New British sportscar!

under18carbon

under18carbon

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Visitors to Autosport International, will be amongst the first to glimpse a stunning new sports car which will be built in the Midlands.

Virago Cars Limited is to show the two seater coupe which has its roots in a sports race car, at the two day event. The Virago can be seen alongside other Midlands manufactured cars on Stand 6230 at the international racing car show which is being held at the NEC in Birmingham on the 14th and 15th January 2006.

The high tech/race bred sports car will fill a niche in the automotive market, selling for under £50,000 and although competing with Noble and TVR, it will be more refined, comfortable and practical for everyday use. As well as an interior that will be stunning and superior to anything at the price, a 3 litre Duratec V6 engine will provide reliability and easy low cost servicing.

Performance figures suggest a top speed in excess of 150mph and an acceleration time to 60mph in under 5.5 seconds.

Managing Director, Andy Nowson, a former Land Rover executive and fleet vehicle product planner said: “Creating and building this car is a great opportunity and a dream job, but I have spent enough time in business to be hard headed about it. I am seeking finance to establish a low cost assembly facility in the Midlands, with manufacturing starting during the fourth quarter of 2006.”
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I think it kinda looks like the older Elise...!
 
Nice looking cart.
It seems like that the Mondeo 3.0 V6 Duratec engine is a big hit. Lots of other British sports cars use it.
 
Not too keen on the looks, not from that angle anyway.
 
Like the Elise comment stated, this car looks like something from the mid-90s. Not good.

And they say it will be more refined than a Noble? Let's see them pull that off...
 
Truly outdated... or in other words, it's a modern classic. :lol:

But pick this over a Noble? errh....
 
Looks like a cross between the Lotus Elise and the Noble M400... She looks pretty, but I do not like the engine choise at all. They do realise its a minivan engine, right?
 
...and a sedan engine, and an SUV engine... no, wait.

It's a Noble engine. :lol:
 
Considering how readily accessable the Mustang GT's 4.6L V8 is, I'm surprised they wouldnt go after that.
 
It's all about the weight. Protomotors uses the Ford 4.6 V8... but the Brits love Ford's V6 and I4 motors because they're cheap and parts are plentiful. Plus, the V6 represents less of a packaging problem for lightweight compact sportsters and can still be boosted or tuned for a respectable (as opposed to outrageous) amount of power.
 
YSSMAN
They do realise its a minivan engine, right?
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Where did you get that information??

It's a Ford Mondeo engine. Ford started to use this engine in the Mondeo ST220. Now, Ford puts this engine in the Mondeo 3.0 V6 Ghia (204 bhp), 3.0 V6 Titanium X (204 bhp but more luxurious) and the Mondeo ST220 (226 bhp).
A friend of mine is a testdriver (Ford) and he told me that a certain Aston Martin uses this engine aswell (two 3.0 V6 ST220 engines put together). Noble uses this engine and put a twin turbo on it.
 

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Hmm. The shape isn't very offensive at all but there is just something about it which strikes me as being not quite right. It could be the short nose or the silly intake on the side, which just looks dumb.

Ah, got it. The SUV like ride height. You could get a fist or two between the wheel well and the tyres.

However, if it is pretty light and handles well then it could make up for the looks. Even if it is a Mondeo engine, if it doesn't have much weight to push then it should be perfectly good.
 
I don't like the bonnet and I don't think it goes with the rest of the front.

I don't think a new entry in the already overcrowded sports car market, which is facing serious competition from sports versions of mainstream cars will do very well unless it dazzles in performance. I don't think the power, weight or even the top speed are anything special. If anyone would be interested in the comfort this car offers they would rather go for a Aston Martin or Jaguar, far more class. Since it can't really compete with Lotus Sport Elise or Exige, any TVR or either Noble on performance and looks I can't see exactly what so special about it.:indiff:

It needs a change of looks: different bonnet, more aggressive angles, rear and front wings. I also needs to kick at least 400Bhp, bring a sub 5s 0-60Mph time and knock on the door of 175Mph to offer tentative performance. Lastly it needs to go for raw performance without compromises for comfort to start with, thus grabbing the headlines and impressing the Automotive Media. It can then follow up with a comfort orientated version, once it has established it's name.;)

If some drastic changes aren't made in Virago's plans it'll go the Jensen way.👎
 
:lol: Thats a sports car!!!!!! Ive seen sportier smart cars. Crap!

Dont see how it can compete with TVR or noble though when it has a 0-60 time of 5.5 secs.
 
5.5 is the target to beat, not the actual 0-60 time, it'd better hit 60 in under 5 to have any chance of competing with TVR and Noble, to compete with the 50k TVR's it'd need a sub 4 second 0-60 time.
 
The 3.0L Duratec V6 can be found in everything from Freestar Minivans, the aincient Taurus, Freelander Crossover, The Fusion, The Fivehindred, The Mazda 6s, Mazda MPV Minivan, etc... Its in almost every Ford and Mazda "mainstream" product here in the US...

I'm not going to completely discredit this engine as I too know that two of these make up the V12 found in the DB9 and Noble has had great success modifying the engine in the M12 GTO and M400... But it is what it is, a minivan engine...
 
YSSMAN
You do realise its a minivan engine, right?
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kikie
Where did you get that information??
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Lets see:
- Ford Freestar and Mazda MPV Minivans
- Ford Freelander Crossover
- Ford Fusion
- Ford Taurus
- Ford Fivehundred
- Mazda 6s

...Not to mention a sloo of Mercury and Linclon Products...

I'll give credit where credit is due, as two of them make the sultry V12 in the DB9, and Noble has made good use of the engine in the M12 GTO and M400...

But it is what it is, a minivan engine...
 
YSSMAN
But it is what it is, a minivan engine...
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Wow, you're right. I'm driving a mondeo with a minivan engine. :scared:
I forgot, Jaguar also uses this engine. The Ford Fushion looks differently, over here were I live. And I've never heard of some of the Fords you mentioned. I'm driving a Mondeo ST220 but I never was and never will be a "Ford fan".

My mondeo is a minivan, hehe. :)

This engine provides enough power and this in combination with low weight, it's probably good enough to use it in sportcars like the Noble, this new British sportscar, the DB9, the Jaguar S-type etc....
 
Funny thing happened with the old Duratec V6... When Mazda decided to put it in the 6s, they changed a lot of the engine. Now in the Fusion, Ford uses the same unit, producing more horsepower and torque than before. By comparison, DCX sells the classic 3.5L unit with 250HP, while over at GM they continue on with the 3.9L (modified version of the GEN-IV 3800) unit with 240HP. The Ford unit however marches on with 221HP, impressive at 3.0L, but is still lacks the low-end grunt offered by the GM and DCX unit... The Ford/GM designed 6-speed auto does change the playing field a bit, offering a bit more oopmh out of the otherwise "wheezy" powetrain...
 
Well, AMC Gremlins used the same motor as some 924 series Porkers.

Does this mean that the AMC has a Porsche motor and a Porker has a AMC motor? Certainly not.

Suzuki motorbicycles certainly don't run Radical motors...
 
No, I'm just being sarcastic...

I give anyone credit who can turn an otherwise crappy engine into a decent power plant as Noble did...
 

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