Japan's Aspark has just crowned its Owl SP600 electric hypercar the fastest in the world, ripping the bragging rights from the driving gloves of the Rimac Nevera and coming in 26.7 km/h faster than the sporty Croatian's impressive 2022 record.
"It has been about 10 years since we started working on the Owl hypercar," said company CEO Masanori Yoshida, who founded Aspark in 2005.
"We aimed for the world’s fastest accelerating car, then attempted and achieved the top speed world records today [June 8] with our new hypercar Owl SP600. This technical capability inspires all involved to personal excellence and to challenge and grow in leaps and bounds into the future."
The Aspark Owl electric hypercar made its debut at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show in prototype form, ahead of a blistering 1.89-second sprint from standstill to 100 km/h the following February. By November 2019 we knew the price tag for this 1,480-kW monster – a cool US$3.1 million – when a prototype tapped into 2,000 Nm (1475 lb.ft) of torque to clock a zero to 96.5 km/h (0-60 mph) time of 1.69 seconds using race tires.
Aspark partnered with boutique manufacturer Manifattura Automobili Torino to build just 50 production models in Italy, with the first official showroom opening in Osaka, Japan, and sales announced for North America and Europe in December 2020.
Key specs for the production model include 1,456-kW (1,953-hp) of output power from four motors and 4,600 Nm (3,392.785 lb.ft) of torque at each rear wheel plus 2,120 Nm (1,563.6 lb.ft) at each front wheel for a 0-100 km/h sprint in 1.78 seconds and a top speed of 413 km/h (256.6 mph). Per-charge range for the 69-kWh Li-ion battery pack is reported to be 400 km (248.5 miles).
It's a low rider too, at just 910 mm tall, and rolls on large Michelin tires – 265/35 ZR20 to the front and 325/30 ZR21 at the back. Support for 200-kW/800-V fast charging, double wishbone suspension with active ride height control and Sicom disc brakes round things out nicely.
The Owl winged its way to the UK last year to set two Guinness World Records at Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire – for the fastest eighth of a mile by an electric vehicle and fastest quarter mile. And a few months ago, the electric hypercar made an appearance at the Amelia Concours d'Elegance in the US before going on display at the Miami Supercar Rooms for sales talk by appointment only.
That about brings us up to date, except to note that this month's record-breaking Owl is in fact a production-intent prototype of a new variant named the SP600. Manifattura Automobili Torino (MAT) is again responsible for developing and building the vehicle, and partnered with Bridgestone for custom Potenza Race tires.
Beyond revealing that the prototype has been put through "a full set of virtual and physical tests" along with wind tunnel validation, the partners haven't shared anything further about the Owl SP600 – which is described as "an evolution of the original Aspark Owl, developed specifically for the top speed."
In the driving seat for the record-breaking 438.7-km/h (272.595 mph) run at Automotive Testing Papenburg in Germany – the second attempt of the day – was Nürburgring 24h winner Marc Basseng. That's 26.7 seconds faster than Rimac when its Nevera zipped around the same track in 2022, verified by the same GPS-based Racelogic V-Box measurement device. Not to take anything away from Aspark's impressive achievement, but given the Nevera's hunger for records, we don't imagine Mate Rimac will wait too long before attempting an overtake maneuver.
