Many of us desire the romantic sensibilities of an open car that can conjure flights of the imagination, particularly on a high-speed moonlight drive, top down, purebred sports car engine’s screams engulfing, wind tugging the scalp, an immersive experience that connects us to the distant past when sports cars were simple spyders, simple roadsters with big engines.
During Monterey Car Week this August, Horacio Pagani will publicly unveil his latest elaborazione, the Utopia Roadster. Each generation of Pagani car—Zonda, Huayra and now Utopia—has carefully evolved the architecture and the concept of what a Pagani supercar should be, and Utopia Roadster benefits fully from 25 years of evolutionary mutations and bold advancements.
If numbers of the past two decades are any indication, Pagani Utopia Roadster production will be measured ultimately in the dozens, not the hundreds or thousands. Rarity is a foundational element of the Pagani brand, and a guarantee of long-term ROI, a fact proven at auctions and in private treaty sales.
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After decades serving as Pagani’s engine supplier, Mercedes and its AMG division granted Horacio Pagani latitude to spec and influence the engineering of the Pagani-AMG twin-turbo V12 engine that has reached full flower in Utopia (pronounced oooo-toe-PEEE-uh, the Italian way).
No longer does AMG provide a variant on a Maybach/S-class twin-turbo V12. Instead, the engine possesses the ultimate build quality and engineering depth of Mercedes-AMG paired with the Italian passion of Pagani. The car companies able to match the engineering skill and depth of Mercedes-AMG can be counted on one hand.
Pagani’s Mercedes-AMG twin-turbo V12 produces 864 horsepower at a relatively modest 6000 rpm. With two turbos providing 811 lb.-ft. of torque over a phenomenal spread of 3100 rpm between 2800 and 5900 rpm, there’s no need to shriek all the way to 9000 rpm. The engine brings definition to the term “fat torque.”
Pay close attention to those peak engine figures. Horsepower peaks just 100 revs above that fat swath of torque. With power and torque curves like that, all thanks to the efficiency of the turbos and the considerable 6-liter displacement of the engine, one can carry a higher gear through a corner, with no need to frantically shift to exploit a narrow band of power.
Though a gas-electric hybrid will eventually be required, someday, and certainly AMG has perfected gas-electric high-performance hybrids in recent years—you will see more about this in coming days and weeks—for now Pagani and Mercedes-AMG are providing a purist large-displacement V12 that should be easy for almost any driver to exploit.
Utopia is available with either an automated manual gearbox—meaning you can paddle shift—or a manual Xtrac 7-speed that comes with that wonderful third pedal, that clutch pedal positioned to the left of the brake pedal. Such a rare sight in the 21ST Century.
To save weight and keep the gearbox relatively compact, the Pagani Xtrac manual uses a single-plate clutch, not a dual-clutch as in most German, Germano-Italian and Anglo-German performance cars. A single-plate clutch, as employed by Lexus/Toyota in the Lexus LFA supercar and the now-gone Lamborghini Aventador V12, shifts a touch more slowly than a dual-clutch, and requires the driver to think deliberately. Don’t complain. It’s part of the visceral and very analog experience. You’re supposed to take pride in your elevated skills.
Pagani’s emphasis is on engagement and sensation, not just outright clinical speed. Though with 864 horsepower and a weight of 2822 pounds, Pagani Utopia will top out at 217 mph, bumping a restrictor.
If that top speeds seem familiar to collectors or admirers of supercars, well, that’s the limit at which tires can sustain speed safely but also deliver excellent cornering at lower speeds. Much beyond 220 mph, the tire becomes a limiting factor, the tire must be engineered solely to survive high speed and that limits cornering potential at speeds below, say, 150 mph where an owner might be more likely to play around. Leave the top speed braggadocio to Bugatti and instead enjoy the cornering and acceleration of Utopia from standstill to 150, 170 or 200 mph. Acceleration and cornering in this car will keep abdominals in excellent condition.
An old friend who cycles through his many garages a parade of gorgeous classic and vintage thoroughbreds, as well as an impressive menu of 21st Century supercars, tallying a bucket list any man would love, prefers closed cars. He enjoys track days and wants that last bit of stiffness in the body structure that closed bodywork provides while he shreds up several thousand dollars in street tires. For him, a Pagani Utopia coupe is a logical choice. But for those like me who want more than just speed, Utopia Roadster will define a pinnacle driving experience.
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