Felino
CB7
This
one is called the Felino CB7, a Quebec-born vehicle that Antoine Bessette, the
man behind the project, describes as "purpose built for the track"
that could also be street legal. The Felino CB7 was unveiled at the 2014
Montreal International Auto Show, and from the looks of things, Felino built
and developed a track racer that has the potential to be talked about by a lot
of people for a long time.
The
Felino CB7 looks really angry, doesn’t it? There’s an Audi R8-esque
look to the CB7, although the latter does come with a bigger grille and four
curved horizontal cross bars on both sides of the grille. The headlights are
configured to be slanted inwards, drawing that visual illusion of the CB7
having cocked eyebrows.
The
sports car has a two-seat capacity and the carbon-fiber dashboard, which are
both nice touches, and are what you’d expect from a sporty racer. There’s also
an on-board data-acquisition system, a generally useful tool for anybody who
wants to take the CB7 out on the track.
The
Felino CB7 is powered by a 6.2-liter, V-8 engine that’s been mounted inside the
bump on the rear end and mates to a six-speed manual transmission. Output has
been tapped at 525 horsepower at 6,300 rpm and 489 pound-feet of torque at
4,400 rpm. No word yet on performance numbers, but we estimate the car to be
capable of hitting 60 mph in around four seconds to go with a top speed of 190
mph.
Billed
as a second-generation prototype, the rear-wheel drive, mid-forward engined cB7
has an improved tubular frame chassis wrapped with composites. With a wheelbase
of 2,451 mm, its 1,135 kg curb weight is distributed in a
50/50 ratio between front and back.
Nothing
to surprising with the chassis and suspension of the CB7. The front and rear
suspension features an independent, double-wishbone setup in cast aluminum with
an adjustable spring and compression rate. Same goes for the brakes on the
front and rear, as they feature six-piston and four-piston calipers,
respectively.
Felino
says that the cB7 is aimed at the international market, but will also sell a
limited number in Canada. The company is still finalizing some design details
and will build two more concepts before production models start to roll out
sometime in 2015. There are also plans for a possible electric car down the
road.
Though
the final price has yet to be determined, the Felino cB7 will be offered at
under US$ 100,000.


