Gumpert
Explosion
Gumpert’s
first car, the Apollo was devastatingly quick. Hard to drive, but stupidly
fast. One thing it wasn’t was pretty. It looked good in a functional,
no-nonsense sort of way, and you could forgive its aesthetic failings due to
its sheer performance. Their second car might not have that luxury.
Now
that Gumpert have stepped back from the abyss of bankruptcy, they’ve decided
that the best way forward is to attend the Geneva Motor Show with a brand-new
prototype which they’ll be producing later this year. unfortunately it’s one of
the ugliest prototypes outside of a Chinese auto show.
Called
the Gumpert Explosion, the new car is a two-seat coupe with awkward
proportions, a fussy front end, a droopy back end and a soggy-looking middle.
The
only way they’re going to make this a success is if the Explosion is faster,
better built and more dynamically capable of than all of its competitors.
Gumpert say they’ll be charging 105,000 Euro ( US$ 144,500 / £ 86,500) for the
car when it goes on sale later this year. So they’re going to be mixing it up
with some fairly stiff competition from numerous manufacturers, both large and
small.
The
Gumpert Explosion goes into battle armed with a 2.0 litre engine which produces
a healthy 420 horsepower and 383 lb-ft (520 Nm) of torque. The transmission
options are a six speed manual, or a six speed paddle shift transmission
connected to an all-wheel drive system. If Gumpert’s calculations are right it
should be quick off the line, with the 0-62 mph run taking just a shade over 3
seconds.
Source
: autoevolution
