British sports racing car company Ginetta has launched the production version of the brand’s new 600bhp, V8, road-going Akula supercar, based on the concept car of the same name revealed in 2019.
The Akula is unlike any other car produced by Ginetta in the company’s 66-year history. Priced from £275,000 (plus taxes and shipping), the Akula marks the 20th anniversary of Dr Lawrence Tomlinson’s acquisition of Ginetta and will be exclusively limited to just 20 production models.
Entrepreneur Tomlinson, who won the GT2 class at Le Mans in 2006, has been fully involved with Ginetta’s development team at every stage of the genesis of the mid-engined rear-drive Akula coupé supercar, including track testing.
Intrinsically linked to and strongly influenced by Ginetta’s elite GT racing programme, the Akula embodies the company’s six decades of motorsport engineering expertise. Painstakingly handcrafted and deploying the finest materials and cutting-edge technology, the Akula combines continent-crossing touring abilities with laser-focused handling and exceptional performance to deliver unsurpassed levels of driver engagement and enjoyment on the road and the track.
Motorsport Engineering Expressed in its Purest Form
Low, sleek, and exceptionally aggressively styled, the Akula’s motorsport DNA is evident instantly. The two-door coupé supercar features a state-of-the-art, ultra-high-strength lightweight carbon monocoque with carbon front and rear subframes. A Ginetta steel motorsport roll cage fabricated to the highest possible standards adds rigidity and gives the driver exceptional confidence on the racetrack.
The Akula’s wind tunnel-tested aerodynamic package was derived from the Ginetta G61-LT-P1 LMP1 race car. Combining a carbon fibre flat floor with a front splitter, turning vanes, rear wing, and rear diffuser minimises air turbulence and produces high levels of downforce to enable exceptionally high and stable cornering speeds.
Intense Naturally Aspirated V8 Performance
The Akula’s meagre 1,190kg weight and the explosive power of its 6.4-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine ensure blistering performance. Based on a Ginetta billet aluminium block and featuring a titanium engine valve train, the V8 musters 600bhp at 7,200rpm and 670Nm of torque at 5,100rpm. That’s sufficient to enable the Akula to accelerate to 62mph in a mere 2.9 seconds and reach a maximum speed of over 180mph.
Customers will be offered the choice of a six-speed manual transmission mated to a triple-plate clutch or a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Power is delivered to the Akula’s rear wheels via a Ginetta limited-slip differential, ensuring optimum traction even when that track day at the Spa turns into a deluge.
In ‘standard’ guise, four-pot callipers and 360mm ventilated steel discs fitted front and rear, mated to an advanced ABS system, provide robust stopping power. Opting for the Akula Race Pack upgrades the braking package to carbon ceramic brakes for even more excellent braking performance and fade resistance under the most extreme hot-weather track driving conditions with the additional benefit of reduced unsprung mass.
In addition to the carbon ceramic brakes, the Akula Race Pack also features six-point Ginetta racing safety seat harnesses and Ginetta racing apparel, including a racing suit, boots, gloves, and underwear.
Agility and Engagement in Equal Measure
The positioning of the V8 engine is crucial in elevating the Akula’s handling characteristics. Ginetta’s unique design approach ensures that the areas in front of the front and behind the rear axle are entirely free of significant components and reserved exclusively for aerodynamics.
All of the Akula’s ‘large-mass’ components are contained between the axles, which gives this supercar a uniquely low polar moment of inertia, significantly enhancing its ability to change direction. The positioning of the V8 engine in the middle of the car, pushed back behind the front axle, enabled Ginetta’s engineers to deliver a step-change in suspension design with the fitment of greater-length wishbones.
This approach opened up a broader range of possible geometry configurations and significantly enhanced the suspension’s kinematic operating range. With this unprecedented freedom, Ginetta’s engineers pinpointed an ultra-specific suspension set-up to deliver a pure and uncompromised handling experience.
The centrally mounted V8 engine’s location ensures a perfect 50:50 weight distribution for optimum balance and turn-in to corners, with the added freedom of better aerodynamic packaging at both the front and rear. This is further enhanced by the exceptional feel and feedback of the Ginetta electric power steering system with a competition steering rack.
Ginetta’s engineers have taken the same motorsport-inspired approach to the Akula’s suspension system, which features a classic racing double wishbone format front and rear. These components are combined with billet aluminium uprights and pushrod-actuated, two-way adjustable racing suspension with in-car electrically controlled dampers, allowing the driver to change the platform stiffness while moving. The front and rear racing anti-roll bars offer total mechanical adjustment to further fine-hone the car’s set-up for track conditions.
The Akula rides on front 9.5” 20” and rear 11” 20” Ginetta racing aluminium wheels, equipped with front 265/35/20 and rear 305/35/20 Pirelli P Zero tyres.
Continent-Crossing Practicality
While the Akula has been designed and engineered to deliver an undiluted track driving experience, Ginetta relentlessly gripped practicality requirements throughout every development iteration. With a 100-litre fuel tank providing an estimated 450-mile driving range and a 473-litre boot offering sufficient luggage space for two, the Akula represents a proper, long-distance tourer and the ideal choice for a road trip to Le Mans or further afield.
Following motorsport engineering principles, the seats are designed into carbon monocoque, with padding bespoke-moulded to perfectly match each driver’s shape. An electronically adjustable steering column and pedal box enable the owner to vary the driving position should they wish to sit closer to the motorsport carbon-fibre multi-functional steering wheel on the track and adopt a more relaxed posture on the road.
A Ginetta-developed touchscreen infotainment system supports full iOS integration, while a heated front windscreen, cup holders and wireless phone charging are also standard fit. Machined aluminium details, including door handles, air ventilation, centre console,
and carbon surround, which are married with CNC machined aluminium details, make every drive in the Akula a memorable experience.
Limited Build Slots Available
Priced from £275,000 (plus taxes and shipping) and limited to just 20 production units, the Akula offers collectors an exclusive opportunity to acquire a supercar representing a seminal moment in Ginetta and British automotive history. A limited number of build slots are still available.
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