Knack Car: Vector M12 Cars Pictures

Rabu, 19 Mei 2010

Vector M12 Cars Pictures

Vector M12

The Vector M12 was a vehicle designed by the Vector Motors Corporation, and was the first vehicle produced after the hostile takeover of the company from Jerry Wiegert by the Indonesian company Megatech. The vehicles were produced from 1995 to 1999, when production was halted, partly due to slow sales of the cars and mismanagement of the company. The average price of the vehicle was $184,000 (USD).

The vehicle was a rebodied Lamborghini Diablo with a chopper gun fiberglass body set on a lengthened Diablo chassis. It was a loosely based copy of the Vector WX-3, which was never released to the public due to the Megatech takeover. Among many large changes to the vehicle's design, was also a change to the drivetrain in the way of a 5707 cc Lamborghini V12 engine, which produced 499 PS (362 kW) and 425 ft·lbf (576 N-m) of torque at 5200 rpm. This was a far cry from the twin turbo 625 hp (466 kW) V8 in the W8 and the WX-3 which was slated to have 1,200 hp (895 kW) in production form from its twin turbo powerplant and 850 hp (634 kW) from its naturally aspirated variant, which were designed to accommodate a transverse engine mounting of its powerplant,. The resulting changes show the cockpit of the vehicle being slightly further forward than in the WX-3 with a shorter nose and longer tail on the M12 this is due to the use of the modified Diablo chassis. With this power, the car was able to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 4.8 seconds, with a top speed of around 189 mph (304 km/h).

In many ways, the M12 was supposed to be a more finalized and road-friendly version of the ill-fated WX-3, although it would only manage between 9 and 13 mpg in terms of fuel economy. In total, there were 18 M12s produced (four pre-production models and 14 production models). One of the M12 pre-production cars was converted to motorsport specification by the factory, but those vehicles had very little success in the few races they were entered into, as they retired every time due to mechanical problems.