All car enthusiasts have their favourite super
car: the Ferrari 458 Italia, the Porsche GT2, the Aston Martin V12 Vantage or
the Mercedes SLS AMG. These cars are in a class of their own, meeting all of
the standard definitions of the term ‘super car.’ But what exactly makes a
‘super car’ – and perhaps more pressingly in an age where bigger and better
means faster and more expensive, how do you tell the difference between a super
car and a hyper car?
A super car is generally
an eye catching, visually striking stock production car which is faster than
the majority of vehicles available – and which comes with a suitably high price
tag. The majority of people agree that this is the definition, the criteria by
which supercars can be judged in a market where almost all of the big
manufacturers have a super car of their own competing to be the best in the
field. Although for many, this definition is too restrictive, it serves as an
ideal basis for discussions. After all, exceptions can always be made. The
Ariel Atom is a stunning super car, with extreme acceleration ability and a
remarkable appearance, yet with a fairly reasonable purchase price it falls
short of meeting the criteria for true ‘super car’ status. Few would dispute,
however, that the Ariel Atom is anything but a super car.
Hyper cars, then, must
go beyond this standard. It is a distinction which is difficult to quantify,
and in many cases only personal opinion can define the difference between super
cars and hyper cars. The label hyper car is being used increasingly often.
Generally, a hyper car is a high level super car, which outperforms other super
cars in terms of acceleration ability, price bracket, handling responsiveness,
engine sound, appearance, rarity and the ultimate top speed which is
achievable. Like with definitions of the super car, debate rages about what
makes car deserve to be known as a ‘hyper car.’
One way to see the
difference between the two is to look at manufacturers of high end super cars.
A vehicle produced by that company which outstrips their other super cars, by
being faster, aesthetically different, or significantly more expensive, would
probably deserve to be a hyper car. For example, the Ferrari 458 Italia and the
599 GTB are very popular super cars, deserving of their reputations. However,
the Ferrari Enzo outperforms these two in many ways, thus making it a hyper
car. Similarly, Porsche make a number of super cars which have widespread
appeal, but the Porsche Carrera GT can only be described as a hyper car if its
features are compared to their super car models – it goes far beyond what is
expected of other super cars and reaches new heights.
The favourite hyper cars
– high trim versions of the Lamborghini Murcielago, the Mercedes SLR McLaren,
the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport and the Grand Sport Vitesse, or the Pagani
Huayra – all have prices amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds, yet
price comparisons are not an effective way of finding the difference between super
cars and hyper cars. To truly understand the distinction, the cars must be
considered in motion.
Author Bio:
Sarah Rushton is a well
known author of all things automotive. Sarah often visits www.regplates.com to get the latest
information on car registartion plates.