Bristol Fighter (car)

The Bristol Fighter is a British sports car, manufactured by Bristol Cars in small numbers from 2004, and described by commentators as a "supercar". [cite news
title=A very special Bristol: Anyone want to start a Fighter?
author=Martin Buckley
date=2006-01-31
publisher=The Independent
url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/a-very-special-bristol-anyone-want-to-start-a-fighter-525210.html
accessdate=2008-02-06] [cite news
title=Fighting chance to be an instant classic
author=
date=2006-11-13
publisher=Coventry Evening Telegraph
accessdate=2008-02-06] [cite web
title=A very special Bristol: Anyone want to start a Fighter?
date=2006-11-08
publisher=Channel 4 - Car
url=http://www.channel4.com/4car/news/news-story.jsp?news_id=15441
accessdate=2008-02-06]

The coupé body, which has gullwing doors, was designed by former Brabham Formula One engineer Max Boxstrom and gives the car a Cd of 0.28. A maximum speed of 210 mph (337.9 km/h) is claimed.

The car uses a front-mounted V10 engine of 7996 cc (487.9 ci) based on that of the Dodge Viper, but modified by Bristol to produce 525 bhp (391 kW) at 5600 rpm and 515 ft·lbf (698 Nm) of torque at 4200 rpm. This is in-keeping with Bristol's use of Chrysler engines since 1961. In the more powerful Fighter S the engine is tuned to give 628 hp (660 hp at high speed using the ram air effect).

The car's weight is convert|1475|kg|lb|0|abbr=on. List price in 2005 was £229,125, or £256,150 for the Fighter S.

The car has a six-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission, and is rear-wheel drive. It can achieve the 0-60 mph sprint in 4.0 seconds (claimed), and enjoys a power-to-weight ratio of 267.8 kW/ton (362 bhp/ton)

Although sketches and models had been publicized some time before, a complete car was first shown to the press in May 2003. The first drive by a car magazine appears to be that in the April 2005 issue of Evo Magazine.

Fighter T

In 2006, Bristol announced the Fighter T, a turbocharged version of the Fighter with a modified V10 engine producing Auto bhp|1012|0 and Auto ft.lbf|1036|0 of torque at 4500 rpm. The Fighter T will also benefit from a drag coefficient of Cd 0.27 (improved from Cd 0.28 on the standard model). Bristol claim that the car is capable of more than convert|270|mi/h|km/h|-1|abbr=on; however it will be electronically limited to a "more than adequate" convert|225|mi/h|km/h|0|abbr=on. When the Fighter T went into production, it was more powerful than Bugatti Veyron, which has advertised Auto bhp|1001|0, but still less powerful than the 2007 Shelby Super Cars (SSC) Ultimate Aero TT. The first production cars were delivered in September 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.bristolcars.co.uk/BristolFighter.htm Bristol Cars: Fighter]
* [http://www.autozine.org/html/Bristol/Fighter.html Autozine (Bristol Fighter)]
* [http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/FirstDrives/Bristol-Fighter-V10-S/215261/ "Autocar" review]
* [http://www.topgear.com/content/news/stories/1301/ Top Gear: Bristol Fighter T preview]