Pagani finally reveals bespoke Huayra R

FOUR months behind schedule, Pagani has finally debuted the Huayra R, the fastest and most track-focused vehicle it has produced to date.

The Huayra R is so track-honed in fact that it’s not actually road legal anywhere in the world, which according to Pagani founder and CEO Horacio Pagani, is exactly the point.

“In 2008 we were working on the Huayra, a very challenging and demanding project from an engineering and stylistic point of view,” he said.

“After so many years, I felt an overwhelming desire for freedom and that’s how the Zonda R came about, a track car free from constraints and regulations.

“Beautiful, high-performing and safe. The Huayra R, just like the Zonda R, is the freest, most extreme and performance-oriented Pagani car of all time.”

This essence of freedom and performance is reflected in virtually aspect of the Huayra R, especially in its styling and headline figures.

Looking like it has come straight from the grid of a one-make race series, the R is lower, longer and more aggressive than any Huayra that has come before it, including the super-exclusive Imola.

Despite wearing the Huayra nameplate and having the same core styling features as the production model, the Huayra R shares almost no components with the standard car and is powered by a completely different engine.

Instead of the familiar AMG-sourced twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre V12, Pagani has fitted the R with a racecar-derived naturally aspirated 6.0-litre V12 developing 625kW at 8250rpm and 750Nm of torque available between 5500-8300 rpm.

While peak power is developed at 8250rpm, the bespoke 12-cylinder will keep on revving to a screaming 9000rpm redline.

“The new engine had to have the charm, romance, sound and simplicity of the F1 engines of the 1980s, while incorporating state-of-the-art technology available today,” Mr Pagani said.

With brute force an obvious priority, engineers also wanted the engine to be as light as possible which is why the whole engine weighs just 198kg.

Drive is sent solely to the rear wheels via a specially developed six-speed sequential transmission.

Underpinned by a Carbo-Titanium and Carbo-Triax monocoque, the Huayra R boasts a dry weight of just 1050kg with carbon-fibre being used extensively for the body and vast majority of the interior.

Despite the immense power and inherent lack of weight – resulting in a power-to-weight ratio of 604kW per tonne – Pagani has not quoted any key performance figures for the Huayra R, however it has confirmed it will do more than 320km/h and generate more than 1000kg of downforce in doing so.

Suspension duties are taken care of front and rear by forged aluminium alloy independent double wishbones with helical springs and electronically controlled shock absorbers while the brakes come courtesy of Brembo.

Monolithic six-piston callipers feature in all four corners and clamp ventilated 410x38mm discs upfront and 390x34mm units at the rear, also ventilated.

Covering those brakes are a set of 19-inch APP forged monolithic aluminium alloy wheels, shod front and rear by slick Pirelli P Zeros.

According to Mr Pagani, the Huayra R is a “car sculpted for performance” for a “very intimate club of true adrenaline seekers”.

It remains to be seen yet exactly how many Huayra Rs enter production, however if the Zonda R was anything to go by, we would expect there to be less than 20.