Congratulations! Your Powerball numbers all came up! At last! So as you’re popping the champagne and thinking with family members you will tell and those you won’t, if you’re a true car enthusiast you’ll already be thinking about which car to buy.
And this was a big win, too, affording you the luxury of choosing any supercar you like. So which is it? An everyday supercar like the Porsche 911? Not really a ‘supercar’, though, is it? Think big and splurge out here, because at the very least, dreams are free.
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So we’ve scoured the new car salesrooms to find out what we’d buy that’s considered both a supercar, and with little thought or consideration of budget. We’re allowed to float off into fantasy land every now and then.
Editor, Dean Evans: Ferrari SF90 Spider
If you’re going to do something, do it properly. So let’s start at the top, and buy the most expensive, most powerful supercar you can in New Zealand, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale. If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it. So I asked. And the price is $905,700. Actually, scrub that. I’m not a huge convertible fan, but I would in fact instead choose the new SF90 Spider, given it’s a retractable hardtop and for that one day a year I’d like some open air, I can pop the roof open. It might even tempt me to open it for two days.
That part doesn’t excite me as much as the engine and sound and technology. Price is TBA, but in this region, price is also DRM (doesn’t really matter). Let’s just say a bit under $1 million.
It uses the same twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 with a plug-in hybrid system so it offers some quiet, eco running when it needs, but also summons all hell when its cage is unleashed. The numbers: 735kW/900Nm, if they mattered, or 1000ps in catchy, clicky, bragging terms – which of course would change to 1000hp (rather than the actual 986hp), but now I’m even boring myself with pedantry.
Zero to 100 in 2.6 seconds will see off just about anyone, and I’ll know not to run a Tesla Model S, and I’ll flick my manettino to whichever mode best suits my mood at the time: wonder if there’s a frustrated mode? Of course I’m dreaming, as I haven’t driven an SF90, but that’s the whole point of this week’s theme, anyway.
Above all, and surely above the other choices here, it’s a Ferrari, and that’s enough on its own. That it’s a Ferrari with 1000hp (see!), makes the SF90 easily the best choice to buy when that Powerball drops. Tell me it’s not, guys…
Click here to view all Ferrari listings on DRIVEN
Deputy Editor, David Linklater: McLaren 600LT Spider
I kind of like the fact that the McLaren 600LT Spider is something close to a sensible supercar.
As you might know, McLaren divides its models into three tiers: Sports, Super and Ultimate. The 600LT is the very top of the Sports Series, which means it’s closely related to more familiar models like the 570S. At a mere $445,000 it’s even well under half a million dollars, which is bargain territory for a supercar.
So this machine is based more on an “everyday” supercar. But the 600LT is pretty special. LT signifies a Long Tail body, which puts it in the same company as the legendary F1 GTR LT (1997), 675LT (2015) and the new 765LT. It’s a future classic.
The 600LT is 100kg lighter than a 570S, more powerful (441kW/620Nm) and just as fast as the next-level-up Super Series 720S: 0-100km/h in 2.9sec.
Being an LT it’s also 74mm longer than the 570S and even more importantly, it gains “top exit” exhausts at the back: two big-bore pipes blasting straight upwards.
I tested the 600LT and 720S back-to-back last year. And yes, the 720S is next-level in many respects, but I came away dreaming about the 600LT in my garage.
It’s a limited-run model and already finished production. But you can still order one on the McLaren NZ website and so I’m claiming it.
Click here to view all McLaren listings on DRIVEN
Digital Writer, Andrew Sluys: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Once upon a time, someone said that a supercar needed to be powered by a V12 to gain its title. While that is probably quite an outdated quote in modern times, I still believe that an old-fashioned V12 makes the deal just that much sweeter.
This is why I have opted for Lamborghini’s Aventador SVJ, which combines a stonking V12 engine with mind-bending performance, and looks that make the Bruce Wayne’s Batmobile jealous.
Featuring a reworked version of the Aventador’s 6.5-litre V12 engine, the SVJ sends a whopping 566kW and 720Nm to all four wheels through a seven-speed single clutch transmission. Despite still making do with this dated single clutch transmission, shifts are completed in 50 milliseconds, and the 0-100km/h sprint is completed in 2.8 seconds before hitting a top speed of 350km/h.
As well as this reworked power plant, the SVJ also features improved aesthetics in the form of the ALA system. Between the added front splitter and rear wing, the SVJ adds 40% more downforce over the SV, and manages to reduce the drag coefficient by 1%. And above all else, it makes the SVJ look like an absolute monster.
As the SVJ is a special performance model, you’re paying quite a premium over the standard Aventador S — but in this metaphorical scenario we’ve won Powerball so who cares, right? The SVJ will set you back $830,000 here in NZ, which is about $200,000 over the regular S. But that extra cash shaves 0.1 seconds off the 0-100km/h time and turns it into a Batmobile, so its money well spent if you ask me!