Ginetta Akula

The new Ginetta Akula debuted at this year’s Geneva International Motor Show. The name is the Russian word for ‘shark’ and describes some details of the design very well. In addition, a class of Russian nuclear submarines is also named Akula. With this supercar Ginetta would like to inspire completely new customer groups for their portfolio. Whether this will be successful remains to be seen. After gaining a lot of experience in the racing car classes LMP3, LMP2 and LMP1 over the past years, they now transferred this into the new road car. The result is a rather unusual basic structure, in which the drivetrain sits far behind the front axle. With mounted bodywork, the engine sits virtually below the dashboard. This results in a weight distribution of 49:51 between front and rear.

The engine is a specially developed naturally aspirated V8 with over 600 hp and more than 700 newtonmeters from six liters of displacement. Dry sump lubrication ensures the best possible supply of oil even in fast corners. A sequential six-speed transmission transmits the engine power to the rear wheels via a carbon propshaft. In order to get back to a standstill as fast as possible, Ginetta uses a carbon-ceramic brake system. Thanks to the dry weight of just 1,150 kilograms and the downforce trimmed bodywork with 376 kilograms of downforce at 100 mph (only 5% less than at the Ginetta LMP3 racecar), good driving performance should be the result.

Especially the front end with its unusual passages for the airstream reminds of current LMP racecars. Like all other body parts and the monocoque, it consists of carbon fiber. The rear wing uses the form of the Ginetta LMP1 car. The chassis uses double-wishbones with adjustable pushrod suspension all around. At the front sit 19-inch wheels, while the rear shows 20-inch.

Inside, the tailor-made seats are firmly attached to the monocoque, while the pedal box and the carbon steering wheel with the aluminium shift paddles behind it are adjustable. Depending on customer requirements, leather, Alcantara, carbon fiber and milled aluminium parts are used. The standard equipment includes ABS, traction control, a reversing camera, automatic headlights, parking sensors, air conditioning, heated front and rear windows and a wireless charging function for smartphones. The rear also has room for up to 675 liters of luggage.

For 2020, the first year of production, only 20 copies of the Ginetta Akula are planned. 60% of these had already been sold before the world premiere in Geneva took place. The new supercar starts at a price of 340,000 GBP. The customer programme includes in-house trackdays, where the customers also can drive the new G58 racecar with its 575 hp V8 engine.

Images: Ginetta