2022 SP Automotive Chaos unveiled: First-ever "Ultracar", whatever that means

GranTurNismo

GranTurNismo

3,710
United States
Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA
The Greek-based supercar startup, Spyros Panopoulos (SP) Automotive, launched their first ever vehicle, the Chaos, dubbed by the company as the world's first ever "ultracar".

The Chaos is powered by a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V10 which will be available in two power levels, with 2,000 hp and an 11,000 rpm redline, and 3,000 hp and a whopping 12,000 rpm redline. The motor is designed and developed in-house, with a billet aluminum engine block, titanium or carbon 3D printed pistons and rods, titanium camshaft, titanium or Inconel valves, plus a pair of turbochargers made of carbon fiber, titanium, and ceramic compounds. SP Automotive is aiming to break an array of production car records including the fastest lap at the Nurburgring, the highest top speed, and the quickest 1/4 mile run with their all-new Chaos ultracar.

The company wants to produce a limited number of 20 units of the Chaos for each continent, with the model being exclusively distributed by Sotheby’s. Delivery is set to begin early 2022.

Pricing will start from around €5.5 million (equal to $6.4 million at current exchange rates) for the base 2,000 hp variant, and reach up to €12.4 million ($14.4 million) for the full-spec 3,000 hp model featuring all of the exotic materials and technologies.

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So, what does GTP think of the "ultracar"?
 
3000 horsepower screams vaporware to me, the most highly-tuned production cars tuned for drag racing/standing mile barely achieve that even with forced induction.

I’d be shocked if the fuel tank is large enough to last a lap on the Nürburgring.
 
What gets me is like...it is obvious no one will believe this in the car's current, effectively vaporware state. Why bother announcing it when you have no pedigree, no practical experience, and it could take up to two and a half, three years to effectively get to where you want to go?

(Don't answer, I already know the answer. It's a grift.)
 
According to SP Automotive's own website:

‘the ultracar is faster than ever before, innovative at all levels, with new technologies and innovative materials' such as expensive materials including titanium, carbon fiber, kevlar, inconel exhaust system, and zylon, were employed to form the machine. the car's monocoque is made of the last aforementioned material, which is the strongest man-made fiber, and its cross-sectional strength beats both steel and carbon fiber.

‘I couldn’t find the car of my dreams, so I built it myself,’ claims Spyros Panopoulos himself.

 
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$8 million more for 1,000 extra horsepower & exotic materials? I'm less concerned over the probability of these claims being accomplished & more concerned with the red flags this car is setting off elsewhere. Feels like money laundering or some other criminal activity is involved.


Otherwise, for significantly less money, you can buy a 2-3,000hp twin-turbo V10 Viper/Huracan capable of QTR mile records from reputable tuners.
 
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Spyros Panopoulos himself responds to allegations that the Chaos is vaporware in this letter:

"A group of people who don’t want our country to move forward, as this project is the work of Greeks, discovered a rendering of the facilities that we purchased (and looks like the new plant we are building) and used it to discredit us (if we wanted to mislead people, we’d have chosen a rendering that’s not publicly available). Which begs the question why don’t these people do the same thing to Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche and all companies who use the same images from that company?

Unfortunately, some car magazines also adopted the same rhetoric as they want to cater to the masses. They didn’t even bother to comment on what they saw, which took us thousands of man hours to build, nor even visit our website and see for themselves the real images we’ve published, or just give us a call. Moreover, they claim that we launched the car, which is not what I’ve said we would do.

Since I’m a man of my word, and despite the time pressure, on November 1, as promised, we showed the images and uploaded the car’s specs on our website. The next step is the official launch by members of the government (some of which have already seen it from up close).

And, finally, display it to the public, on our new facilities.

Those who deride us, claiming that the car doesn’t exist, or question our ability to build a 3,000 hp car in Greece when other automakers need 300 million, will be the ones who, soon enough, will ask us to be invited to the presentation in order to snap a picture and publish an article. They will be welcomed, so as to remember what they said and compare it with their recent articles and posts.

I need to stress that, despite claims that we’re spending taxpayers’ money, we haven’t received (or asked for) any funding from the private sector or the state."

www.carscoops.com

CHAOS In Greece With SP Automotive Responding To Vaporware Accusations From "Haters" | Carscoops

SP Automotive's multi-million dollar "ultracar", the Chaos, bringer of performance destruction and doom, has stirred up a controversy on social media
www.carscoops.com www.carscoops.com
 
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Silver Arrows
What gets me is like...it is obvious no one will believe this in the car's current, effectively vaporware state. Why bother announcing it when you have no pedigree, no practical experience, and it could take up to two and a half, three years to effectively get to where you want to go?

(Don't answer, I already know the answer. It's a grift.)
Click to expand...
You said not to answer, but...

Building a car is difficult, it makes sense to try to get some exposure and build interest early on. Attracting funding and talent early is good for both scams and real products.

Skepticism is fine but I wouldn't dismiss them outright. SSC's Tuatara was accused of being vaporware a couple of times I'm pretty sure just because they took their time to try to deliver a good product. Given that technology advances and competition demands the best, it was only a matter of time until 2-3000 HP cars came about. I don't know if they will succeed but I'm content to wait and see what happens.

As for my thoughts on the car itself, I've never really cared about the extreme horsepower wars. Ultra lightweight and aero efficiency are more interesting to me. I suppose from the description this car might be aiming for that too. I'm excited for any news of additive manufacturing and it's nice to see people trying to bring their ideas into reality.
 
Exorcet
Skepticism is fine but I wouldn't dismiss them outright. SSC's Tuatara was accused of being vaporware a couple of times I'm pretty sure just because they took their time to try to deliver a good product.
Click to expand...

The thing is, SSC at least had some name recognition in the high speed wars with the Ultimate Aero. You get that when you eventually make the next vehicle and release it to the buying public. It wasn't helped for SSC when some of the rolling concepts shown off looked incredibly sloppy and slapdash - not discounting the fake speed record and the controversy that surrounded the Tuatara last year.

This here is someone with no such track record making bold claims and basically going 'source: trust me'. Why would we trust that? Especially...

GranTurNismo
"A group of people who don’t want our country to move forward, as this project is the work of Greeks, discovered a rendering of the facilities that we purchased (and looks like the new plant we are building) and used it to discredit us (if we wanted to mislead people, we’d have chosen a rendering that’s not publicly available). Which begs the question why don’t these people do the same thing to Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche and all companies who use the same images from that company?

Unfortunately, some car magazines also adopted the same rhetoric as they want to cater to the masses. They didn’t even bother to comment on what they saw, which took us thousands of man hours to build, nor even visit our website and see for themselves the real images we’ve published, or just give us a call. Moreover, they claim that we launched the car, which is not what I’ve said we would do."
Click to expand...

...when you have statements like this that antagonize. The OEM's he mentioned have years of goodwill and trust built up, and know better then to shoot from the hip with their next cars. And lets be real, a project that has only government money funded in, even if it from a state like Greece who need the high level jobs, is on stilts already. It takes a change over in power, or bean counters realizing that money is better spent elsewhere then propping up one guy's hypercar dreams to have this all go up in smoke.
 
It seems that all these vaporware cars come from nations that aren't known for building cars at all. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and now Greece. Then again, if you told me that a Croatian firm would be co-owners of Bugatti a few years ago, I would've thought you were nuts. But even Spain would be more credible, as they have SEAT/Cupra and the GTA Spano.
 
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Silver Arrows
The thing is, SSC at least had some name recognition in the high speed wars with the Ultimate Aero. You get that when you eventually make the next vehicle and release it to the buying public. It wasn't helped for SSC when some of the rolling concepts shown off looked incredibly sloppy and slapdash - not discounting the fake speed record and the controversy that surrounded the Tuatara last year.

This here is someone with no such track record making bold claims and basically going 'source: trust me'. Why would we trust that?
Click to expand...
Making claims or stating goals? Ambitious as they are, I don't think there is a problem with aiming for them. You don't have to trust they will meet their goals, but that doesn't mean you have to dismiss them entirely.

Silver Arrows
Especially...



...when you have statements like this that antagonize. The OEM's he mentioned have years of goodwill and trust built up, and know better then to shoot from the hip with their next cars. And lets be real, a project that has only government money funded in, even if it from a state like Greece who need the high level jobs, is on stilts already. It takes a change over in power, or bean counters realizing that money is better spent elsewhere then propping up one guy's hypercar dreams to have this all go up in smoke.
Click to expand...
Everything is far from certain at this point, although even if this attempt fails, that doesn't have to kill the dream entirely.
 
For everyone who sees it like a random Greek that built a car.

  1. He has created parts for F1.
  2. He holds the world record for the fastest 1/4 mile with a custom 3k hp Mitsubishi Evo.
  3. Chaos is going to Top Gear.
  4. Chaos is going for a Nurburgring attempt to set the fastest lap.
  5. Chaos is going at the same track Bugatti went for the Chiron top speed record. This will be sponsored by Red Bull.
  6. Chaos is made out of Zylon and Kevlar. Zylon is found in NASA's parts and Formula 1. It is also 1.6 times stronger than Kevlar.
Below you can also find a really interesting timeline with SP innovations and achievements through years, so you stop thinking that he is a random Greek or another Devel Sixteen car:

Innovations

Innovations
spgroup.spyrospanopoulos.com spgroup.spyrospanopoulos.com

P.S. For everyone who wants to learn everything about the car and its production, here is a 30min documentary with English subtitles:
 
This guy acting like people are specifically hating the car because it's Greek shows the amount of insecurity he has and raises eye brows even more. I would question this car's claims from pretty much any manufacturer; 3,000Hp TT V10 w/ exotic materials for $14 million that blows away any quarter mile & Nurburgring record is highly questionable. Looking at it more, this guy has overdone parts of this car from the calipers to pistons and conrods that look like a frozen symbiote for no reason than to justify the silly price tag.

I'm not sure what going on Top Gear or going to the 'Ring is supposed to mean. Top Gear has featured flopped and disappointing cars before. It's claiming a 'Ring time, so I would expect it to actually go there.

Claiming it's going to Ehra-Lessien will be one to watch considering that's VW's private test track & they themselves have said it is notoriously difficult to visit.
"It was not an easy decision to invite you here," VW Group r&d boss Ulrich Eichhorn told reporters. Even VW employees have their mobile phones confiscated. "But the board decided that in the spirit of openness, we would show you some of the things that normally would stay secret for another two to five years."
Click to expand...
www.autoweek.com

Inside Volkswagen's secret Ehra-Lessien proving grounds

VW's best minds are at work making the future of automotive technology
www.autoweek.com www.autoweek.com
 
Even if they could build the car, the performance claims are still outlandish. Reaching 500+ km/h and being the fastest car around the Nurburgring are mutually exclusive. You need low drag/low downforce for one, and high downforce/high drag for the other. There's a reason the Koenigsegg Jesko is sold with 2 aero packages, one for top speed, and one for track attack.

The other car that comes to mind is the Bugatti Bolide. They claimed similar outlandish top speed/track laptime figures in the concept stage, and the production version ends up being less powerful and heavier. Now this is a company that is used to making 1000+ HP cars from exotic materials, and they still falls short of their target figures. What are the chances of a new company beating that?

I'm sure that they can build the car and it will be very fast, I'm just not convinced it will have all the performance numbers it claims.
 
LeGeNd-1
Even if they could build the car, the performance claims are still outlandish. Reaching 500+ km/h and being the fastest car around the Nurburgring are mutually exclusive. You need low drag/low downforce for one, and high downforce/high drag for the other.
Click to expand...

They aren't mutually exclusive. Underbody downforce generally comes with greatly reduced drag penalty compared wings. If you use wings, they can be retracted. Race cars suffer from decades of regulations to keep their performance down, we can do much much better than would be suggested by F1 or Prototype racing.
 

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