If you want to build a better supercar, a Factory Five GTM is a good platform to start with. That's the route taken by Revenge Designs, which has restyled and reworked the GTM to create its GTM-R supercar.
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Launched today at the Detroit Auto Show, the Revenge Designs GTM-R is a more luxurious variation of the original GTM, but still as capable. Revenge starts with a GTM kit chassis and body, then adds a custom, tubular Air Ride suspension, custom interior, premium sound system, touch-screen navigation system, slight body modifications and lots of carbon-fiber bits. It's topped off with massive custom wheels wrapped in Pirelli P-Zero Nero tires, 20-inchers up front and 22-in. at the rear.
Under the rear hatch lies a 505-hp LS7 V-8 engine borrowed from the Corvette Z06 producing 470 lb-ft of torque. It can be mated to either a billet five-speed manual transmission from Mendola or an optional six-speed manual. The five-speed manual has a tested top speed of 180 mph while the six-speed has an estimated top speed of 200 mph. With a curb weight of just 2550 lbs (200 lbs heavier than the GTM) and a 40/60 weight ratio, the GTM-R can reportedly hit 60 mph in just 3.2 seconds (0.2 seconds slower than the GTM). For those who prefer a cleaner look, the GTM-R can be ordered without the rear wing, but Revenge recommends that if you delete it, then it wouldn't be the smartest idea to take it to the track.
Revenge Designs says it will build 100 GTM-Rs this year unless there is demand for more. Given the current state of the economy and the $145,000 asking price, 100-plus orders may or may not be an achievable goal.
Were you one of those kids who taught themselves to identify cars at night by their headlights and taillights? I was. I was also one of those kids with a huge box of Hot Wheels and impressive collection of home-made Lego hot rods. I asked my parents for a Power Wheels Porsche 911 for Christmas for years, though the best I got was a pedal-powered tractor. I drove the wheels off it. I used to tell my friends I’d own a “slug bug” one day. When I was 15, my dad told me he would get me a car on the condition that I had to maintain it. He came back with a rough-around-the-edges 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he’d picked up for something like $600. I drove the wheels off that thing, too, even though it was only slightly faster than the tractor. When I got tired of chasing electrical gremlins (none of which were related to my bitchin’ self-installed stereo, thank you very much), I thought I’d move on to something more sensible. I bought a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT and got my first speeding ticket in that car during the test drive. Not my first-ever ticket, mind you. That came behind the wheel of a Geo Metro hatchback I delivered pizza in during high school. I never planned to have this job. I was actually an aerospace engineering major in college, but calculus and I had a bad breakup. Considering how much better my English grades were than my calculus grades, I decided to stick to my strengths and write instead. When I made the switch, people kept asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I told them I’d like to write for a car magazine someday, not expecting it to actually happen. I figured I’d be in newspapers, maybe a magazine if I was lucky. Then this happened, which was slightly awkward because I grew up reading Car & Driver, but convenient since I don’t live in Michigan. Now I just try to make it through the day without adding any more names to the list of people who want to kill me and take my job.
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