I remember just a few short years ago when carbon fiber still felt like something only the worst departments of the U.S. government were supposed to know about, but now it seems like it’s everywhere. The new Zenvo TSR-S supercar makes carbon fiber feel special again, though
While the new Zenvo TSR-S uses carbon fiber for the same purpose as everyone else—it’s way stronger than metal for a lighter weight, if you have the know-how and money to make it—but the execution in the detailing elevates the engineering to an art form.
I’m not suggesting we haven’t seen impressive carbon fiber before. I remember feeling the same way I do now for the purple-tinted weave of the Koenigsegg Regera, for example. McLaren and even Aston Martin do cool stuff with it too, of course. Zonda’s been at it forever. But this Zenvo is something else.
Let’s see what I’m talking about. The “Zenvo” name is carved in the door panels as a counter-weave, which makes it impossible to miss from the broadside but intriguingly hard to notice from the front or back. That may also be because, from the front, you’re too distracted by the hood.
The hood’s blue-tinted weave pattern is surprisingly elaborate, reminiscent more of Greco-Roman textiles. Under the clamshell in the back, you’re confronted with an absurdity of glossy polished carbon weave everywhere.
From the body, the engine housing, the brace struts, and even the engine itself, which breaks it all up nicely with a forged carbon fiber look. The wheels also break up the weaving with forged carbon, too (and 33 pounds of unsprung weight savings over the old alloy wheels on the previous TSR-S).
But with all of this engineering artistry on display, one hopes the car to feature it will have the performance to live up to its promise. For that, the Zenvo TSR-S offers 1,177 horsepower from a twin-supercharged 5.8-liter V8 and an updated seven-speed sequential gearbox, which is now a hybrid unit with an electric motor, a big and pointless tilting hydraulic spoiler, all for a €1.45 million, or roughly $1.6 million, price tag.
Sounds like a solid package to me.