An American 90’s supercar. Huge power coming from twin turbos and along with a big styling statement it definitely had something to say back in it’s day.
The Vector W8 is an American supercar produced from 1990 to 1993.It was manufactured by Vector Motors. The company utilized the newest and most advanced aerospace materials in building the W8s, which they said justified applying to the car the term “Aeromotive Engineering.” Just 19 W8s were produced (17 customer cars and two pre-production cars, the prototype W2, and two prototype Avtech AWX3 and AWX3R with a mock up of the 7.0 liter DOHC TT engine evolution). A total of 22 automobiles produced by Vector Aeromotive over the life of the company. The car originally sold for $448,000 new, however on today’s used market, they are available from $389,000 to well over $1.4 million depending on the condition of the car.
The W8 was essentially an upgrade of the same company’s earlier prototype, theVector W2. The Semi-Aluminum Monocoque chassis was epoxy bonded and riveted with an aluminum honeycomb floor pan, and 5,000 aircraft specification rivets were used in the car’s assembly. Everything on the Vector was designed to last the life of the owner, assuming reasonable maintenance. The body was made largely of lightweight carbon fiber and kevlar, known for its strength, and lightness.The cars level of fit and finish was well beyond that of its competitors. The car was based around a Rodeck resleevable V8 racing engine, coupled to a custom three-speed transmission. The engine had twin turbochargers, and produced an advertised 650 bhp at 5700 rpm and 649 lb·ft of torque on 8lbs of boost. Boost levels were driver adjustable between 8 and 14 lbs and during dyno testing at the factory the engines put out 1200hp at 14 lbs of boost.
The W8 had an estimated top speed of over 220 mph. However, in testing at the Bonneville Salt Flats, the W-2 reached 242 mph with the less powerful Donovan block, as reported by Top Wheels magazine. This top speed was reached while still using the “high downforce” wing. Later aerodynamic testing further honed efficiency, bringing the car’s drag coefficient (Cd.) down to just .32 prior to Department of Transportation crash testing in Ann Arbor, MI. The W8 design included subtle changes to the body during the production run, so that the initial car off the line looked slightly different from the last. These include the elimination of some gills, a lower front fascia and air splitter, revised rear wing, mirror intakes, and front grill. After the top speed testing was completed, no more Vector W8s were fitted with a removable glass roof, due to buffeting that occurred at those extreme speeds.
