Supercar

Supercar is a term generally used for a high-end sports car, whose performance is highly superior to that of its contemporaries. It has been defined specifically as "a very expensive fast or powerful car with a centrally located engine"^[2], and stated in more general terms: "it must be very fast, with sporting handling to match," "it should be sleek and eye-catching" and its price should be "one in a rarified atmosphere of its own."^[3] but the proper application of the term is subjective and disputed, especially among enthusiasts. The use of the term can be dependent on the era: a vehicle that may have been considered a supercar at one time may not retain its superiority indefinitely.^{[citation needed]}

An advertisement for the Ensign Six a Template:Auto L, high-performance car, similar to the Bentley Speed Six, appeared in The Times for November 11 1920 with the phrase "If you are interested in a supercar, you cannot afford to ignore the claims of the Ensign 6."^[4] The Oxford English Dictionary also cites the use of the word in an advertisement for an unnamed car in The Motor dated November 3 1920 "The Supreme development of the British super-car."^[5] and defines the phrase as suggesting a car superior to all others. However, the phrase did not enter popular usage until much more recently and in that respect is often said to have originated with the British motor journalist L. J. K. Setright writing about the Lamborghini Miura in CAR Magazine in the mid-1960s.^{[citation needed]} The magazine still claims to have "coined the phrase".^[6] although it was also used in the American magazine Car Life in May 1965 in a test of the Pontiac GTO. By the 1970s, the phrase was understood and in regular use, if not precisely defined.^[7][8]

The term supercar usually refers to factory-built, street-legal sports cars, rather than modified production cars that may have similar performance. Supercars are usually designed for road and amateur track use rather than racing alone, and because of this their standard equipment often does not include roll cages and other features required for race cars.

Some common criteria for measuring whether a car should be considered a supercar include the following:

Few supercars have a rear mid-engine (RMR), rear-wheel drive layout, which allows for better distribution of weight. By moving mass towards the middle of the car, its moment of inertia is reduced. The result is often sharper, more agile handling. Some supercar makers have started building all-wheel-drive supercars as new engines are producing more power than a rear wheel drive car using street legal tires is able to take advantage of. For an example, see Bugatti Veyron or Lamborghini Murcielago.

Most supercars have high engine power and low vehicle mass, for the sake of high acceleration (see Newton's Second Law) and good handling dynamics. For example, the 2004 Porsche Carrera GT masses just 3 kilogram per kilowatt (5 lb/hp)—compare this to the similarly sized and shaped Porsche Boxster with nearly 7.1 kg/kW (11.7 lb/hp). The McLaren F1, introduced in 1991 and one of the fastest supercars of the 20th century, produced 467.6 kW (627.1 hp) against a mass of 1140 kg (2513 lb), translating to 2.44 kg/kW (4.01 lb/hp). Certain vehicles have a high power-to-weight ratio despite their heavy weight, due to a very powerful engine. For example, the Bugatti Veyron carries 2.61 kg/kW (4.30 lb/hp) despite weighing 1950 kg (4299 lb), including fuel ^[9], due to its 746 kW (1001 hp) engine. The Koenigsegg CCR and Koenigsegg CCX have the highest power-to-weight ratio among production supercars: with 601 kW (806 hp) (on California grade 91 octane gasoline) and a weight of just 1,180 kg (2,601 lb) the Koenigsegg carries only 1.96 kg/kW (3.23 lb/hp). According to the Shelby Super Cars website, the Ultimate Aero TT holds the new production record, carrying a mere 1.42 kg/kW (2.33 lb/hp).

Supercars, by the usual definition, offer extremely high acceleration compared to most vehicles, including ordinary sports cars. Some current expectations are as follows:

• 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph): Under 4 seconds for virtually all supercars today. The Ultima GTR can go from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.6 seconds and the Bugatti Veyron can do this in 2.5 seconds.^[10]
• 0 to 160 km/h (100 mph): Under 9 seconds is generally recognized as the standard, with undisputed supercars being significantly faster.
  • Versions of the Ultima GTR, introduced in 2006, have recorded a 0 to 160 km/h time of 5.3 seconds.
  • A Bugatti Veyron can achieve 0 to 160 km/h in 5.5 seconds.^[11]
• 0 to 320 km/h (200 mph): Under 30 seconds. McLaren F1 28 seconds, Saleen S7 23 seconds, Bugatti Veyron 22 seconds.
• Standing quarter-mile (400 metre): Under 13 seconds is arguably a requirement, as is a trap or terminal speed of at least 175 km/h (110 mph).
  • The Ultima GTR beat the former quarter mile record held by the Bugatti Veyron of 10.4 seconds at 139 mph (224 km/h) by half a second (9.9 seconds) and reaching 143 mph (230km/h). ^[12]
  • The Ferrari Enzo completes the quarter mile from a stop in about 11.1 seconds at 214 km/h (133 mph).
  • The Koenigsegg CCR, introduced in 2004, is officially claimed to run the quarter mile in "9 seconds, end speed 235 km/h (146 mph)" ^[13]
• Standing mile (1.6 km): Trap (terminal) speed of at least 320 km/h, for example the Saleen S7, Bugatti Veyron, Pagani Zonda, Koenigsegg CCR, McLaren F1, Ultima GTR.

• The 1987 Ferrari F40 was the first road-legal production car to break the 200 mph (320 km/h) barrier. It had a power output of 471 hp (356 kW), produced by a 2.9L twin-turbocharged V8.
• On March 31, 1998, the McLaren F1 prototype (XP4) set the speed record at 386km/h (240.1mph) at 7800 rpm. The production models are normally limited to giving them a top speed around 231 mph. The prototype was driven by Andy Wallace on the 9 km straight at Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track in Wolfsburg, Germany.
• On February 28, 2005, the Koenigsegg CCR with 601 kW (806hp) achieved a top speed of 387.87 km/h (241.01 mph) on default settings. The car was driven on Italy's Nardo Prototipo proving ground, a circular track with a circumference of 12.5km. This exceeded the McLaren's record [2] The steering wheel was kept at 30 degrees, slowing the car; the car has not been tested on a straight track.
• In October, 2005, Car and Driver magazine's editor Csaba Csere test drove the final production version of the Veyron for the November 2005 issue. This test, at Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track, reached a top speed of 407 km/h (253 mph). The Veyron can also go from 0 to 300 km/h (190 mph) in just under 19 seconds [3].
• In 2006, James May drove a Bugatti Veyron to its rated top speed of 407 km/h on Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessein track, replicating Csaba Csere's experience, for the BBC's Top Gear television program, the first time this had been done for any international broadcast network.
• The SSC Ultimate Aero TT is currently the world's fastest production car with a top speed of 256.15 mph (412.233 km/h), reportedly achieved on September 13, 2007 in West Richland, WA. The results of this test, verified by Guinness World Records on October 9, 2007, gave the SSC Aero the world's fastest production car title.

A supercar is usually built for maximum cornering and road gripping ability in order to achieve superior cornering speeds. Lateral g-forces during the tightest turns can generally exceed 1 g.

Brakes also have to be very powerful to slow cars traveling at high speeds. Distances from 100 to 0 mph are typically less than 300 ft (90 m). A good example of efficient brakes are those on the Dodge Viper SRT-10, which allow the car to stop from Template:Auto mph in 274 ft (84 m). The brakes must not only stop cars quickly, but also resist brake fade, which is reduced braking performance due to continuous use.

A popular benchmark is a lap time around the Nürburgring of under 8 minutes. There are also other tracks where supercars are being tested. Lap time tables from different racetracks are posted at fastestlaps.com.

In addition to performance, the following criteria are also cited in determining if a particular sports car or exotic car deserves the supercar moniker:

• Brand: Supercars are often very brand-centric. (e.g. Ferrari)
• Styling: Supercars often feature groundbreaking styling elements. The Formula One-inspired Enzo Ferrari, for example, set a new styling direction for that company.
• Rarity: Supercars do not necessarily have to be rare. A very limited production run of a sports car would classify it as an “exotic” and not a "supercar" by default. For example, the Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06 meets the 0-100 acceleration, handling, speed, weight:hp ratio, and Nordschleife times to be considered in the supercar territory.
• Focused design: Supercars are not designed to be practical transportation devices, with functionality varying widely between different examples. Many car body styles (including 2+2 coupe, station wagon, and pickup truck) make inherent tradeoffs of performance potential for utility. By this measure, extreme vehicles like the Dodge Ram SRT 10 are not normally called supercars (in the case of Dodge Ram SRT-10, it is classified as a truck, not car, so the car-based description would not fit anyway). While one undisputed supercar, the McLaren F1, featured seating for three (and had a number of useful storage spaces), performance was not sacrificed, but instead improved by the seating design: the driver's central and forward position lowered the vehicle's moment of inertia by allowing the engine to be mounted further toward the centre of the car, thereby improving handling.

These are examples of some notable supercars.

• 
  Bugatti Veyron 16.4
• 
  Enzo Ferrari
• 
  Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
• 
  Koenigsegg CCX
• Lamborghini Murciélago
  Lamborghini Murciélago
• 
  Lamborghini Reventón
• 
  McLaren F1
• 
  Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
• 
  Nissan GT-R
• 
  Pagani Zonda
• 
  Porsche Carrera GT
• 
  Saleen S7

• Exotic Cars at Curlie
• Supercars.net