Friday. Although the vehicle has a retrofuturist design based on a car that’s nearly five decades old, its hydrogen fuel cell powertrain is as forward-thinking as they come.

Even with five-plus months to go, it seems safe to say that the N Vision 74 will be one of the best-looking concepts of 2022. The sporty two-door has a look heavily inspired by the Pony Coupe concept from 1974. That prototype, which never went into production, was designed by the legendary Giorgetto Guigiaro, who was responsible for the BMW M1, the Lotus Esprit S1 and, most famously of all, the DMC DeLorean. The new concept isn’t as boxy as its predecessor—it has large rounded fenders over each wheel—but they share the same angular profile. The car also features a pixel light package, giant rear wing and disc wheels.

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Large fenders and a wing aren’t the only thing that separate the new concept from the Pony Coupe. It also swaps out its internal-combustion engine for a hybrid setup that pairs a hydrogen fuel cell with a 62.4-kWh battery connected to two electric motors, one of which is mounted on each rear wheel. Hyundai says the new powertrain will be able to pump out 671 hp and 664 ft lbs of torque. It will also be able to push the car to a top speed in excess of 155 mph, while boasting an impressive range of over 373 miles.
While the N Vision 74 may have grabbed all the headlines this weekend, it wasn’t the only peek Hyundai offered of its high-performance future. The company also unveiled the RN22e. The prototype is based on the Ioniq 6 sedan, but features the same all-electric powertrain that can be found in the Kia EV6 GT. The all-wheel-drive setup is expected to generate 577 hp and 546 ft lbs of torque.

The Hyundai Hyundai N Vision 74 (left) and RN22e concepts (right) 

Hyundai

“RN22e and N Vision 74 play an important role in the strategic development of our entire product lineup, especially our electrified, high-performance vehicles,” Thomas Schemera, executive vice president and head of the Customer Experience division at Hyundai, said in a statement. “Rolling labs represent the continuous development of our most advanced technologies. This unique approach makes us ready for the challenges of the future by empowering us to push ourselves to the limit.”
Since both cars have been explicitly labeled concepts, it’s unclear if either will ever go into production. There is a chance the RN22e may offer a direct peek of the Ioniq 6 N that is rumored to debut next year. Unfortunately, the chances of the N Vision 74 becoming a reality seem slimmer. Still, since Hyundai has also referred to the vehicles as “rolling labs” we feel pretty confident that elements from both will filter out into the marque’s production models at some point.

Click here to see all the photos of the Hyundai N Vision 74 concept.

The Hyundai N Vision 74 in Photos 

Hyundai

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Cadillac’s upcoming LMDh race car doesn’t just look cool. It sounds it, too.

The luxury marque has just released a brief video in which you can hear the roar of the V-8 on its new Project GTP Hypercar. And the sound emanating from the revving mill may have made us even more excited about the Batmobile-esque racer than we already were.
The clip runs just 10 seconds long and would appear to have been shot during the vehicle’s first session of track testing last week. You can barely see the car, but you can sure hear it as it zooms in and out of the frame. As short as the recording may be, there is one thing that comes through loud and clear: This V-8 sounds a lot different from one found in Chevrolet C8.R race car.

With the first successful track test under its belt, you’ll be hearing more of the 2023 Cadillac race car’s engine soon. Stay tuned. @FIAWEC @IMSA #CadillacRacing #BEICONIC pic.twitter.com/uLz33jF8cm
— Cadillac Performance (@CadillacVSeries) July 12, 2022

We know that Cadillac’s racer will be powered by an all-new 5.5-liter DOHC V-8 paired to the LMDh hybrid system, but that’s about it. Now, though, we feel pretty safe in saying the mill won’t feature a flat-plane crank shaft unlike the one found in the C8.R. The sound in the clip lacks that trademark crackle, one you’ve undoubtably heard from a Ferrari or two. Instead, the Project GTP Hypercar’s engine, as Road & Track points out, sounds much more like a classic American V-8 with a cross-plane crank. And because it can rev up to 10,000 rpm, it still sounds pretty sweet.
Thankfully, we shouldn’t have to wait too much longer to see (and hear) the finished product. Cadillac has been very clear that it intends to race the Project GTP Hypercar in World Endurance Championship next year. It’s currently set to make its debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.

It’s no longer a question of if a hybrid Porsche 911 is coming, but when.

The answer might be pretty soon if a new video from YouTuber Automotive Mike is any hint. The clip, which was uploaded to YouTube this weekend, shows what is believed to be the 911 hybrid prototype undergoing testing at Germany’s legendary Nürburgring race track.
In the video, you can see the lightly camouflaged 911 getting a run out. We don’t know what kind of speeds it was able to hit, but it looks to be traveling at a pretty decent clip. The footage also offers a peek of some potential body modifications, including a dual-exhaust system in the back and an all-new front bumper that appears to have active aero elements.

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Porsche did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nothing in the video comes as a complete shock, of course. Earlier this year, Porsche Italia’s Pietro Innocenti confirmed that a hybrid 911 was on its way. Although he wouldn’t say when exactly it would arrive, he did say it could be before 2024. And last November, footage surfaced showing a similar prototype undergoing testing at the Nürburgring.
While purists may find the idea of a hybrid 911 dismaying—some still haven’t gotten over the introduction of a water-cooled engine back in 1998—Porsche has already shown it can build a successful hybrid, like the Panamera and Cayenne. The brand has made clear that a potential electrified 911, which would likely be called the Turbo-E Hybrid, would prioritize performance over efficiency.
Although the hybrid may be here soon, a fully electric 911 isn’t on the horizon at this point. Back in 2020, CEO Oliver Blume said that the 911 is a “car prepared for internal combustion engines, and it’s not useful to combine it with pure electric mobility.” So, for now, sports car converts to the electric revolution will have to stick to the popular Taycan if they want to remain loyal to Porsche.

Surely, the thinking always went, a Ferrari that rolled off the line with a V-6 engine, a power plant common in Camrys and Kias, would signal the end times for Maranello. Yet the 819 hp Ferrari 296 Gran Turismo Berlinetta (GTB)—not just the marque’s first V-6-powered production car, but a plug-in hybrid V-6 production car—is a cracking start to a new age. More than that, it’s a revelation, and not only because of the way it inhales sections of track like a far heavier-breathing beast.

Ferrari built its early legacy on cars with 12-cylinder bravado up front, but it’s had great motorsport success placing a V-6 behind the cockpit, introduced with the Targa Florio–winning 246 SP in 1961; that same year, Ferrari took the Formula 1 Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships with the six-cylinder 156 “Sharknose.” (Then, of course, there was the road-going Dino, which debuted in 1967 with a 2.0-liter V-6 making 178 hp, but those cars were never officially branded with the Prancing Horse badge until the later eight-cylinder versions.)

Hybrid? Yes. V-6? Yes. Crazy Ferrari performance? Oh yes. 

Lorenzo Marcinno

As with many of Ferrari’s motorsport champions, the 296 GTB enjoys the stability and balance of a mid-rear-engine layout. Its twin turbochargers are nestled in the 120-degree gap between cylinder banks with the exhaust sitting on top, a “hot-vee” configuration that cuts weight, lowers the center of gravity and improves output. The 165 hp electric motor ( juiced by a 7.5 kwh battery) sits between the engine and the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission; with the 654 hp from the 2.9-liter mill, total output is 109 hp more than the F8 Tributo. And with a $318,000 price tag that runs roughly $40K above that car, the 296 GTB is certainly no entry-level model. Nor is it some transitional footnote in the interregnum between mechanical and all-electric—not when Cristiano Pompucci, Ferrari 296 GTB Power Train Project lead, refers to it as “the next chapter in the history of our sports berlinettas.”
Of course, the automaker had some unasked-for help writing this particular chapter, with Pompucci acknowledging that the car was a direct response to Europe’s newest emissions regulations. But quash any thoughts of compromise, or the 296 GTB will quash them for you.

The 3,241-pound (dry weight) model is among the nimblest in Ferrari’s stable, with balletic handling owed in large part to the 102.3-inch wheelbase, shortest in the current lineup. The hybrid system’s continuous power delivery erases turbo lag and allows the six-shooter to fire from zero to 60 mph in an estimated 2.9 seconds, devouring the main straight of Spain’s Monteblanco Circuit along the way. Engaging the brake-by-wire system—the hefty calipers are shared by the SF90 Stradale—in conjunction with the new ABS Evo assist and Ferrari’s six-way Chassis Dynamic Sensor brings the machine from 124 mph to a standstill in 351 feet, besting the lighter F8 by nearly 33 feet. Along with the active rear spoiler, which deploys for up to 220 additional pounds of downforce, this makes the 2.76-mile circuit’s hairpins far less hairy.

A closer look at the Ferrari 296 Gran Turismo Berlinetta. 

Lorenzo Marcinno

Off the track, while exploring the countryside outside Seville, the GTB demonstrates its grand-touring prowess. It’s here that the eDrive and Hybrid modes excel. Accelerating from a stoplight under full electric power, I pass a small funeral procession making its way down a side street. The car is respectful in its silence, with the ability to remain decoupled from the engine for 15 miles. Less impressive: the interior’s underwhelming JBL sound system, lacking the souped-up audio of some other OEM-supplied setups, and the diminutive infotainment screen, both of which feel uninspired. And traditionalists will surely bristle at the all-digital dash, though it suits the vehicle’s nod to the future and I for one am thankful for the head-up display.
No matter how great the car, the biggest hurdle Ferrari may need to clear is the perception that its latest release is the result of procrastination, with the marque having vacillated on its messaging regarding pure EVs. One Ferrarista, who owns the 458 and F8, worries that despite its claimed 2025 target date, “Ferrari will hit late in the all-electric fight and get a black eye.” But this model is a demonstration of what the automaker can do in spite of restrictions, not because of them. And with its ferocious performance, beautiful proportions and grand-touring comfort, the 296 GTB feels like Enzo himself saying, “Bring it on.”

The Chevrolet C8 Corvette is going electric.

General Motors President Mark Reuss announced that a battery-powered ‘Vette is in the works during an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Monday morning. While he wasn’t ready to say when the EV will arrive just yet, he did reveal that a hybrid version of the sports car will hit roads next year.
Following his appearance on the show, Reuss took to LinkedIn to confirm the news about the electrified sports car, which many believe will be called the E-Ray. “Yes, in addition to the amazing new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and other gas-powered variants coming, we will offer an electrified and a fully electric, Ultium-based Corvette in the future,” the executive wrote. “In fact, we will offer an electrified [hybrid] Corvette as early as next year. Details and names to come at a later date.”

A prototype of the Chevrolet C8 Corvette hybrid 

Cheverolet/YouTube

Although we’ll have to wait for those details, anticipation for any electrified Corvette is certain to be intense, and the notion has already set off plenty of speculation. Last summer, an unconfirmed report suggested that a hybrid Corvette could pair the Stingray’s 6.2-liter LT2 V-8 with an “e-booster” electric motor that would increase the horsepower from an already impressive 490 hp to around 650 hp. That article was dropped before the debut of the Z06 and its 670 hp flat-plane crank LT6 V-8, though, so it’s possible a hybrid variant could be even more powerful. A video shown during Reuss’s announcement, which depicts the hybrid undergoing cold weather testing, all but confirms that the electrified ‘Vettes will have all-wheel-drive, which would be a first for the vehicle.
We’re sure there are some purists who will be concerned about what Monday’s announcement means for the Corvette’s beloved V-8. For the time being, at least, gas-powered ‘Vettes—like the Z06, which has yet to go into production—aren’t going anywhere. Reuss made clear that GM intends to keep producing Corvettes with internal combustions alongside those with electrified and fully electric powertrains. The end of the line is nearing for the gas-powered mill, though. Last year, GM announced it would phase out all gas- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035.
For the near future, however, Corvette enthusiasts will three different kinds of engine setups to choose from.

Aston Martin announced it was reviving the iconic Vanquish nameplate in 2019. Details regarding the next-gen supercar have since been few and far between, but we now have some powerful new info about the mill.

The lean, mean, mid-engined machine, which sits below the Valhalla and the Valkyrie in the Aston Martin lineup, was originally supposed to be powered by an in-house 4.0 liter V-6. But it appears that plan has changed. It’ll now be equipped with Mercedes-AMG’s menacing twin-turbo V-8, just like its two high-powered brethren, Autocar reports. (Aston Martin did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Robb Report regarding the powertrain.)

The Valhalla’s hardcore V-8 comes from the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series, whereas the Vanquish’s V-8 will likely be in the same state of tune as the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance. That’s nothing to sneeze at, though. The combustion engine is said to churn out about 630 hp.

Mercedes-AMG’s menacing twin-turbo V-8. 

Mercedes-AMG

The V-8 will be the beating heart of a new plug-in hybrid setup that will also comprise an electric motor. Altogether, you can expect a total output of 831 horses in the new Vanquish. By comparison, the Valhalla is good for 937 hp while the Valkyrie produces a staggering 1,160 horses.

The Vanquish Vision is expected to have a total output of 831 horses. 

Aston Martin

The company has already confirmed hybridization across all of its platforms by 2025. The new hybrid, which certainly rivals today’s most powerful supercars for outright potency, will be competing against the Ferrari 296 GTB and McLaren Artura.
Aston Martin will compete against itself, too. The road-ready Vanquish will likely spur on a track-only twin geared toward one-make global racing series. Who knows, even more horsepower could be on the cards.

The Vanquish’s official reveal is scheduled for 2023. 

Aston Martin

The mill might not be the only change to the Vanquish, either. Aston Martin’s chairman Lawrence Stroll told Autocar the model will likely get a fresh name in place of the Vanquish Vision. Furthermore, the current bodywork will probably need to be tweaked to support a bigger engine.
Unfortunately, it’s going to be a while until we see the finished product. The Vanquish’s official reveal is scheduled to take place late next year, with customer deliveries slated for 2025.