Weber F1, The Faster One, Can Break 420 km/h Barrier
May 2, 2008 | 08:51 AM
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Weber F1, The Faster One, Can Break 420 km/h Barrier A great Brazilian poet, Vinicius de Moraes, used to say something extraordinary: “May ugly women forgive me, but beauty is fundamental”. One can apply that to the automotive world and ask: what good is riding a fantastic machine that does not look very attractive? Well, you may ask that for future owners of the Weber F1, acronym that stands for “Fastest One”. And this Swiss-made machine indeed honors the name: weighing a mere 1,100 kg and powered by a deeply modified Corvette LS7 V8 engine pumping out 900 bhp, it achieves a weight ratio of 1.22 kg/bhp. That allows the F1 to reach speeds of more than 420 km/h, according to Weber Sportcars, the Swiss company that has created the car.
The company itself knows the car doesn’t look very appealing and justifies that with the expression “uncompromising innovative styling geared toward maximum aerodynamic efficiency”. In other words, blame it on the air resistance. Weber Sportcars also states that the F1 is the fastest street legal car of the world, but, while the company does not put the vehicle to a certified test, such as the one SSC Ultimate Aero has performed for Guinness World Records in order to get the title the Swiss car claims for itself, that will remain only a statement.
Anyway, we have no reasons to doubt the car can really do what it promises. The LS7 engine has kept only the aluminum block. Everything else has been upgraded to stand the pressure two superchargers impose to reach the high output and the torque of 1,050 Nm at 3,900 rpm. Traction is on all four wheels (up to 36% of power can go to the front wheel), what surely makes the car more drivable, considering its low weight and high output.
Performance figures for the 4.50 m long and 1.50 tall car are impressive: 0 to 100 km/h in about 2.5 s, 0 to 200 km/h in 6.6 s and 0 to 300 km/h in 16.2 s. All brakes use 12-piston calipers, but the company does not inform braking performance numbers. Prices are also amazing: 1,620,000 Swiss francs, or about 1 million euros. Do performance figures, even at that price, compensate having an “uncompromised styling”? Feel free to answer.
The company itself knows the car doesn’t look very appealing and justifies that with the expression “uncompromising innovative styling geared toward maximum aerodynamic efficiency”. In other words, blame it on the air resistance. Weber Sportcars also states that the F1 is the fastest street legal car of the world, but, while the company does not put the vehicle to a certified test, such as the one SSC Ultimate Aero has performed for Guinness World Records in order to get the title the Swiss car claims for itself, that will remain only a statement.
Anyway, we have no reasons to doubt the car can really do what it promises. The LS7 engine has kept only the aluminum block. Everything else has been upgraded to stand the pressure two superchargers impose to reach the high output and the torque of 1,050 Nm at 3,900 rpm. Traction is on all four wheels (up to 36% of power can go to the front wheel), what surely makes the car more drivable, considering its low weight and high output.
Performance figures for the 4.50 m long and 1.50 tall car are impressive: 0 to 100 km/h in about 2.5 s, 0 to 200 km/h in 6.6 s and 0 to 300 km/h in 16.2 s. All brakes use 12-piston calipers, but the company does not inform braking performance numbers. Prices are also amazing: 1,620,000 Swiss francs, or about 1 million euros. Do performance figures, even at that price, compensate having an “uncompromised styling”? Feel free to answer.
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