Features > Tramontana R

78 motoring | May 2009

SHOCK andCan a Spanish-built supercar impress Dr. Ian Kuah? Read on to fi nd out Words & Photos | Dr. Ian Kuah

IT TAKES A VERY SPECIAL CAR TO RAISE EYEBROWS IN MARBELLA WHEREFerraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches are two a penny. The Tramontana R, Spain’s fi rst home-grown supercar, fi ts the bill nicely.

Even in Marbella, it is not everyday that you see what ap-pears to be a tandem two-seater Formula One car with a canopy driving around. At a set of traffi c lights near Puerto Banus, a pil-lion rider got off his scooter to take pictures of the car with his phone camera. The visible shock and awe on the faces of other drivers, was simply priceless.

NEW KIT ON THE BLOCKLike many fast cars, the Tra-montana is named after a wind. Tramontana is a strong wind that blows at up to 200km/h through the mountains of the Cataloni-an region of North-east Spain where this car originates.

The Tramontana story was born a decade ago as the seed

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May 2009 | motoring 79

of an idea in the fertile mind of company founder and design-er, Josep Rubau, an automotive design graduate of the Royal College of Art who worked in VW’s design studio in Wolfs-burg until 2000.

During his time at VW, Josep dreamt of revitalising the Spanish specialist car industry with the country’s very fi rst ever supercar. While most people today think of Spanish cars in terms of SEAT, the reality is that Spain has an automotive history as illustrious as any nation.

Hispano Suiza and Pegaso immediately spring to mind, and although they no longer exist as car manufacturers, these two marques can lay claim to cars that rivalled Rolls Royce, Bugatti and then Alfa Romeo and Lancia in the early 20th Century and 1950s respectively.

Drawings are one thing, fi nancing the transformation from lines on paper into car-bon-fi bre, steel and rubber quite another. But Josep was fortunate enough to fi nd a small group of like-minded people, including well-known business consultant, Alber Foncillas, who were will-ing to help him turn the project into reality.

The design study debuted at Geneva in 2005, with a pro-duction ready car following a year later. The Tramontana R is the latest version, and has many improvements including a 92kg weight reduction to 1,268kg. For speed, add lightness was Colin Chapman’s mantra at Lotus. For more speed, add lightness and more power was Josep’s for the Tramontana project.

His relentless quest to fulfi l both these parameters resulted in the Tramontana R shedding a further 92kg from the weight of the 2006 Geneva Show car. 1,268kg leaves it 18kg heavier than the Pagani Zonda F, and 88kg heavier than the Koenig-segg CCX.

In bhp/ton terms, the mid-engined Spanish car trails its Swedish rival, but what neither the CCX or Zonda F have is the massive 1,100Nm of torque

that accompanies the 720bhp of the in-house tuned Mercedes bi-turbo V12.

The gearbox is the ubiq-uitous Italian-made six-speed CIMA unit, married to a se-quential shift with its lever on the right-hand-side in Formula car style. Power is fed through a limited-slip differential, and the traction control system has four settings, one of which is Off!

RAW SENSATIONJust to keep drivers from get-ting too enthusiastic on cold tyres and with a cold engine, the ECU mapping restricts the motor to a mere 550bhp upon start-up. You have to push the Power button to summon the remaining 170 horses.

When you do give the car full beans from rest, even with the adjustable traction control, the physics of rear-wheel-drive layout limits the 0-100km/h to 3.6 sec. Because of this, the 10.15 sec 0-200km/h time is

more indicative of the car’s real potential. Top speed is electroni-cally limited to 325km/h.

Because the Tramontana seats two people, its tall Mer-cedes V12 sits further back in the chassis than the motor of a Formula One race car. Because of this, front/rear weight distri-bution is 42/48 percent.

Being a high downforce car, it’s Cd of 0.4 is no match for many of today’s family cars, but the upside is 240kg of down-force at 300km/h, and a lateral acceleration fi gure of 1.22 g on normal street tyres.

The massively stiff carbon-fi bre centre tub weighs just 128kg and forms the backbone of the car. The tubular steel front and rear space frames are bolted to the tub. Torsional stiffness is an impressive 40,000Nm/degree of twist.

The engine acts as a stressed member in the chassis, and the rear frame, with the big heavy motor, will sheer away from the

UNLIKE ANY OTHERThis is a serious piece of kit with enough power and attraction that will change weather

LIKE MANY

FAST CARS, THE

TRAMONTANA IS

NAMED AFTER

A WIND...

BESPOKE RACERParts like these make the Tramontana R a road-legal ‘racer’, it will shame most fast cars and still look fab around most cities in the world – better to give way if you see one in your rear view mirror

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May 2009 | motoring 81

centre tub in a big accident, thereby removing the risk of fire. The Tramontana has passed the strict crash tests mandated by the FIA for F1 cars.

The double wishbone sus-pension with pushrod-operated Ohlins dampers is hung off the tubular steel front and rear car-riers. One of the bugbears of any supercar is ground clear-ance. As Spain seems to have more speed bumps than most other European countries, the Tramontana’s suspension was designed from day one with a hydraulic lifting device.

In normal ride height mode, ground clearance is 85mm, ris-ing to 130mm to clear ramps or speed bumps. At the other end of the spectrum, the optional Sport Kit provides an addition-al lower position for track use, with ground clearance reduced to just 50mm.

Dymag makes the 8.5J and 12J x 20-inch diameter ultra-light carbon-fibre/magnesium wheels for Tramontana. These are the lightest road legal wheels mon-ey can buy, and are shod with 245/40ZR20 and 335/30ZR20 Pirelli P Zero Rosso rubber. Behind them, the brakes are massive 380 x 34mm carbon-ceramic discs all round with six-pot AP Racing callipers.

At this level, owners want ex-clusivity in all things, including the smallest switchgear. Here, the Tramontana breaks with the norm in all design aspects, even down to its removable horse-shoe-shaped steering wheel, which is strongly reminiscent of a chrome-spoked, hand-stitched, leather clad version of the tiller on a B-17 Flying Fortress!

The first time you attempt to climb into the long, thin cabin, you will likely first stand be-side the car for a few seconds trying to figure out the most elegant and least painful way to accomplish what appears to be a serious gymnastic feat.

There is a step at the bot-tom of the tub just in front of the air intake nacelles on either side, and you use this to lever your self up and over the side. Placing one hand on the top of the thin, lightweight Recaro seat also helps you to both climb over the side and then lower yourself in.

Once in you discover two things. First of all, the cockpit looks and feels so completely different from any rival su-percars that any attempt at comparisons is superfluous. Sec-ondly, the drivers’ seat might look Spartan, but it is one of the most comfortable car seats I have ever had the pleasure of sitting on. I fully understand how Josep was able to drive the 1,200kms from Girona to Marbella in one day.

From a practical point of view, the rear seat is fine for peo-ple of average size, and the 100 litre fuel tank and 55 litre lug-gage compartment and optional fitted luggage make it a viable car for a weekend away.

The instrument panel is deep black when everything is off. Turn the ignition key and you are treated to a Playstation grade display of graphics for a couple of seconds before the speedo and rev counter settle down for business. You have the choice of analogue or dig-ital readouts for both.

When I closed the canopy, I immediately had the feeling I was in a jet fighter cockpit, and when I later relayed this first im-pression to Josup, he just smiled. It turns out that one of his en-gineers, Manuel Brown, was on the Eurofighter Typhoon design team. It is certainly the most practical way of enclosing a tan-dem seating arrangement.

Of course jet fighters don’t have massive wheels on either side of their cockpits, and this is where the Tramontana is crossed with a Formula One car,

WHEN I CLOSED THE CANOPY, I IMMEDIATELY HAD THE FEELING I WAS IN A JET FIGHTER COCKPIT

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WOW FACTORWho needs air-con or other creatures comfort when you have a cabin made like this? Open roads are made to accommodate cars like this

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82 motoring | May 2009

even if it needs mudguards to be road legal.

Those big wheels give you a good sense of width and dis-tance on the road, and visibility out of the glazed canopy is not at all bad. The only real blind spot is to the rear, and this is taken care of by a reversing camera.

CONCLUSIONWith just 12 cars to be made each year, exclusivity is a giv-en. Apart from rarity value and spectacular performance, the superb fit and finish, comfort of the seats and well-resolved ride and handling are also im-pressive.

The 385,000 euro tax-free price may sound like a lot, but when compared to some far less unique supercars, the Tramon-tana R is actually something of a bargain. And if exclusivity is your goal in life, the chances of meeting another one at the traf-fic lights is more remote than winning the lottery!

>SPECIFICATIONS:

TRAMONTANA R EDITION

GENERALType: Mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, closed-top single/twin seaterPrice: P.O.A.

ENGINECapacity: 5,513ccCylinder Layout: V12, twin turboValves: 48Compression Ratio: 9.1:0Bore x Stroke: N.A.Maximum Power: 550bhp at 5,000rpmMaximum Torque: 720Nm at 5,250rpm

TRANSMISSIONType: 6-speed sequential manual

MEASUREMENTSLength: 4,900mmWidth: 2,080mmHeight: 1,300mmWheelbase: N.A.Kerb Weight: 1,268kgPower-to-weight Ratio: 433.8bhp/tonne

SUSPENSION AND BRAKESFront: Double wishbones, ceramic brakesRear: Double wishbones, ceramic brakes

TYRESType: Pirelli P Zero RossoSize: 245/40 ZR20 front, 335/30 ZR20 rear

PERFORMANCE0-100km/h: 325 secsTop Speed: 3.6km/h

w WE LIKE Resolute purpose of existence, exclusivity, engine, handling and speed

f WE DON’T LIKE Not much

R CANDY Naked bodywork, push-rod suspension and a canopy are perfect ingredients for a storm chaser