QT Wildcat 500DKR - https://www.qtwildcat.co.uk/
Strap yourselves in for the wildest drive ever! The QT Wildcat is an off-road racecar designed to cover terrain that would be impassable for most road cars... and at serious pace. But now the Wildcat has another string to its bow - it can be driven on road too. So Auto Express took a deep breath and jumped behind the wheel.
Our test car was fitted with a Jaguar-sourced 4.0-litre V8, although JagΆs latest 3.0-litre V6 diesel is also available. Hooked up to a six-speed sequential gearbox (Quaife QBE86G six speed sequential Land Rover / Range Rover gearbox) with an addictive rifle-bolt action the V8 provides brisk acceleration and a booming exhaust note - but its corners that provide the real entertainment.
Turn into a bend and initially thereΆs loads of bodyroll, but the car quickly settles at its chosen angle and powers out the other side with grip to spare.
ItΆs off-road where the Wildcat really starts to make sense though - we were given a disused quarry to play in, and whether we were flying over a jump, splashing through puddles or drifting around corners it pummelled the terrain into submission.
Customers can order their cars in three, increasingly extreme, specifications. Although all are road legal, the 300STR is the most road-biased and can be fitted with luxuries like air-con and sat-nav. Next up is the 400NSR which takes a more stripped-out approach, but itΆs the full-fat 500DKR, designed without compromise to tackle extreme rally raids like the Dakar, that we were handed the keys to.
You might notice a slight resemblance to a Land Rover Defender, but in fact the high-stregth steel space frame chassis and dramatic fibre-glass panels are completely unique, only the headlights and grille are borrowed from the Defender. To give the car a useful range a 365-litre fuel tank is fitted where the rear seats would be, while two spare wheels slot either side of a storage box at the back.
Other kit rarely seen on the road includes a hydraulic jack to lift up the car at the touch of a button - ideal for running repairs - and remote-resevoir Donneaire dampers, costing £3500 per wheel.
-------
The QT Services Wildcat is a supercar for the rough stuff in the same way that a Ferrari 458 Italia is a supercar for the track. Put simply, itΆs a purpose-built off-road toy like nothing else this side of a tank.
Still, QT Services founder and managing director Dave Marsh is looking to take to the road with his Wildcat, building versions with leather interiors, sat-navs and air conditioning. However, he still maintains that these softer models are more capable off-road than almost anything else on the market. And he invited us out for a ride in this 300STR variant to explain the thinking behind us.
“We thought that the car would lend itself well to the UAE market,” Marsh says. “But to increase the appeal, we took a gamble by putting a lot of time, money and effort into building one with luxury car refinements. The interior alone took eight weeks to finish.”
With a 120,000 euro asking price, Marsh is right to assume that the car needs to have a degree of usability on the road if buyers are to be enticed. The Wildcat might be the ultimate off-road toy, but many might think that, for the purposes of mucking about in the desert, a Polaris side-by-side could provide similar thrills, at a fraction of the price.
This is why Marsh and his team of 10 have strived to turn the 300STR into something so much more than a simple toy. As we make our way to the fringes of the city, he explains that the price reflects not only the machineΆs capabilities, but also the highly personal service that his company provides. Anything can be specced, within reason, from 19-inch rims clothed in low-profile tyres to a luggage space big enough to accommodate a set of golf clubs. Marsh describes the Wildcat as a “Savile Row suit of the car world”.
And yet, despite the leather interior, the Alpine touchscreen entertainment system and the bespoke aluminium switches, itΆs clear from the get-go that this particular Wildcat still means business. The car sits on big, chunky, off-road tyres; the four-point harnesses bolt you down into racing seats; and you have to raise your voice in order to be heard over the 4.6-litre Rover V8Άs bellow.
Likewise, it can handle a cruise down the Beach Road with just as much ease. At one point, we were overtaken by a Lamborghini Gallardo, the driver of which slowed down to check us out before giving an approving nod and taking off. Marsh took note and said, “That tells you something, doesnΆt it?”
And thatΆs what it comes down to. Despite the best intentions, the appeal of the 300STR doesnΆt come from its off-road capabilities; it comes from its exclusivity. Marsh was driving us around in the only Wildcat in the country, one out of only 81 examples worldwide, making it more exclusive than any Ferrari, Lamborghini or Maserati currently available.
At 120,000 euro, then, it seems like quite a bargain.
Eμενα παντως μου κανει και ετσι: https://www.bmwfans.gr/forum/showthread.php?t=7722
