This has been of subject of literally no debate over the years, but I would like to change that. You see, to a casual observer these two are basically the same. Both are very fast, both are very expensive, and both are very loud. Most people who care about this kind of stuff determine the difference by the figures. There is no set line to distinguish between a hypercar and a supercar, such as it must get to 60 from a standstill in under three seconds to qualify as a hypercar. An example of what most people would call a hypercar would be the Bugatti Veyron, for obvious reasons. This is a car of mind boggling numbers. It has 10 radiators, 1001 horsepower, and can reach speeds in the area of 250 miles per hour (look it up if you really want to know the exact number). The Supersports version of this car can hit 270! Now for an example of a supercar. Most would say the Ferrari 458 Italia is a supercar. It can still top 200, it goes around corners incredibly well and makes a hypnotizing noise while in the process. But it somehow isn't as incredible as the Veyron.
But the way I see it, the difference shouldn't be in the numbers. It should be in how the cars feels. In order to be a hypercar, you must be laughing and enjoying yourself while driving it, regardless which way you're facing. However, you are probably saying "Oh well on that basis a Ford Focus ST is a hypercar then because it's fun to drive!", but no, I'm not finished. A Hypercar must also exhibit a certain level of lunacy and ridiculousness. The Italians tend to be very good at this, hence Lamborghini and Pagani (I know the owner of Pagani is Argentinian). Cars that fit this bill include pretty well every Lamborghini, every Pagani, and the Spyker C8. There are more, but i'd like to move on.
Now by now you may be thinking that somebody could still say an everyday car could be a hypercar by these standards. To cure this, I've decided that a car must first qualify to be a supercar before it can become a hypercar. Now becoming a supercar is still mainly reliant on numbers, so we'll stick to the established supercars.
So there, I've just given a comprehensive to a question nobody is asking.
Where would an Ariel Atom or Aston Martin fit in?
ReplyDeleteI'd say that the Ariel is a hypercar on the basis that there really is nothing like it on the road today. Aston Martin's are harder to figure out. A model like the V12 Vantage is probably a hypercar, though a Rapide or DB9 would be a supercar.
DeleteThanks for commenting!
I agree about the Ariel. It's just such a unique car it's almost in a class by itself. I think you should come up with a category for it maybe. I saw on Top Gear that there is a new Aston out that is supposed to straddle the line between speed and guts and luxury. What was that one?
ReplyDeleteI believe that is the DBS? However the debuted a few years ago. The Atom really cannot be put into either categories, as is the case with most track-day cars, as they are essentially race cars with indicators and license plates.
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