Automotive

Arash debuts the 550-hp AF8

Arash debuts the 550-hp AF8
Arash shows the all-new AF8 that debuted before the Geneva Motor Show
Arash shows the all-new AF8 that debuted before the Geneva Motor Show
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The all-new Arash AF8
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The all-new Arash AF8
Arash affixes a carbon fiber intake system to the GM V8
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Arash affixes a carbon fiber intake system to the GM V8
The Arash AF8 measures 13.6 x 6.2 x 3.6 ft (4.15 x 1.9 x 1.1 m)
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The Arash AF8 measures 13.6 x 6.2 x 3.6 ft (4.15 x 1.9 x 1.1 m)
The Arash AF8
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The Arash AF8
The AF8 uses LED taillights
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The AF8 uses LED taillights
The AF8's aerodynamic package includes a rear spoiler, rear diffuser and front spoiler
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The AF8's aerodynamic package includes a rear spoiler, rear diffuser and front spoiler
The Arash AF8
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The Arash AF8
The Arash AF8
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The Arash AF8
The Arash AF8 tackles the track
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The Arash AF8 tackles the track
The Arash AF8 hits the track
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The Arash AF8 hits the track
Arash will build 36 first edition AF8 models
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Arash will build 36 first edition AF8 models
Arash revealed the AF8 in late February
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Arash revealed the AF8 in late February
Arash shows the all-new AF8 that debuted before the Geneva Motor Show
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Arash shows the all-new AF8 that debuted before the Geneva Motor Show
The Arash AF8 will start at £165K
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The Arash AF8 will start at £165K
The AF8 uses a pair of bi-xenon headlamps
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The AF8 uses a pair of bi-xenon headlamps
The AF8 is powered by a 550-hp 7.0-liter V8 engine
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The AF8 is powered by a 550-hp 7.0-liter V8 engine
The Arash AF8 is a sports car meant for road and track
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The Arash AF8 is a sports car meant for road and track
The AF8 is the successor to Arash's AF10, as well as car designs from Farboud Limited, Arash's predecessor
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The AF8 is the successor to Arash's AF10, as well as car designs from Farboud Limited, Arash's predecessor
The all-new Arash AF8
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The all-new Arash AF8
A look under the AF8's skin
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A look under the AF8's skin
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Thanks to the Geneva Motor Show, "supercars," including the Koenigsegg One:1 and Pagani Zonda Revolucion, have been a major focus of automotive news this month. But one supercar that debuted just prior to the show and didn't make an appearance in Geneva is the Arash AF8 – a light, lithe British exotic sports car with a big 7.0-liter engine.

The AF8 is only the second car to carry the Arash name, following the AF10 that debuted in 2010. Arash only developed a single AF10 show car but plans to actually build and sell a limited run of AF8 models.

Like the AF10, the AF8 has a reworked 7.0-liter GM V8 engine mounted amidships. Interestingly, output has been dialed back a touch from the AF10 spec sheet, with the AF8 firing out 550 hp at 6,500 rpm (versus the AF10's 600 bhp) and generating 470 lb-ft (637 Nm) of torque at 5,000 rpm. The engine breathes naturally with the help of a carbon intake system, while a titanium exhaust system spits things out the other end. A six-speed manual transmission mounted to the rear subframe puts the driver in charge of gear selection.

A look under the AF8's skin
A look under the AF8's skin

The real magic of the AF8 lies in its lightweight build. It steps gingerly on the scale, weighing in at 2,645 lb (1,200 kg), a fighting weight it maintains with a diet of carbon fiber body panels and carbon-reinforced tubular steel chassis. The car touches ground with Michelin Pilot 2 tires wrapped around forged aluminum wheels (19 x 9.5-in front, 20 x 12.5-in rear), which send it rolling to 60 mph (96.5 km/h) in an estimated 3.5 seconds, on up to a top speed of 200 mph (322 km/h). Double wishbone suspension eats the bumps of the road, while ventilated floating steel disc brakes bring the car screaming back to rest.

Its powertrain may be old school, but the AF8 does employ plenty of modern technology, including a five-stage Arash Stability Management traction control, touchscreen infotainment system, heated windshield and optional Navtrak ADR security immobilizer and tracking system. The air conditioning will come in handy while showing off the exotic wheels on the sweltering summer beach circuit.

The Arash AF8 hits the track
The Arash AF8 hits the track

Arash explains in detail that the styling of the AF8 was carefully evolved from the AF10 and Farboud GT models that preceded it, but the truth of it is, the company might as well have just spit it out of a "generic supercar" 3D printer. Thanks to its rounded edges, it packs a more refined look than the AF10, but it's arguably less interesting as a result. It looks like any dozen of equally derivative designs from supercars present and past, with its only point of visual interest being the LED taillights – and those are slapped on a flat, broad afterthought of a rear fascia.

We wouldn't refuse an AF8 test drive, but for the £165,000 (US$275,000) "indicative on road price," it's far from the most intriguing option in its class. Arash plans to offer 36 specially numbered first edition AF8s painted up in "launch edition yellow." Beyond that, there will be a full selection of solid and metallic color options.

Source: Arash

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6 comments
6 comments
Adrien
Could never buy that on the name alone. How do you say at a party in polite company that you have a rash? Isn't there ointment you can use for that?
Change the name guys.
Slowburn
If one was to build a replica of a 68 Roadrunner keeping the blunt nose but with the wing from a 70 Superbird out of tube steel and carbon fiber, giving her state of the art suspension and a super boosted 6lt engine with a 7-speed dual clutch transmission you will end up with a car of excellent performance that you can also take the wife kids and mother in law in the trunk for a weekend trip, or use to get a week's groceries home. Most importantly however is it would look far better than these silly wedges.
Mel Tisdale
The motor industry is a fashion industry. The current fashion seems to be that cars should be as uneconomical as possible. We can be fairly sure that we are past peak oil, at least in terms of the oil industry's ability to match demand, which is rising faster than supply. We also know that we are not discovering enough new oil fields to stand a hope in hell of reversing the decline, especially with the massive Ghawar oil field seemingly in its death throes. Even the 'salvation' in the form of fracking is proving not to live up to expectations.
The oil industry is between a rock and a hard place. It can raise the price in order to make a profit (think dividends) and also fund much need exploration, but in the process reduce demand on account of it being too expensive for many (think price hikes for anything that is transported anywhere) on top of pump prices). This, perversely, will reduce profits and funding for exploration. Alternatively, it can leave the price to the markets and thus reduce profits and exploration funding, which will reduce production levels leading to scarcity. (If it comes to a choice between funding dividends or exploration, there are no prizes for guessing which will win.)
Either way, high pump prices or scarcity of supply or probably both, the last thing the public needs is a whole spate of high performance cars with thirsty engines. Yet it seems that each issue of gizmag has either some new supercar or some high performance mid-range one for us to supposedly salivate over. The party's over guys. The brmm! brmm! times are behind us.
Griffin
Regarding the 3 prior comments:
1.Yeah, the name's gotta go....
2.Superbird wings are useless and ridiculous without the nose. It was an aerodynamic package- the nose was the most important part- the cars were unstable at high NASCAR speeds and the nose would lift.
At speeds under 70mph, it's creating more drag than downforce.
3.As for peak oil, nobody ever mentions plastic.
What will the world do without plastic?
Currently, most people are spending more actual money on video games and entertainment gadgetry- a lot of people may like Supercars but they drive Hondas&minivans.
There needs to be more cars like the little diesel Avion that got over 100mpg going from Canada to Mexico going down I-5.
Shoot, the way things are going with Russia&the global economy, a lot more people may soon be happy just to have good shoes on their feet...
Slowburn
@ Mel Tisdale The whole peak oil thing is premature and even if it wasn't there are more ways to make fuel than from crude oil or farmland.
@ Griffin Ok I'll tweak the wing a bit, but sense I am not operating under rules ridiculously limiting my power or trying to win races I'll make the car esthetically pleasing to me and that means losing the stupid looking wedge from the front
steveraxx
Far too many cars looking for a very limited market. A lot of these supposed companies will not produce anything beyond a few demonstrators and poof... gone
Observation: It is interesting how many supposedly uber-wealthy people pay so much attention, so much money for a vehicle that they will only allow themselves to drive less than 3,000 miles a year, lest they destroy the cars market "value."
So, all of those P-1's and their ilk are never really "owned." They are simply repositories of value, rather like selling your Rolex for quick cash when in a bind in Las Vegas Nevada.
Or the extreme narcissism of the owners of these Super-cars. To the point where they mount cameras on them, and then prattle about some major city capturing people looking at said car and then posting the video on youtube in order to further the ohhs and ahhs.