These days, supercars are not quite so much in the eye as they were when fuel was cheap and plentiful. Even so, these very fast cars are terrific. Think of the Jaguar XKR.
The Jaguar XKR is a thoroughly modern cat with keyless ignition – you just keep the ‘key’ in your pocket, and press the starter button to bring the rorty V-8 to life, rumbling in the background but ready to rock.
Out onto the road, and the steering of the Jaguar XKR feels quite light, but has a nice feel to it, giving you information about the bumps and swerves straight away.
Immense power, effortless cruising
On the motorway, the Jaguar XKR supercar reveals its immense power and effortless cruising speed – with the comfort and silence you expect from a luxury car. When you put your foot down, though, the 420 Cats are unleashed, the muffled roar turning into a crackle, a different noise that is really great.
At the same time, you get pushed back into the seat, and start to enjoy the raw power of the supercharged engine, which with this very responsive auto, punches well above the weight that 420 bhp would suggest. This is partly because the car is light, partly because the the linear boost from the supercharger increases power all the way up the range, and partly because the automatic is so responsive.
What about the Aston?
Concept cars are ten a penny – these days it is easy for the styling department to mock up a concept car to woo the public. But some people show concepts of what they are going to produce – sometimes down to the detail of the ashtray.
The question is: Which of these concepts will see the light of day? Well, because Aston Martin can build a small number of a special model, anything they do could be turned into a production car fairly quickly.
I expedct this is so with the Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS concept – that it will become an exotic car. To produce the V12 Vantage RS, Aston Martin has taken the V8 Vantage and stretched it a little to take the terrific V-12 engine. That was not enough for an RS concept, though, so the engine has been tweaked to the sort of power you expect from a top supercar – 100 bhp per liter.
Maybe you are thinking that these cars are all too expensive. If so, what about a hot sports car, like a Lotus sports car. The Lotus Evora is one sports car that could be a supercar – some say it is, but the price and performance are nearer a very fastsports car.