Should supercars be downsized?

In fact should all car makers start making smaller cars? Yes, of course, they should, and makers of exotic cars are no different. If they don’t buyers will look for exotic versions of ordinary cars as alternatives – very hot muscle cars.

In recent years, the supercar makers have behaved exactly like the big manufacturers in pretending that global warming is not happening and blaming the consumer for the larger and heavier cars they are producing. Now, though they have realised the need for change, and the new Ferrari California, powered by a 4.3 litre V-8, is a good example.

True, Ferrari still builds cars powered by 6.0 litre V-12s, but the California is the type of car Ferrari expects to concentrate on in the future. There may be even smaller Ferraris yet.

Pagani, a true maker of exotic cars, uses a 7.3 liter engine, and Aston Martin is going up from 6.0 to 7.0 liters for its new exotic car. There is no reason why more compact exotic cars with engines of 4- 5 liters could not be just exciting to drive as these bigger ones. Pagani is already working on a car with a smaller engine.

There are some other technologies that make much more sense on low-volume applications, such as supercars. One is the hydraulic hybrid developed by Artemis IP in the UK. This is more efficient than any electric hybrid, can be made in low volume now, and would be ideal on a supercar.

Of course, any high-performance car will always tend to use a fair amount of fuel, and emit CO2, compared with a MINI Cooper S for example, but with the developments now afoot, and the fact that there are so few supercars, there is no reason why they should not continue to be built so long as Big Brother allows. Moreover, most supercars last a good deal longer than ordinary cars, so that overall they do not use up a lot of the planet’s resources.