Italy, Germany, America and Japan. Those are the only four countries allowed to build sportscars, because that's how it's been ever since the French and the British ruined their chances. It became a stipulation, an unwritten rule only uttered in hushed voices deep in the shareholders' dugouts of Stuttgart, Detroit, or wherever…
Stuttgart: "Herr Muller, did you hear about ze new hypercar from New Zealand? We must study ze enemies meister."
"Ha! A Kiwi hypercar, give me a break here Hans, my hernia vil kill me…"
Detroit: "Bob, there's a new V6 mid-engined supercar from Argentina or some other such place, and get this, them pesky southerners gone dun gunnin' for our Vette'!"
"What's a V6?"
They've just had it so easy, this lot. Their image is so trustworthy, that the traditional sportscar makers hardly even need to build something that's actually any good to sell more cars than they can produce.
But the tides have shifted, and they've gone east, way out east (unless you're in Japan, then they went west). Korea's Hyundai and Kia have in a short span of five years become bishops and knights in the motoring game of chess, instead of just half a crippled pawn. But enough about hatchbacks and family haulers, we're here to talk about Korea's first dab at building sportscars We're here to tackle a 330 rear-wheel horsepower tubular spaceframed mid-engined samurai, or as they say in Korea, samoorai. Enter the Oullim Motors Spirra S. Bong!
Sparring with a Spirra
"Have you seen that new film with GHAARG %&*# #$%*?"
"Yeah, I heard it's pretty cool, let's watch that."
"OK, don't forget to buy popcorn and I HATE YOU %&$#!"
You see, that's the Spirra — like Tourette syndrome.
One moment you're pootling along with the leisurely feel of the gearchange and late bite of the six-speed manual transmission's clutch, and the next minute you drop a cog, plunge smack dab into the middle of the turbo's sadistic spool and unleash 400 horsepower through the flywheel and back towards the 18in tyres.
And even Hankook's best can't do much to contain, at this point, 330 horsepower from skating across the grippiest of surfaces.
Ah, relatively small engines, and giant turbos; like a Cuban Robusto for the soul.
The Oullim Spirra is as charismatic as anything from Europe or Detroit. It just charms you differently. The Americans plough on the torque in imperial measurements, in other words, the numbers are so big, they're confusing. European supercars find inspiration in the Old World culture; the waltz, tiny little French plates of hors d'oeuvres, and slim cigarettes. They're precise and defined.
For the Spirra, the Koreans looked to the car tuning culture, I think, which is why this thing feels a lot like a very well-sorted Toyota Supra with the boost turned to 11.
The electronics can't quite cope with taming the power, and I quickly find out that's because there are no electronics. Well, you get ABS of course, but barring that there's no traction control, no stability control, no active yaw, programmable suspension, electronic diff, torque distribution or any of that nonsense. But you do get a hand-built, racecar-style chassis, into the middle of which Oullim Motors drops a 2.7-litre V6 of Hyundai vintage.
For Dh409K they then add a big turbocharger, such as in the Spirra S I'm driving. Or if you can stretch to Dh485K, a massive turbocharger, and if you've got Dh596K itching to jump out of your pocket, they can do you two humongous turbochargers. The question is simply, how dead do you want to get? Yes, the Spirra is wild, rebellious, and very, very addictive.
The key here is the 1,350kg weight, and that's with all the fluids on board. A Ferrari 458 Italia is 1,485kg, and even Porsche's ultimate 911, the GT3 4.0 RS is 1,435kg, despite carbon everything and no anything in terms of equipment. In the Spirra, although it's sparse as a pure no-electronic-gimmickry sportscar should be, you get opulent Recaro leather seats that hug you like a polo neck, a Momo leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear knob, full leather dash, cross-stitched door cards, and some metal toggle switches. There's also air conditioning, four-point OMP harnesses, and a soundtrack from Fast Five.
The V6 is lazy below 3,000rpm, but pass the point of no return and the turbo power gushes in like a tsunami, howling all the way to 7,000rpm with a steady supply of horses. The wastegate's chirrup is a much nicer wake-up melody than a flock of budgies outside your window.
The gearchange is rubbery, but slots in with short throws so that you want to work it more and more. Good thing, then, that the ratios are perfectly set up for this engine. All three aluminium pedals have a firm feel, especially the middle one controlling the steel Brembos — 355mm front, 328mm rear, all four-pots. It has minimal travel and bites hard at the twitch of a toe. The Spirra is one highly strung car.
When you get accustomed to the sensitive clutch — just on the sensible side of firm for daily driving — dipping its short travel becomes a joy matched to the manual six-speed 'box.
The power steering does away with all the electronic nonsense, relying on a traditional hydraulic rack and pinion system for great feel and a quick ratio. It's so sensitive, in fact, that on bumpy Dubai industrial roads, you better get a grasp immediately after every shift, because a dip in the surface will instantly translate to a reaction from the steering wheel.
Oullim Motors has filled the front end of the car with the brake master cylinder, steering mechanisms, and the car's cooling — which, by the way, passed all the local weather tests. This means you have zero storage space in the Spirra S, but also that it's perfectly balanced. The chassis is taut and responsive, so that slides in this mid-engined turbo monster don't always end up in you becoming road side scrap. The car responds immediately to the tiniest inputs, providing plenty of mechanical grip from the rear rubber.
Don't be a fool though, and make sure you respect the gigantic turbo lag because if it spools up mid-corner you'll get epic snap-oversteer. That's the Spirra's Tourette coming out again.
A wide track and ultra short wheelbase don't lend themselves nicely to full-on drifts, but this is meant to be a scalpel, not a baton. It's precise and clinical, and the front end obeys every instruction.
Verdict
Tasra is the sole and official distributor of Oullim cars in the GCC, and they only want to sell 10 Spirras a year. That shouldn't be a problem, because basically they're rarer than Bugatti Veyrons. And we know how far exclusivity goes here.
But future owners needn't just bank on the uniqueness factor of the Spirra, because their money buys them a genuine sportscar with the kind of driver involvement that disappeared off the market ever since those Formula 1 engineers invented stability and traction control. It's pure, it's powerful, impractical, and hand-built; all virtues of supercars of old, the ones we stuck up on our bedroom walls.
It looks decent too, with great proportions playing hugely in its favour, but some shoddy detailing. You know what hand-built means, right? Yes, robots do it better, which is why the steering column doesn't line up with the centre of the instrument display, the stereo is a Pioneer aftermarket unit, there are exposed screws, and switches that look like they came out of an Accent. To be fair, the leather and stitching is sublime, and the engineering seems spot on.
And I don't have a problem with the price at all, because you're getting Ferrari performance at half the cost — OK, so the S does 0-100kph in 4.8 seconds, but it's the feel that counts, and anyway the 500 rear-wheel horsepower EX model will run it in 3.5 seconds.
For some, performance is everything, in which case you get your money's worth. For others, it's exclusivity that counts — again, the Spirra wins.
So, the final verdict on the Spirra S? %&*# GHAARGH #$%*!
In detail
If you recognise the Spirra, it's because it used to be called Proto Motors, making cars since 1997 powered by a 320bhp Ford 4.6-litre V8. Then Oullim — a huge Korean electronics firm — got hold of the rights in 2007 and redesigned the car, called it Spirra (‘inspiration' in Greek) and went with Hyundai turbo power. Currently the car is only available in Asia (China and Korea being its biggest markets), Europe (with a Netherlands base), and now with Tasra in the GCC.
Oullim Motors hand-assemble about 300 a year and just 10 are destined to come to our region annually. All models are offered with a three-year 60,000km warranty, having been specifically tuned for our sulphur-rich petrol. The Korean engineers who tested in the UAE have managed to get a good tune and maintain their power ratings. The Spirra's body is all carbon except the doors and the rear hatch, and customers can also spec carbon exterior trim, such as a rear diffuser (Dh5,450), side skirts (Dh8,750) and even a carbon engine bay (Dh11,450). The top of the line Dh596K EX model gets everything included.
Specs
Model Spirra S
Engine 2.7-litre V6 turbo
Transmission Six-speed manual, RWD
Max power 330bhp @ 5,200rpm
Max torque 470Nm @ 5,000rpm
Top speed 280kph
0-100kph 4.8sec
Price Dh409,455
Plus Wild, raw and exclusive
Minus No cargo room, trim quality
