► First seen at Goodwood in 2013
► Will be sold in the UK, priced at £59,995
► Mexican take on road/track car
You may well be thinking ‘wait a second, I’ve seen this before’. You’re not wrong. This is the Vuhl 05, which first hit the UK in prototype form at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2013, with F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez at the wheel tackling the hill climb.
After a year of trying to secure dealerships across the Middle Eastern markets, Vuhl has just delivered its first car to a Mexican enthusiast. Now the sports car maker is looking to tap into the UK market with its take on the road/track car formula.
So, what is the Vuhl 05 exactly?
A two-seater road-legal track car starting at £59,995. Though Vuhl is based in Mexico, the 05 uses components sourced from British suppliers for 40% of the final car. It weighs in at 725kg thanks to an all-aluminium monocoque, and boasts a 400bhp per tonne power-to-weight ratio. This all sounds rather impressive…
That’s the starting price, however. Once you’ve visited the options list the end price tag could well be facing as much as £77,000+, with options such as an ECU upgrade, carbon bucket seats, all-carbon body work and larger alloys all adding up.
To bring the weight down even further, an all-carbon exterior can be fitted for £6400. Vuhl says this saves an extra 30kg. Carbon bucket seats will set you back £1250.
You can begin to see those extra pennies mounting up now…
Is it fast?
According to specifications released by Vuhl, yes. The claimed 0-60mph (not 62mph) is 3.5sec, largely down to that astonishing power to weight ratio. Top speed is more than 150mph.
The engine is taken straight from Ford’s ubiquitous 2.0-litre turbocharged EcoBoost range, producing (in the base model) 240bhp, with the option of an upgrade to 285bhp with the optional performance pack (£2,360). And it’s the car with the power upgrade that provides those eye-opening stats. Also sourced from Ford is the six-speed manual gearbox. No paddleshift here.
The competition
The Vuhl 05 will enter the UK market with a host of tough competiters in its price and performance bracket. Caterham tops the performance figures with its 620R, which hits 60mph in a claimed 2.8sec, whilst boasting a 528bhp per tonne ratio. The Caterham is also cheaper by some margin at £49,955.
The Elemental RP1 is priced slightly above the Vuhl at £75,750. It features the same EcoBoost engine, but will hit 60 in a claimed 3.1sec thanks in part to a six-speed sequential gearbox, and will top out at a claimed 165mph.
Another option is the Lotus Exige Cup. In terms of performance, it matches the Vuhl’s claimed 3.5sec. It weighs, however, almost double, courtesy of its 3.5-litre V6 engine and a closed roof, which of course makes it a touch more usable on the road. It’s also priced similarly at £62,994.
At present, Vuhl is still looking to strike a partnership with dealers in the UK to put the 05 on sale. It says, however, that the first right hand-drive 05’s have been tested and granted Individual Vehicle Approval and will be seen on UK roads in the near future.