Speeders’ Dozen: The Top 13 Frankfurt Supercar Debuts - Gallery
Greenies be damned! Supercars have their day at the Frankfurt auto show.
BY STEVE SILER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE DUSHANE, MATTHIAS KNÖDLER, AND THE MANUFACTURERS
September 2009
CarandDriver.com
The biennial auto show in Frankfurt, Germany, is known for the debuts of many of the world’s most significant automobiles. However, it is not known for gathering the world’s most exotic supercars—that segment has long been Geneva’s specialty. But for some reason, Frankfurt 2009 saw the launch of some pretty super cars this year. And here we have rounded up our favorite 13. Consider them the “speeders’ dozen.”
__________________________________________________________________________________
2011 Aston Martin Rapide
Perhaps no supercar builder garners such universal praise for the sheer gorgeousness of its products as Aston Martin, and its new Rapide four-door (technically a five-door) proves that Aston’s particular brand of sexy is indeed scalable. Built on the same VH platform as the celebrated DB9, DBS, and Vantage, it is similarly well endowed under the long, vented hood, thanks to its 470-hp, 5.9-liter V-12 that produces 443 lb-ft of torque. The four-seat interior is easily Aston’s best, but don’t expect much change from your quarter-million-dollar bill when deliveries of the 188-mph sedan commence in early 2010.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Audi E-Tron Concept
Audi becomes the latest manufacturer to realize the benefit of electrification not just for fuel economy, but for performance, with its E-Tron concept. It is a low-slung R8-ish sports car that ditches internal combustion in favor of a mid-mounted lithium-ion battery pack and four separate electric motors—one for each wheel. Batteries are heavy, but Audi’s skillful use of weight-reducing technologies, including carbon fiber and aluminum for the space frame and carbon fiber for the body panels, allows the E-Tron’s battery power to vault it to 60 mph in less than five seconds and helps give it a max range of 154 miles on a charge. Of course, being an Audi, the E-Tron is beautifully designed inside and out. Officially a concept with little chance of production, the E-Tron portends the future of the electric performance car, a viable and vibrant idea that heretofore few people expected could ever happen. Juice, anyone?
__________________________________________________________________________________
2011 Audi R8 Spyder
The V-10–powered R8 5.2 FSI coupe has just now been introduced, and, frankly, it’s pretty much impossible to improve. Well, now we see that Audi can do supercars with both closed and open roofs. The R8 spyder loses more than its top, however. Also gone are the contrasting side blades aft of the doors, as well as the glass-topped engine bay. In their place are a buttressed fabric top, cool engine vents streaking back from the headrests, and perfect roadster proportions. Make ours red. Or black. Or brown. It doesn’t matter.
__________________________________________________________________________________
BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept
Like Audi and its E-Tron, BMW is showing the world that green cars can be fast and fetching. Wrapped in Star Wars storm-trooper-chic body panels, the Vision EfficientDynamics concept works like the plug-in hybrid Fisker Karma, only unlike the slippery Karma, this German greenie looks as though it would rather eat Priuses than hold hands with them and sing “Kumbaya.” With transparent swan-wing doors, the Vision EfficientDynamics allows the world outside to see everything going on inside. What can’t be seen, however, are the three electric motors (one at each front wheel and another helping the mid-mounted three-cylinder diesel) credited with helping achieve an estimated 63 mpg and a 0-to-60-mph time of fewer than five seconds.
__________________________________________________________________________________
GT by Citroën
If it looks like something out of a video game, that’s because it is something out of a video game. The “GT by Citroën” was originally designed as one of the stars of the PlayStation 3 racing game Gran Turismo 5, and then someone got the cockamamie idea to actually produce the thing for sale to, well, whoever might be willing to part with $2.1 million for it. The GT by Citroën is extreme in every conceivable way: extremely rare (just six will be built); extremely styled (making the Lamborghini Reventón look like a Chevette), and more controversial than Obama’s health-care plan. No one knows what will be under the hood yet, but you can bet it will be extremely powerful. Gentlemen, start your dreaming.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Ferrari 458 Italia
Although the official announcement of Ferrari’s spectacular 458 Italia happened several weeks before, the Frankfurt auto show represented the first time most of us got a chance to take a close look at the successor to Ferrari’s highly celebrated F430 sports car. With 4.5 liters spread over eight cylinders (hence the 458 name), the slinky Italia has only 0.2-liter-more displacement but makes a whole bunch more power than its predecessor—87 hp and 55 lb-ft of torque, for totals of 570 hp and 398 lb-ft. The Italia’s Pininfarina-penned styling has stirred up a fair bit of controversy, but it is inarguably exotic and thoroughly new school—nothing retro here. Expect 0 to 60 in the low-three-second range, with a top speed of 202 mph.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Lamborghini Reventón Roadster
What makes a Lamborghini Murciélago roadster worth three times its $450,000 asking price? Stealth-fighter styling that, on any given public street, would be anything but stealthy. Truly, the $1.6 million Reventón roadster—the topless follow-up act to the $1.4 million Reventón coupe, launched exactly two years prior at the 2007 Frankfurt show—is a bona fide feast for the eyes that is extreme even by Lamborghini standards. And with 661 hp available from its mid-mounted, 6.5-liter V-12—visible under transparent engine cover panels, of course—the Reventón roadster backs up its crazy looks with crazy performance. Indeed, it is Lamborghini at its very best: extravagant, expensive, and in every way excessive. This car is pure automotive fantasy, and we want one.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Maserati GranCabrio
Some cars at the Frankfurt auto show were surprises. Others, such as the long-awaited topless version of the elegant Maserati GranTurismo, inelegantly named GranCabrio, were as predictable as a white Christmas at the North Pole. Now, while the four-seat ragtop doesn’t fit the traditional supercar definition the same way that, say, the Ferrari 458 Italia does, our salivary glands suggest otherwise. Besides, with 433 hp available from Maserati’s symphonic 4.7-liter V-8, the GranCabrio should embarrass absolutely no one in the performance department. Nor will its $150K estimated price make it in any way attainable by the bourgeoisie except by inheritance. But in reality, none of those figures matter any more than Angelina Jolie’s intelligence quotient; it’s sheer beauty that makes the GranCabrio a supercar in our book.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
Easily the most anticipated supercar debut at Frankfurt—heck, probably the most anticipated debut of the show, period—was that of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, a follow-up to the legendary 300SL Gullwing that has been some 50 years in the making. Taking on the same long-nose, sloping-deck proportions as the vaunted original, the 2011 SLS AMG goes its own way from there: It is much larger, far more feature-laden and, with 563 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque, way faster than the comparatively wispy original. Indeed, by most measures, the SLS AMG is a superior car, though truly great will the challenge be for it to match the stuff-of-legends cult status of the first Gullwing. We’ll find out if it has the chops when it arrives Stateside early next year with an estimated $175K price.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Porsche 911 Turbo
Oh, how many times we have written this headline before: “Porsche has introduced its latest, greatest, and fastest-ever 911 Turbo.” This time around, “latest, greatest, and fastest” means that the Turbo adopts the improvements of the refreshed 997-generation Carrera, as well as a bigger and even more powerful turbocharged flat-six engine, which now pumps out a nice, round 500 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque (516 lb-ft with the optional Sport Chrono package). Thus equipped, the new Turbo is said to hit 60 in a blistering 3.2 seconds en route to a 194-mph top speed—some pretty super numbers even among supercars. Porsche’s engineers sure seem to do a lot of work for the same old praise, but may we write this story again and again.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Porsche produces enough 911 variants to give the model its own family tree, and in that tree the insanity bough is definitely the GT3. Founded upon a rear-wheel-drive, naturally aspirated 911 powertrain, the GT3 spins its 3.8-liter flat-six to an astounding 8500 rpm and knocks off 435 hp along the way. A little farther out on that branch is the GT3 RS, which sheds a bunch of weight, gets more effective aerodynamic aids, grows a little wider between the wheels, bulks up in the engine room—to 450 hp—and is decked out in a garish paint scheme that only a Porsche purist could love. If there was any doubt about the car’s focus, it is erased by the gorgeous integrated roll cage that, sadly, will be regulated out of cars bound for the U.S. We’re just grateful that such a car is allowed here at all.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
The Porsche street-car hierarchy reaches its pinnacle with the GT3 RS, but Stuttgart sees no reason to cease improvements at that point. The GT3 Cup is a dissertation on more: more power, more aero, more weight reduction. And yes, we realize that weight reduction is more of a “less,” but that just proves our point. Still with us? The GT3 Cup is a track-only car with no pretense of street civility, which in some ways makes it the most 911 available at any cost. Price tag, too, is a case of more: about $213,000 in Europe, although U.S. pricing has yet to be finalized.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic
Silly us. Reporting on the GT3 RS, the second 911 to be announced for the Frankfurt show, we wrote that “Porsche is setting up a killer one-two punch.” It turned out to be not so much a mere one-two punch, but more of a Rampage Jackson beat-down: The 911 Sport Classic was the fourth 911 to be announced in Frankfurt, or fifth if you count the 911 Turbo coupe and cabrio as separate for inflationary purposes. Based on the rear-wheel-drive Carrera S—but with the wider rear bodywork of the Carrera 4—the Sport Classic flaunts a new double-bubble roof, unique fascias front and rear, and classical cues like the ducktail spoiler and Fuchs-inspired wheels. The pricing will be thoroughly modern, as the Sport Classic tops the 911 range at more than $200,000.
Greenies be damned! Supercars have their day at the Frankfurt auto show.
BY STEVE SILER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE DUSHANE, MATTHIAS KNÖDLER, AND THE MANUFACTURERS
September 2009
CarandDriver.com
The biennial auto show in Frankfurt, Germany, is known for the debuts of many of the world’s most significant automobiles. However, it is not known for gathering the world’s most exotic supercars—that segment has long been Geneva’s specialty. But for some reason, Frankfurt 2009 saw the launch of some pretty super cars this year. And here we have rounded up our favorite 13. Consider them the “speeders’ dozen.”
__________________________________________________________________________________
2011 Aston Martin Rapide
Perhaps no supercar builder garners such universal praise for the sheer gorgeousness of its products as Aston Martin, and its new Rapide four-door (technically a five-door) proves that Aston’s particular brand of sexy is indeed scalable. Built on the same VH platform as the celebrated DB9, DBS, and Vantage, it is similarly well endowed under the long, vented hood, thanks to its 470-hp, 5.9-liter V-12 that produces 443 lb-ft of torque. The four-seat interior is easily Aston’s best, but don’t expect much change from your quarter-million-dollar bill when deliveries of the 188-mph sedan commence in early 2010.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Audi E-Tron Concept
Audi becomes the latest manufacturer to realize the benefit of electrification not just for fuel economy, but for performance, with its E-Tron concept. It is a low-slung R8-ish sports car that ditches internal combustion in favor of a mid-mounted lithium-ion battery pack and four separate electric motors—one for each wheel. Batteries are heavy, but Audi’s skillful use of weight-reducing technologies, including carbon fiber and aluminum for the space frame and carbon fiber for the body panels, allows the E-Tron’s battery power to vault it to 60 mph in less than five seconds and helps give it a max range of 154 miles on a charge. Of course, being an Audi, the E-Tron is beautifully designed inside and out. Officially a concept with little chance of production, the E-Tron portends the future of the electric performance car, a viable and vibrant idea that heretofore few people expected could ever happen. Juice, anyone?
__________________________________________________________________________________
2011 Audi R8 Spyder
The V-10–powered R8 5.2 FSI coupe has just now been introduced, and, frankly, it’s pretty much impossible to improve. Well, now we see that Audi can do supercars with both closed and open roofs. The R8 spyder loses more than its top, however. Also gone are the contrasting side blades aft of the doors, as well as the glass-topped engine bay. In their place are a buttressed fabric top, cool engine vents streaking back from the headrests, and perfect roadster proportions. Make ours red. Or black. Or brown. It doesn’t matter.
__________________________________________________________________________________
BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept
Like Audi and its E-Tron, BMW is showing the world that green cars can be fast and fetching. Wrapped in Star Wars storm-trooper-chic body panels, the Vision EfficientDynamics concept works like the plug-in hybrid Fisker Karma, only unlike the slippery Karma, this German greenie looks as though it would rather eat Priuses than hold hands with them and sing “Kumbaya.” With transparent swan-wing doors, the Vision EfficientDynamics allows the world outside to see everything going on inside. What can’t be seen, however, are the three electric motors (one at each front wheel and another helping the mid-mounted three-cylinder diesel) credited with helping achieve an estimated 63 mpg and a 0-to-60-mph time of fewer than five seconds.
__________________________________________________________________________________
GT by Citroën
If it looks like something out of a video game, that’s because it is something out of a video game. The “GT by Citroën” was originally designed as one of the stars of the PlayStation 3 racing game Gran Turismo 5, and then someone got the cockamamie idea to actually produce the thing for sale to, well, whoever might be willing to part with $2.1 million for it. The GT by Citroën is extreme in every conceivable way: extremely rare (just six will be built); extremely styled (making the Lamborghini Reventón look like a Chevette), and more controversial than Obama’s health-care plan. No one knows what will be under the hood yet, but you can bet it will be extremely powerful. Gentlemen, start your dreaming.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Ferrari 458 Italia
Although the official announcement of Ferrari’s spectacular 458 Italia happened several weeks before, the Frankfurt auto show represented the first time most of us got a chance to take a close look at the successor to Ferrari’s highly celebrated F430 sports car. With 4.5 liters spread over eight cylinders (hence the 458 name), the slinky Italia has only 0.2-liter-more displacement but makes a whole bunch more power than its predecessor—87 hp and 55 lb-ft of torque, for totals of 570 hp and 398 lb-ft. The Italia’s Pininfarina-penned styling has stirred up a fair bit of controversy, but it is inarguably exotic and thoroughly new school—nothing retro here. Expect 0 to 60 in the low-three-second range, with a top speed of 202 mph.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Lamborghini Reventón Roadster
What makes a Lamborghini Murciélago roadster worth three times its $450,000 asking price? Stealth-fighter styling that, on any given public street, would be anything but stealthy. Truly, the $1.6 million Reventón roadster—the topless follow-up act to the $1.4 million Reventón coupe, launched exactly two years prior at the 2007 Frankfurt show—is a bona fide feast for the eyes that is extreme even by Lamborghini standards. And with 661 hp available from its mid-mounted, 6.5-liter V-12—visible under transparent engine cover panels, of course—the Reventón roadster backs up its crazy looks with crazy performance. Indeed, it is Lamborghini at its very best: extravagant, expensive, and in every way excessive. This car is pure automotive fantasy, and we want one.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Maserati GranCabrio
Some cars at the Frankfurt auto show were surprises. Others, such as the long-awaited topless version of the elegant Maserati GranTurismo, inelegantly named GranCabrio, were as predictable as a white Christmas at the North Pole. Now, while the four-seat ragtop doesn’t fit the traditional supercar definition the same way that, say, the Ferrari 458 Italia does, our salivary glands suggest otherwise. Besides, with 433 hp available from Maserati’s symphonic 4.7-liter V-8, the GranCabrio should embarrass absolutely no one in the performance department. Nor will its $150K estimated price make it in any way attainable by the bourgeoisie except by inheritance. But in reality, none of those figures matter any more than Angelina Jolie’s intelligence quotient; it’s sheer beauty that makes the GranCabrio a supercar in our book.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
Easily the most anticipated supercar debut at Frankfurt—heck, probably the most anticipated debut of the show, period—was that of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, a follow-up to the legendary 300SL Gullwing that has been some 50 years in the making. Taking on the same long-nose, sloping-deck proportions as the vaunted original, the 2011 SLS AMG goes its own way from there: It is much larger, far more feature-laden and, with 563 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque, way faster than the comparatively wispy original. Indeed, by most measures, the SLS AMG is a superior car, though truly great will the challenge be for it to match the stuff-of-legends cult status of the first Gullwing. We’ll find out if it has the chops when it arrives Stateside early next year with an estimated $175K price.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Porsche 911 Turbo
Oh, how many times we have written this headline before: “Porsche has introduced its latest, greatest, and fastest-ever 911 Turbo.” This time around, “latest, greatest, and fastest” means that the Turbo adopts the improvements of the refreshed 997-generation Carrera, as well as a bigger and even more powerful turbocharged flat-six engine, which now pumps out a nice, round 500 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque (516 lb-ft with the optional Sport Chrono package). Thus equipped, the new Turbo is said to hit 60 in a blistering 3.2 seconds en route to a 194-mph top speed—some pretty super numbers even among supercars. Porsche’s engineers sure seem to do a lot of work for the same old praise, but may we write this story again and again.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Porsche produces enough 911 variants to give the model its own family tree, and in that tree the insanity bough is definitely the GT3. Founded upon a rear-wheel-drive, naturally aspirated 911 powertrain, the GT3 spins its 3.8-liter flat-six to an astounding 8500 rpm and knocks off 435 hp along the way. A little farther out on that branch is the GT3 RS, which sheds a bunch of weight, gets more effective aerodynamic aids, grows a little wider between the wheels, bulks up in the engine room—to 450 hp—and is decked out in a garish paint scheme that only a Porsche purist could love. If there was any doubt about the car’s focus, it is erased by the gorgeous integrated roll cage that, sadly, will be regulated out of cars bound for the U.S. We’re just grateful that such a car is allowed here at all.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
The Porsche street-car hierarchy reaches its pinnacle with the GT3 RS, but Stuttgart sees no reason to cease improvements at that point. The GT3 Cup is a dissertation on more: more power, more aero, more weight reduction. And yes, we realize that weight reduction is more of a “less,” but that just proves our point. Still with us? The GT3 Cup is a track-only car with no pretense of street civility, which in some ways makes it the most 911 available at any cost. Price tag, too, is a case of more: about $213,000 in Europe, although U.S. pricing has yet to be finalized.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic
Silly us. Reporting on the GT3 RS, the second 911 to be announced for the Frankfurt show, we wrote that “Porsche is setting up a killer one-two punch.” It turned out to be not so much a mere one-two punch, but more of a Rampage Jackson beat-down: The 911 Sport Classic was the fourth 911 to be announced in Frankfurt, or fifth if you count the 911 Turbo coupe and cabrio as separate for inflationary purposes. Based on the rear-wheel-drive Carrera S—but with the wider rear bodywork of the Carrera 4—the Sport Classic flaunts a new double-bubble roof, unique fascias front and rear, and classical cues like the ducktail spoiler and Fuchs-inspired wheels. The pricing will be thoroughly modern, as the Sport Classic tops the 911 range at more than $200,000.
