“Race cars are not entirely new to us,” says Roland Gumpert about the latest model from Altenburg. “After all, we competed in the 24h at the ‘Nürburgring’ race course with Heinz-Harald Frentzen in a hybrid apollo in 2008.” Increased demand, especially from Asia, has now prompted the company to offer a pure race car in addition to the street legal apollo and apollo s models. “Many of our customers are driving their apollo on the racecourse, usually during track days or private events. With the apollo r, we allow ambitious drivers among them to participate in open GT events.
The apollo r is more powerful and lighter than any other apollo. Since we are not necessarily known for understatement, we also decided to put this superiority on display with correspondingly striking foils on the apollo r”.
apollo r
So began the story of the apollo r, a car engineered for the race track based on customer demand. The 4.2 litre V8 engine which we thought couldn’t make any more horses than it could on the first apollo has been extensively modified to generate 860 horse power. These include a higher supercharging pressure, ignition and control time adjustments, optimisation of the intake air ducts and a special racing exhaust system. To ensure optimum performance even in the tropical weather you would find in most parts of Asia, the engine and transmission cooling system also has been enhanced. As with the last generation apollo, the transmission is controlled through paddles, or in Gumpert speak, ‘rocker switches’. Every thing else inside the car has been tossed out to make the car as light as possible.
The apollo wasn’t the most beautiful car when launched, but definitely was one of the most well engineered ones. Exceptional handling is still one of the most excellent traits of the apollo r. A titanium blade stabiliser on the rear axle improves the handling. Milled parts, the wiring harness and the undercarriage were all worked upon and optimized further. The boot has been shown the boot ( hehe, sorry) and the dry weight of the apollo r now stands at 1,100 kg.
The apollo r will be presented at Geneva in black-red-gold livery and the doors will be graced by a griffin, signature Gumpert graphics.
apollo enraged
A ‘mere’ boost to 780 hp and a reduction of the dry weight to 1,175 kg makes the apollo enraged faster and barely enraged street legal .
“Ok, so perhaps it is a bit crazy to take the most extreme, barely still street legal vehicle and make it even more extreme,” says Roland Gumpert about the limited special edition enraged – the unleashed and furious apollo. “But the idea behind the enraged, just like the apollo r itself, embodies our philosophy and our understanding of PURE GERMAN SPEED with absolute consistency.” GUMPERT intends to prove just how well, or how fast, the two vehicles actually realise this philosophy with another record time on the “Nordschleife” race course this year, and will work with Michelin as it always has towards this goal.
