W Motors is likely a brand you’ve never heard of, but there’s a good chance you’ve seen one of its cars before. If you’ve seen Fast and Furious 7, you’ll recognise the W Motors Lykan HyperSport as the car that double-jumps across three skyscrapers. It’s a memorably silly moment in a film that also includes a character called Mr Nobody, and a weapon called God’s Eye.
But the high-adrenaline Fast and Furious franchise seems a world away as we wait at the bottom of the Goodwood hillclimb. We’re in the passenger seat of a W Motors Fenyr SuperSport, with test driver, racer and W Motors creative director Benoit Fraylon at the wheel – and it’s pouring with rain.
The slow crawl to the grid gives me time to quiz Ben, and also take a look at the car we’ll be taking up the hill. Despite its SuperSport moniker, the Fenyr is actually more powerful than the Lykan HyperSport it follows. Obviously, the naming department forgot to plan ahead.
The car we’re sitting in is an evolution of the previous model, and keeps many of the same ingredients. The looks are contemporary, to say the least: a mix of manga robot and jet fighter – but the engine behind our passenger seat is not at all sci-fi.
Rather than a V8, V12 or electrified powertrain, W Motors has opted for a turbocharged flat-six sourced from Ruf. Putting out 789bhp and 723lb ft torque, its compact size means it can be buried deeper and lower in the chassis than the usual V-configuration block, aiding the centre of gravity and chassis performance. It’s mated to a seven-speed semi-automatic gearbox.
The boxer six is mounted so deep inside the Fenyr that there’s no engine viewing platform like you’d find in most mid-engined supercars – just layers of glass and carbon wrapping over the top, like a mechanical lasagne. And while the engine may be hard to see, the cooling for it is everywhere! There are so many cooling ducts peppering the front, side and roof, it looks like someone’s taken a hacksaw to the bodywork to let that muscular flat six breathe.
Off the start line
The Fenyr SuperSport tries to bolt off the line, but as that Ruf flat-six behind us comes to life – and it sounds extraordinary – so does a good dose of wheelspin. As you’d expect, this much torque and this much moisture don’t really agree, and the back of the car slithers around for what seems like half an hour. We’re nowhere near the SuperSport’s 2.8 second 0-62mph time.
Eventually some of that torque grips the ground and we’re off. It’s wet, so this run is a measured, careful blast up the Duke of Richmond’s driveway rather than a full-bore assault – this car is worth £1.4 million, remember – but it still gives a chance to feel how poised the chassis is.
Although it’s stiff and skittery, our pilot is able to point the car where he wants, and then play with the throttle on corner exits. In the wet we’re barely scratching the surface – but finding the limit in the dry would surely be an altogether other-worldly experience. We’re also more likely to feel the effects of the car’s active aero on a higher-speed run.
What we can talk about is the stonking engine that powers the W Motors Fenyr SuperSport. A slap of torque spins the rear tyres in first and second, delivering a soundtrack that is mechanical but violent, and classic Porsche.
Or contact
Location
Office P04, Floor P, Building 2, Bay Square
P.O. Box 414487, Business Bay, Dubai, UAE
Email: info@wmotors.ae
Phone: +971 4 558 6530
The $1.6 M Fenyr
New Fenyr super sport first drive
Source Car Magazine
The looks are contemporary, to say the least: a mix of manga robot and jet fighter
Except the engine behind the passenger seat is not at all sci-fi.
