Another V12 engine has been announced as a further entrant into the burgeoning track orientated supercar genre. This comes from a niche, established supercar manufacturer by the name of Zenvo Automotive. This Danish company was founded in 2007 when it was perceived as a rival for nearby Swedish company Koenigsegg. It had similar business objectives and set about producing comparable performance cars.
The Zenvo TSR-S Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2021
Thus has Zenvo Automotive already established a range of road-going and track-biased supercars. These have been its ST/TS and TSR models. The first car, the ST1 employed a 1089 bhp supercharged and turbocharged Chevrolet LS7 V8. The company then moved on to an in-house developed flat-plane crankshaft 5.8 litre V8 for subsequent models.
Those models included the 1177 bhp TSR-S road and track car, which was revealed at the UK’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2021. That model will be superseded by the new V12-engined Aurora as part of the company’s latest 10-year plan to dramatically grow its production output and become a leading global supercar manufacturer.
The Aurora will be powered by a 6.0 litre twin-turbocharged V12. It will feature the company’s proprietary gearbox and what is described as an integrated hybrid drive. The Danish concern says that this in house bespoke V12-based powertrain will spearhead the drivetrain lineup for the future models in its plan for the next 10 years.
Those models will similarly be built around a carbon monocoque with carbon subframes - its new modular platform. Jens Sverdrup, the Chairman and CCO at Zenvo Automotive, has confirmed that the Aurora will be a clean-sheet design and has suggested that its hybrid powertrain will produce in the region of 1500-1800 bhp.
It has been announced that two variants of the Aurora will be offered. The road-going, ‘grand touring’ specification will be known as the Tur and will apparently have a limited top speed, although that is likely to exceed 250 mph. The track focused Agil will presumably not be so limited, and it will have what is described as ‘an aggressive aero package’ for increased performance on race circuits.
In total only 100 Auroras will be built across both variants, and we are told that 30% have been pre-sold. The car will be officially revealed in August.