Italian supercar brand Pagani has teased its latest halo performance car with a rather unusual video on its social media channels. In what might be the closest close-up ever recorded for a teaser, Pagani has shown off the top of the engine cover.
However the video isn’t about what you can see, rather what you can hear: the Huayra R’s howling V12 engine. Interestingly, what you can’t hear is as significant as what you can. Unlike every Huayra before it, the R won’t use turbocharging and will revert to a naturally aspirated engine. You might want headphones on (or in) for this one:
At the moment, there’s not all that much information out there on the Huayra R itself — in fact Pagani hasn’t even confirmed the name, though the R logo on the engine cover is a pretty big clue. Horacio Pagani himself has previously remarked on the return of the naturally aspirated engine, but otherwise solid facts are at a premium.
That said, we can infer a few details from the previous “R” model Pagani, the Zonda R. The Zonda R arrived eight years into the Zonda platform’s life in 2007, and was intended as the ultimate version of the Zonda. It wasn’t — the Zonda stayed in production until 2017 (save the occasional commission) — but it was among the most spectacular.
Effectively a race car, the Zonda R used a 740hp version of the Mercedes-AMG GT112 engine from the CLK-GTR endurance racer, with a six-speed sequential gearbox. It wasn’t even road legal — Pagani did make a sanitized, roadgoing version called the Cinque — so owners were limited to using it on track, within noise limit requirements. An updated version with 790hp, the Revolucion, followed five years later.
This recipe likely informs what the Huayra R will look like. We’d except an emphasis on aerodynamics and track manners, right down to the slick tires. As for power, if the Huayra R is to have the same jump in performance as the Zonda R did, figure something in the region of 950hp.
Chances are we’ll find out more about the Huayra R in the next few weeks, so watch this space for more.
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