Gumpert Apollo

[Mach 1 Club]

   
Food, women, sports and cars… there you have it, the inner workings of every single man on the planet Earth. We’re simple creatures that don’t take a lot of figuring out. In fact if you present us with a combination of any of those four things together then we’ll pretty much do whatever you want. It really is that simple. Take this past Sunday for example, my buddy Roger Garbow called me up and asked if I wanted to go up to Monticello Motor Club and take a spin and test out one of the wildest cars in existence. It weighs just 2400 lbs, puts out 700 hp, will run 0-60 in 3 seconds flat and tops out at a staggering 224 mph. Oh… and it also cost $750,000.00. The car I speak of is none other than the Gumpert Apollo.

   

I am not going to bore you with lots of details on suspension, or the fact that it’s twin-turbo charged, or that it’s one of the rarest and fastest cars on the road today. For that you can just visit Gumpert’s Website. What I am going to tell you is what it’s like to drive a car that very few people get the privilege of driving. The Gumpert Apollo looks like nothing else on the road and is one of those rare cars that tries to ride the line between full-on race car and road going super car
. Laying eyes on the Gumpert in person is a real treat as you’re treated to a car that was no doubt purpose built to go very fast. Its body lines are not graceful, its cabin is not comfortable and it’s engine is not for the faint of heart. What the Gumpert Apollo is, is a car for those who have one hell of a big check book and the desire to drive one of the best performing automobiles ever built.

   

If you are one of those rare individuals with a Fort Knox bank account and are considering the Gumpert Apollo as a street car then you can forget it, as that is not what this car was meant to be. Sure you can drive it on the road, but at the end of the day, why would you want to? Driving the Gumpert on the open road is like using a tactical nuke for skeet shooting… it’s just overkill. The Gumpert belongs on the racetrack, it’s where it was developed and it’s where it should be.

   

When I first got to the track I just sat back and admired the car and then began to wonder how I was going to wedge my big ass in there. You see unless you’re 5? 10? or shorter, you WILL NOT be comfortable in this thing. I literally had to turn myself into a yoga master to get into this thing and even when wedged in there I was so scrunched up that I could barely move. The seats have no adjustments whatsoever so if you think you can make a tweak here and a tweak there, well then you’d be dead wrong. It does have adjustable pedals and telescoping steering wheel though, so that helped a little.

   

The cabin is fitted with bare essentials like A/C, power windows and stereo that you can’t reach. The gearbox is a sequential manual unit and truth be told, is a heck of a lot of fun when used properly. The Gumpert was started and then left to sit idling for about 15 minutes to bring everything up to operating temperature and once that was achieved it was time to get in and go. The first thing that everyone should know about this car is that it is NOT for beginners. Being so light and so powerful one has to be really careful about how they drive this thing as it’s not for the faint of heart.

   

As I rolled out of the paddock and onto pit lane I noticed that the clutch was surprisingly easy but you need to really modulate the throttle to get the car underway smoothly. While sitting at the track entrance I notice that visibility is not this car strong suit, in fact it’s pretty terrible all around. Honestly though, who really cares because with this much power you’ll most likely be ahead of everybody anyway.

   

As I rolled out of the paddock and onto pit lane I noticed that the clutch was surprisingly easy but you need to really modulate the throttle to get the car underway smoothly. While sitting at the track entrance I notice that visibility is not this car strong suit, in fact it’s pretty terrible all around. Honestly though, who really cares because with this much power you’ll most likely be ahead of everybody anyway.

I pulled the car back into the paddock, unwedged myself from the cockpit and began to really evaluate the car. The Gumpert Apollo is a lifestyle car, it’s a car for the man or woman who has everything but still wants more. The key however is, will customers who purchase this car actually use it for its intended purpose or will it simply be a conversation piece for others to admire, my bet is the latter. Competition wise the Gumpert Apollo falls in with a pretty good crowd. Bugatti Veyron, SSC Ultimate Aero, Pagani Zonda and Koenigsegg CCX are just a few of its competitors. When all is said and done though, you will REALLY need to like this car in order to plunk down all that cash for it. Lets face it, unless you’re racing in some sort of amateur racing series, or expert road race event, at days end you can have just as much fun in a car that costs over 95% less.

   

SPECIFICATIONS*

engine – Audi V8
position – Mid Longitudinal
aspiration – Twin Turbo
valvetrain – DOHC, 5 Valves per Cyl w/Vario Cam
displacement- 4163 cc / 254.0 cu in
bore – 93 mm / 3.66 in
stroke – 84.5 mm / 3.33 in
power – 484.7 kw / 650 bhp @ 6000 rpm
hp per litre – 156.14 bhp per litre
bhp/weight – 590.91 bhp per tonne
torque – 850 nm / 626.9 ft lbs @ 4500 rpm
redline – 7500
body / frame – Carbon Fibre over chrome molybdenum Steel Frame
front brakes – Discs w/6-Pot Calipers
f brake size – 380 mm / 15.0 in
rear brakes – Discs w/6-Pot Calipers
r brake size – 380 mm / 15.0 in
front wheels – F 48.3 x 25.4 cm / 19 x 10 in
rear wheels – R 48.3 x 33.0 cm / 19 x 13 in
front tire size – 255/35R19
rear tire size – 345/35R19
f suspension – Double Wishbones w/Inboard Shock Absorber Units, Anti-Roll Bar
r suspension – Double Wishbones w/Inboard Shock Absorber Units, Anti-Roll Bar
weight – 1100 kg / 2425 lbs
wheelbase – 2700 mm / 106.3 in
front track – 1680 mm / 66.1 in
rear track – 1590 mm / 62.6 in
length – 4250 mm / 167.3 in
width – 1995 mm / 78.5 in
height – 1105 mm / 43.5 in
transmission – 6-Speed Sequential
gear ratios – 2.87:1, 1.77:1, 1.26:1, 1.00:1, 0.83:1, 0.71:1
final drive – 4.09:1
top speed – 360 kph / 223.7 mph
0 – 60 mph – 3.0 seconds

*NOTE: These specifications correspond to the 650 HP “base” version of the car. There is also a Sport Version with 690 HP and a Race Version with 790 HP.

I didn't drive this car personally, it was send to me in an email! Thought I'd pass it on.