Pagani Teases The Huayra Roadster

Paganis are a rare breed. In its 24 years of existence, the company has only sold about 300 cars! What sets apart Pagani from most sportscar manufacturers today is the fact that it doesn’t spend much time advertising its cars – because the cars do the talking for themselves. Be it because of their controversial design, their use of exotic materials or their mind-boggling performance figures, there is no denying their popularity amongst enthusiasts.

The next 'mass-produced' Pagani is on its way, and it is going to be an open-top version of the Huayra. The company has, till now, released five images of the Huayra Roadster – teasing its details and building up excitement till it is finally revealed in flesh at the 2017 Geneva auto show in March.

Design

The Pagani Huayra hard-top had a love-it or hate-it design, and the Roadster is expected to continue that trend. The Huayra's design is moulded by the flow of wind; every detail on the exterior is there to extract the maximum performance possible. Active aerodynamic components will continue to feature on the Roadster. These include two flaps at the front, two flaps at the rear, and various scoops and ducts around the bodywork.

Horacio Pagani, the founder of the company, has stated that the Huayra Roadster is one of the most difficult endeavours the company has undertaken in its history and that its design is more 'aggressive' than the coupe.

Most roadsters suffer as compared to their hard-top counterparts either because of an increase in weight (to ensure the chassis retains similar levels of rigidity) or because of the simple fact that their design is inherently aerodynamically flawed. The Huayra Roadster may be able to tackle both the issues; the all carbon fibre chassis and bodywork could be tweaked for maximum weight savings while the new 'aggressive' design could make it one of the fastest open-top cars in the world.

The Huayra Roadster will forgo the roof-mounted beautiful gull-wing doors for a removable hard-top. The teaser of the front does not reveal much. The engine cover is not a v-shaped glass unit; leaked images show that this has been replaced by two buttresses which begin just behind the top edge of both the seats. These buttresses have vents to help cool off the twin-turbocharged V12 AMG motor that sits underneath.

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The leaked images also show that the Roadster will feature aggressive side skirts, a new diffuser at the back, and a new front splitter. Pagani has teased part of the rear, and we can see that there are new spoiler elements over the taillights which join with the wide upswept rear spoiler.

Inside, the Huayra Roadster is expected to have the same exquisite design as the coupe – another teaser image (which was sent out as a greetings card to publications around the world) seems to show some familiar bits of design. The Huayra's cabin is not subtle; it looks like a modern interpretation of the past! 

Performance

Pagani sources its powerplant from Mercedes-AMG. Powering the Huayra Roadster will be the same 6.0-litre (5980cc), twin-turbocharged, V12 engine that powers the coupe. As standard, the V12 develops 730PS of maximum power and 1100Nm of peak torque. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a single-clutch sequential gearbox. 

Pagani may boost up the power and torque output of the motor to help the Huayra Roadster achieve acceleration and top speed figures which are close to the coupe. It could also be achieved without a significant boost in engine performance if the company manages to reduce the weight of the car. Regardless, the Huayra coupe accelerates from 0-100kmph in 2.8 seconds and goes on to hit a top speed of 383kmph.

The Huayra Roadster will be a very expensive car, even by exotic sportscar standards. The Huayra Coupe was priced at 1.6 million US Dollars when it was launched in 2011, expect the Huayra Roadster to be costlier still.