800hp Sanrivatti One design revealed in full
You might not have heard about the Sanrivatti yet - but you'll want to hear about its 9,000rpm, 5.5-litre V10...
From 2,000hp EVs to 9,000rpm V16s, it can feel like we’ve seen all that the super duper hypercar has to offer. On the face of it, the Sanrivatti One looks more of the same: carbon this, high revving that, track focus and so on.
But there’s a difference. Well two, in fact, though only one that can be properly seen for the moment. The first is the exterior design, certainly unlike anything we’ve really seen from a mid-engined exotic before, the canopy very forward (almost like a cockpit - remember that) and the sculpting all around dramatic even for something that’ll likely never see a public road. There’s maybe a bit of Czinger to the design of the front end, maybe a bit of modern Lotus in just how drastic the aero treatment is, but there seems little danger of confusing the One for anything else. Or forgetting what it looks like in a hurry. Which is first hurdle overcome for a newly established hypercar.
The USP of the Sanrivatti, however, is what can’t really be fully seen for the moment. See underneath a body inspired by ‘the peregrine falcon in a high-speed dive and the precision of a modern fighter aircraft’ - you read that right - is the Apex Position. Which basically means the driver is head forward rather than feet forward and reclined in the car. There’s an illustration of how the supported driving position should work on the Sanrivatti website, but there are still some blanks to fill in around exactly how such a configuration might function. Does it still use pedals? Are the controls more like a motorbike than a car? Is there the equivalent of a heated seat? And so on. The advantage should be improved visibility, and surely a better connection with the car thanks to being so central and so far forward. It could be terrifying as well, right at the tip of the spear with 800hp to call upon, but if contemporary supercars are all a bit too user friendly then this might be just the ticket. Sanrivatti says the Apex Position ‘reshapes posture, sightlines, control positioning and the relationship between the human body and the car.’ One to keep an eye on, for sure.
There’s more traditional supercar appeal in the rest of the One, starting with the engine. Because just as it seemed like the V10 was done, in comes Judd Power to build a 9,000rpm screamer for Sanrivatti. It’ll be 5.5 litres in capacity, aiming for 800hp; to be honest that figure seems a lot less important than simply having access to a nat-asp V10 (however it is that you operate it). With a target weight of 1,100kg, it’s clearly going to be phenomenally fast. MD of Judd Engines, John W Judd (it’s one of the more interesting family businesses, surely) has called the company’s new engine a “compelling engineering foundation for a car built around directness, responsiveness and the experience behind the wheel.” And there’s a sequential - bring it on.
The rest of the Sanrivatti package ticks all the important track supercar boxes. Brakes are all carbon AP Racing items, with each corner also featuring a Braid forged magnesium wheel and Michelin slick. There are double wishbones and pushrod dampers all round, with a carbon monocoque underpinning the entire thing. Plenty is, understandably, intended and targeted rather than confirmed for the moment, but Sanrivatti appears to be moving in the right direction. As they put it, this is a car ‘conceived not simply to go faster, but to make speed feel different.’ Which feels like a laudable guiding principle if nothing else. And what a world where more than 700hp per tonne isn’t about pure speed…
Santiago Sánchez Rivero, Founder and CEO of Sanrivatti, said: “When we started Sanrivatti, we didn’t want to create another hypercar that simply followed the established formula with more power and more technology. We wanted to question something more fundamental: what it actually feels like to drive. The One is the first time people can see how that belief has shaped a complete car, from the position of its driver to its exterior proportions and the engine we have chosen… We are building the One to make every moment behind the wheel more physical, instinctive and rewarding.” As this show car makes its global debut, engineering and prototype work will continue. There’s plenty more to do, of course, but the Sanrivatti is nothing if not interesting. In a saturated supercar space, that’s a pretty big achievement all on its own.
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