Earlier this month, Pagani took the wraps off its Huayra replacement with a glorious twin-turbo V12 making a healthy 852 horsepower. The 6.0-liter engine with a 60-degree angle between the cylinders works together with a seven-speed manual, allowing one-percenters to row their gears in a twelve-cylinder hypercar with 811 pound-feet (1,100 Newton-meters). These output numbers could've been even higher had the Italian marque used a different setup.
In an interview with Top Gear magazine, Horacio Pagani revealed the company had access to AMG's twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 hybrid setup from the GT 63 S E Performance. In Affalterbach's super sedan, the PHEV setup is good for 831 hp, but the hardware would've been dialed to a whopping 1,000 hp for the Utopia. Rocking down to the electric avenue would've meant switching from rear- to all-wheel drive, but it ultimately didn't happen.
Pagani Utopia
Why? An electrified Utopia would have ended up heavier than the V12 version. We'll remind you Pagani's latest masterpiece has a dry weight of only 1,280 kilograms (2,622 pounds). It's unclear how significant the weight penalty would've been, but lap time simulations showed the V8 hybrid variant would've been up to five seconds slower around the Nürburgring.
"Pagani cars are meant to be lightweight. So [although] we will continue to invest in developments for electrification, the biggest goal for us is to find a way to make the car more enjoyable, more fun, more Pagani."
Let's keep in mind the AMG GT 63 S E Performance is offered exclusively with a nine-speed, dual-clutch automatic transmission, so it's unclear whether the manual gearbox could've been adapted to work with the hybrid setup. Alternatively, the Utopia can also be had with a seven-speed automated manual touted as being the quickest among all gearboxes fitted with helical gears.
Pagani intends to make 99 units and all of them have already been sold for a hefty $2.19 million a pop. Seeing as how the Huayra and especially the Zonda received numerous special editions, expect the Utopia to spawn a series of derivatives.
