Supasse V supercar

This rather odd beast is the Suzusho Supasse V. We won’t be surprised if it’s your first acquaintance with it, so here’s an introduction…

Suzusho is a Japanese kit car specialist, and is keen to have something striking to display at next week’s Tokyo motor show. The Supasse V should do the trick. It weighs just 850kg – less than a Lotus Exige S – and gets the 256bhp 2.3-litre turbo engine from the Mazda 3 MPS hot hatch, making it more powerful than the Brit sports coupe, too.

Expect it to better the Exige’s 4.5sec 0-60mph time, then, pushing it firmly towards supercar territory, as will its 306bhp/ton power to weight ratio. And with Suzusho’s experience of producing Lotus 7 replicas, we should be able to have high hopes for the handling, too.

The engine is mated to a six-speed manual while the Supasse V gets an aluminium monocoque chassis with a steel tube sub frame. The suspension is Suzusho’s own, and comprises of double wishbones front and rear.

You’re no doubt more concerned by the styling, though, an interesting mix of styling cues from Ferrari (just look at those Enzo-style doors), Lamborghini and Lotus itself. The design was penned by Kenji Mimura, a man with a small amount of Formula 1 experience.

Ignore any mad concept car connotations, too, as it’s set to go on sale in 2010. No word on prices or how readily available grey imports will be, sadly…

The Tokyo motor show will also feature new performance cars from Subaru, Mitsubishi, Honda and Toyota.

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