This supercar is for those roads that are less traveled.
The Laffite G-Tec X-Road is not a unique vehicle in motoring. SUVs have blurred automotive lines for decades. With vehicles like the Lamborghini Urus or Mercedes AMG GLE 63S that combine insane horsepower with off-road capabilities, there are definitely options for those who love the same amount of tire smoke and dust.
However, this is not an SUV. Laffite G-Tec X-Road can be described as a car. There is no third row or second row. It doesn’t have an all-wheel drive layout, a huge touchscreen infotainment system or a lot of cup holders. It is also light at 2,866 pounds, which is less than many SUVs. However, it is not an SUV. It is a supercar with rear-wheel drive that can carry two people. With 17 inches of suspension travel, it’s well-suited to rally-style airborne fun. Airborne antics are our favorite.
A supercar can’t be complete without power. The X-Road has a GM-sourced LS3 engine installed in its chromium-molybdenum-steel chassis. It produces power between 470 and 720 horsepower (350 – 537 kilowatts), depending on how insane you are. The engine is sent rearward through a sequential paddle shift gearbox with five or six ratios. The top speed is limited at 143 mph. If that sounds slow, it’s because this car doesn’t have razor-thin track tires to help you turn corners. It’d rather play in the street’s sandbox than jump corners.
This bizarre car may look familiar to you. In 2015, we wrote about Zarooq Motors in the UAE building a car called the Sand Racer. Bruno Laffite, co-founder of Laffite, was involved in that project. With some help from G-Tec, the chassis is now the X-Road, with customer deliveries anticipated to start by 2020. Laffite Supercars has announced that orders are being taken for the X-Road. It is limited to 30 units, so this will be an exclusive offering. The starting price for the X-Road is $465,000. An all-electric model is also available, but it will cost $545,000.