Wild Ginetta Akula supercar revealed with 600bhp

If we were playing a game of ‘guess the car’ based on two key stats of 600bhp and a 473-litre boot, our first thought would be that BMW has released a new, more extreme version of the M3. 

But we’d be wrong, because believe it or not, those are not the figures of a new four-door super saloon, but of Yorkshire’s finest Ferrari-baiter. This is the Ginetta Akula: the supercar that wants to be a track weapon, grand tourer and practical load-lugging hatch all rolled into one.

It’s a car that we first saw back in 2019, but five years of development have prepared it for series production. Those five years haven’t diminished the Akula’s wildly shaped bodywork; a result of extreme aerodynamic modelling derived from the firm’s G61-LT-P1 LMP1 Le Mans Racer.

In addition to the front splitter, turning vanes and wild rear wing, there’s a completely flat carbon fibre floor to help air flow cleanly towards that deep diffuser. It all serves to make those storage numbers even more astonishing.

This was the aim of Ginetta’s owner Dr Lawrence Tomlinson all along: to create a supercar that’s as at home on a track like the Nurburgring as it will be making the near 1,200-mile round trip from the firm’s base just outside of Leeds to The Green Hell and back. 

There’s an awful lot of focus on making the Akula rapid on track. It starts with a carbon fibre monocoque, to which carbon fibre subframes are attached front and rear, reinforced by a steel roll cage. Suspension is by race-bred billet aluminium double wishbones all round with electronically adaptive dampers and manually adjustable front and rear anti roll bars.

Steel brake discs measure 360mm, with carbon ceramic items available as an option. Whether you need the carbon brakes is another thing altogether; the steel items come from the brand’s GT4 racer, so Ginetta admits that these are already well over-engineered for a road car. Aluminium centre-locking wheels of Ginetta’s own design are 20 inches in diameter and wrapped in Pirelli P Zero tyres measuring 265/35/20 at the front and 305/35/20 at the rear.

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Ginetta has tried to ensure that all major components are packaged between the axles for a perfect 50:50 weight distribution. Not only does this mean that everything in front of the front wheels and behind the rear can be designed purely for those extreme aerodynamics, but in centralising all of the heaviest components, Ginetta says the Akula has a “uniquely low” polar moment of inertia. In other words, it should be able to change direction with a near telepathic level of response through Ginetta’s electric power steering system paired with a competition rack. 

Those major components include the engine, which has some serious stats of its own. A 6.4-litre V8 using a Ginetta-designed billet aluminium block produces an official 600bhp at 7,200rpm and 670Nm of torque at 5,100rpm. The engine, which weighs around 175kg, is entirely located behind the front axle - so much so that much of the engine block sits beneath the base of the windscreen and ahead of the deep dashboard, it means the Akula is front mid-engined. The exhausts exit from the side, to make them shorter and further centralise the mass. Drive drive is sent to the rear wheels via a Ginetta limited-slip differential and either a six-speed manual or a seven-speed dual clutch gearbox. 

In a car which weighs 1,190kg, that results in serious straight-line speed. The 0-62mph time takes 2.9 seconds, while the top speed, pegged back by that extreme aero, is claimed at 180mph-plus.

Inside, the Akula again shows its practical side, looking in some places like a full-on GT3 racer (albeit much better finished) with cup-holders, yet the wide cabin and generous roofline provide plenty of head and elbow room. The seats are fixed, forming part of the carbon fibre monocoque, with buyers having foam padding tailored to their own body. This padding is also on the transmission tunnel and the side of the doors, allowing the driver to brace themselves during hard cornering. 

With the seats fixed, that means that both the pedal box and the steering wheel (made from carbon fibre, naturally) are both adjustable. Many components, including the door handles, air vents and intricate speaker grilles are CNC machined aluminium, adding to the bespoke feel. 

In addition to those cupholders, standard kit includes a touchscreen infotainment system with iOS integration, a heated windscreen and wireless smartphone charging as standard. Those optional carbon ceramic brakes come as part of the Race Pack, which also includes six-point harnesses plus your own Ginetta race suit, boots, gloves and underwear.

Further adding to the practicality is a huge 100-litre fuel tank, which Ginetta claims will enable a range of 450 miles; that translates to roughly 20mpg.

You might expect a carbon-bodied, bespoke supercar to be pricey, and you’d be right: the Akula starts at £275,000 plus taxes and shipping. In the UK, that means £330,000 – or exactly the same price as the recently revealed Aston Martin Vanquish. This will be the more exclusive of the two, however, with production limited to just 20 units – a nod to the 20th anniversary of Dr Tomlinson acquiring the company.

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