Panoz Unveils Exciting New Esperante!  From the pen of Peter Stevens, the designer of the McLaren F1 supercar, comes an American rival for Europe's exotic sportsters - the Panoz Esperante.
Designed to take on such European superheroes as the new BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB7 and Porsche 911, the Esperante (pictured) uses a mix of 21st-century
materials, nostalgic Euro-styling and good old-fashioned American V8 grunt. The project is run by eccentric American millionaire Don Panoz who, among other exploits, runs the LeMans 24-hour series.
The Esperante is powered by a handbuilt 240kW version of Ford's familiar US 4.6-litre V8, driving the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transmission.
The maker claims the car, despite its hefty 1,452kg, does the rest-to-100km/h split in less than 5.3 seconds and cracks 160km/h in 12.6secs on the way to a claimed top speed of 250km/h. Panoz
boasts that the car can out-brake the Honda NSX and Jaguar XK8 from 100km/h.  It also uses a sophisticated traction control system which cuts the throttle and brakes individual wheels. The capable enthusiast can switch this off.
Designated as an AIV (Aluminium-Intensive Vehicle) -
it is about 65 percent aluminium by weight - the Esperante uses an extruded chassis claimed to be almost as rigid as the BMW Z8 chassis, also aluminium.
The car is designed in five separate segments which will allow Panoz to spin-off a hatchback coupe or a four-door sedan from the chassis without the expense of major re-engineering.
Lengths of aircraft-standard 6mm thick aluminium make up the sub-frame. The front and rear suspension and the engine are mounted on steel sub-frames. The suspension is of the
pushrod-and-rocker activated type most often seen on competition cars. Panoz says the Esperante aluminium body panels are made using "Superplastic Forming", a technique
originally developed to help protect the skin of the International Space Station from 50,000km/h micro-meteor impacts. Each of the car's 14 panels are heated to 550 deg C, just below their melting point, and formed
around a steel tool under intense air pressure. The 25-minute procedure results in a shell which is extremely hard to dent.
Panoz claims the Esperante meets all US crash standards. It has standard dual airbags, a semi-rigid (the section over the cockpit is rigid) power-roof and air-conditioning. |
