Published
on 27
Feb 2025
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All rights reserved.
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Artistic
design and craftsmanship set it apart from other hypercars.
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The
Utopia is not just a hypercar. It is a piece of art.
While some hypercars are faster, some are more technically advanced and
some perform better on a racing circuit, none of them can match the
artistic design and craftsmanship of the Pagani. Just as its name
suggested, it is how Horacio Pagani sees a perfect car.
The Utopia is just the third car launched by the Modena hypercar
specialist in the last 25 years, following Zonda and Huayra. Pagani
builds just
40 cars or so a year, so after a quarter of a century there are only
around 500 Zondas and Huayras exist on the planet, making it the most
exclusive hypercar maker in the world. For this reason, Pagani can
craft every car like the way of traditional Italian coachbuilders,
hand-finish up to astonishing standards.
However, it is by no means old-school. On the contrary, the production
technique is extremely advanced. All parts are designed in computer.
Many interior parts are made by itself using CNC milling machines.
Ditto the extremely light and stiff carbon-titanium bodywork and
chassis tub, because Pagani is an expert in the carbon-fiber field well
before he started building his own car.
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The
closer you inspect, the more amazing details you will find and the more
you will adore Horacio Pagani’s endless pursuit of perfection...
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As for
styling, Horacio also penned all the cars by himself. I love how the
Zonda looks, not so much for Huayra, but the Utopia is absolutely
spot-on. It looks rounder than the Zonda and slimmer than the Huayra,
while the details are more elegant than either. The car rides on larger
wheels – 21-inch up front and 22-inch rear – hence sporting pronounced
fenders, but the waistline in the middle section is lowered to give a
lighter perception. The proportion is not that different from its two
predecessors, with a Le Mans car-style small and cab-forward glasshouse
covered by curvy windscreen to give tremendous forward vision.
What separate it from Zonda and Huayra are the design details – rounder
and more artistically shaped, with strong hints of Baroque style. These
include the peanut-shape headlamps, the round-corner windows (2 at
roof, 1 for rear view and 1 on engine lid for viewing the V12 motor),
the jet-engine-style quad-exhaust and the oval space formed between the
rear spoilers and bodywork. The door mirrors are shaped like art
sculptures. Even the four jet-turbine taillights are finished with
amazing details, as they are suspended from the clamshell bonnet and
lower bodywork by a single blade. The closer you inspect the car, the
more amazing details you will find and the more you will adore Horacio
Pagani’s endless pursuit of perfection.
Unlike Ferrari or Porsche, Pagani does not allow aerodynamics to
compromise styling, but at the same time the Utopia’s design does not
seem to compromise aerodynamics much. By using more underbody aero
aids, it does away the big spoilers and winglets of recent Huayras,
although I suspect this is only the starting point and more aggressive
versions will follow in the coming years. The only visible active
aerodynamic device is the pair of rear spoilers linking between the
trademarked central quad-exhaust and the rear fenders. They can swivel
independently as in the case of Huayra to balance the car in corner,
but not lifted out of the bodywork, so the car's shape remains pure all
the time.
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The
wheels have carbon-fiber turbine covers that help drawing hot air away
from the brakes.
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Neither
does its pursuit of art compromise weight. The Utopia weighs only 1280
kg dry, a good 70 kg less than the original Huayra. It is also hundreds
of kilograms lighter
than most other hypercars on the market – admittedly, most of them are
burdened by electrification while the Pagani remains purely ICE-powered
and rear-wheel drive, rather old-fashioned.
As in Huayra, its main structure is a tub made of Carbon-Titanium and
Carbon-Triax, while front and rear subframes are made of chrome-moly
steel. Suspension is served by forged aluminum double-wishbones at all
corners, with electronically controlled shock absorbers. However,
Pagani made its bodywork with a new type of carbon-fiber materials with
higher strength/weight ratio, and it managed to increase torsional
rigidity by 10.5 percent.
Its very large wheels wear massive Pirelli P-Zero Corsa rubbers. Its
Brembo CCM brakes are larger than those on Huayra, too. Note that the
wheels have bespoke carbon-fiber turbine covers that help drawing hot
air away from the brakes.
The powertrain is still that good old Mercedes-AMG M158 6.0-liter
twin-turbo V12, just tweaked to produce the highest ever output of its
family. Now it pumps out 864 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 811 pound-foot
of torque between 2800 and 5900 rpm. There is not even mild-hybrid
assistance, so expect some turbo lag at lower revs. It doesn't rev too
high either, with redline set at 6700 rpm – don't forget this Mercedes
V12 has its roots traced back to the last Century and is still served
with a single camshaft each head and 3 valves each cylinder. In an
electrified era, it seems rather ancient. On the plus side, the
soundtrack played by a V12 is always more musical than a hybrid V6,
especialy this one features titanium exhaust.
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It
all feels very classy, delivering an unrivalled sense of occasion and
the flamboyance of the world's most luxurious cars in the 1930s.
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Aft of the rear axle is a transversely mounted transmission built by
Xtrac. Buyers have 2 options: a single-clutch automated manual (as in
Huayra) or, as 70 percent buyers have chosen, a new manual gearbox
built by also Xtrac. Both of them have 7 ratios. Power is sent to the
rear wheels via an electro-mechanical limited slip differential.
Inside, the impeccable craftsmanship is even more obvious. Horacio
refuses to use modern touchscreen and instead puts 4 analogue gauges, 3
rotary controls and many toggle switches on the center console. The
instrument pod features 2 analogue dials and a small digital info
screen in between. The signature jet-turbine air vents return. The
steering wheel is milled from a solid aluminum block using CNC machine,
incredibly.
Equally delicious to eyes is the open-gated shifter whose mechanism is
visible. While carbon-fiber tub is visible at the sills, the floor is
covered with fine leather carpets, and most other surfaces are
upholstered with leather. In addition to all those bespoke alloy parts
and switchgears and mechanical instrument, it all feels very classy,
delivering an unrivalled sense of occasion and even the flamboyance
like some of the world's most luxurious cars seen in the 1930s.
On the Road
Surprisingly, the Utopia uses keyless entry instead of a good old key
to open its butterfly doors. However, the electronic key is definitely
the most
special you have ever seen: it is shaped like a miniature model of the
car! Moreover, the transmission tunnel has a dedicated space to fit
the key. Once you are on board, you will find the expansive windscreen
gives perfect visibility without blind spot to speak of, as you sit
quite forward. The rear window might look small, but it is positioned
perfectly such that you can see the back of the car through the
rearview mirror, something very few hypercars can speak of these days.
The driving position is perfect, too, as you sit very low and the
steering wheel has plenty of adjustment. The leather seats are both
supportive and comfortable.
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AMG
V12 motor revs to 6700 rpm only but still makes a great noise.
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Press the
start button on the center console, the AMG V12 roars into life. The
sound is certainly exciting and characterful – bassy at idle, deep and
thrumming at
lighter loads, snarling when stretched, very loud at full throttle,
accompanied with turbo whoosh to make an unforgettable aural
experience.
The power delivery is smooth. The mid-range is boosty, but even at very
low revs it pulls with no obvious turbo lag, because this engine has
6000
c.c. after all. For sure it is not as revvy as a Ferrari or Lamborghini
V12, let alone Gordon Murray’s Cosworth V12, but with a noise so great
and a car so light it is not much of a concern.
More concerned is the 7-speed manual gearbox. Firstly you will find its
unusual dogleg gate pattern takes some getting used to. Then the shift
quality is far from world-class, which is heavy and rubbery – not
surprising as it needs to handle so much torque. The clutch is light
and smooth though, but the poor gearshift means you tend to rely more
on the
tremendous torque of the engine to do the job than to make gearshift
yourself just for fun. As for the alternate automated manual, its
upshift comes with noticeable delay, while automatic mode is jerky.
Otherwise, the Utopia is quite easy to drive. Its suspension feels
supple on Italian country roads, and there is a Ferrari-style bumpy
road mode for dealing with cobblestone pavement typical in Italian
towns. All controls but the gearshift are lightweight. The
electro-hydraulic steering has unwanted kickbacks filtered out while
still feels connected to the road.
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Gearshift
is the only shortcoming of its dynamic aspect.
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The
Utopia certainly feels light and quick. It might not be very quick in
standing start due to the slower gearbox and lack of four-wheel drive,
but the combination of strong torque and lightweight is obvious
whenever
you floor down the throttle. On wet surface its rear end
struggles for traction, but on the dry its traction and grip never feel
wanting. It offers superb front-end grip and resists understeer
remarkably. The brakes have good bite and strong stopping power. The
chassis balances better than Huayra. When it slides, it does so
progressively. Lift off mid-corner doesn’t threaten to bite you.
That said, combining lightweight and a powerful V12 without
sophisticated driving
aids means the Pagani cannot be as exploitable as some other supercars
or
hypercars built by Ferrari, McLaren or Lamborghini. You need to drive
more
smoothly and not abusing its tremendous power. In other words, drive
more like the old school way. But that doesn’t mean less fun. On the
contrary, the rawer and purer character combines thrills and fearsome
in
equal measure, making the Utopia all the more memorable.
Ultimately, what makes this car stand out is not straight line
performance, lap time or even pure driving thrills, but an unparalleled
artistic design and craftsmanship, knowing that it is created as a
perfect masterpiece. Pagani will build only 99 Utopia coupe and 130
roadsters, priced at 2.5
million and 3.1 million euros before tax respectively. All of them have
been sold already, which means the Modena factory will be kept busy in
the
next 4 years.
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Verdict:  |
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