The Dagger GT is an all-American supercar built to trash virtually every
record around, including the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife track time. The
production has not started yet but the manufacturer predicts that first cars
should be delivered by late next year. The experienced them behind the project
include the designer of the Saleen S7 and a NASA consultant.
It should
also be noted right at the start that the Dagger GT achieves those 2000 hp on
race fuel. The power comes down to 1300 hp on pump fuel, which is still
impressive of course. In comparison, the Bugatti Veyron
Super Sport has 1200 hp.
The TranStar Racing Team is behind it all and
they will custom design and hand-build the street-legal, carbon fiber/aluminum
Dagger GT. They advertise this car as an uncompromised, unrestricted, exhibition
car designed to dazzle any onlooker, whether at a road course, NHRA drag strip
or a top speed event like Bonneville, or just cruising the beach.
The
design is based on the Corvette Cheetah concept with carbon fiber body panels on
a 4130 Chromoly Steel chassis.
300 mph World
Record Goals
The
Dagger is being designed specifically to break the 300 mph barrier and be the
first-ever street-licensed-and-registered Supercar to do it. The Dagger GT will
be a mid-engine, limited production, streetable, racing roadster that is
expected to establish world records in its class for top speed, slalom and
acceleration. The Dagger will feature a removable hardtop. This car will attempt
a world record-setting top speed of 300 mph, for modified street-legal sports
cars at Bonneville and it will run at the Virginia International Raceway to
attempt to secure the "Lightning Lap" record on the USA's top road course. It
has been mathematically computed that the car will run under 6.7 seconds and
over 200 mph in the quarter mile and less than 1.5 seconds for the zero-to-sixty
record.
In short, the manufacturer expects the Dagger to be the number
one performing supercar in the world. It will have a unique, dazzling 'edgy'
appearance and will feature a polished Nelson Racing Engines multi-fuel aluminum
572 Twin Turbo. The vehicle components will include off-the-shelf, proven
technology and will be fabricated by the top race car builders in the U.S.
Programmable Horsepower
The engine will automatically add
boost and increase racing fuel mix depending on the fuel and boost map the
driver specifies into the engine management computer. It produces 1300 hp on
pump gas and 2000 hp on race fuel which are provided via two fuel tanks and dual
fuel injectors for each cylinder. TranStar Racing Team explains that if driven
normally, with a light foot, fuel consumption is not unreasonable for a big
block engine. At 300 mph you should expect to empty the gas tanks in under 5
minutes.
Price: 600,000 Dollars
Pricing for this car is
subject to change and has not yet been finalized but will be in the $600,000+
range depending on the model and options. The owner will have the option to
customize the vehicle to his or her taste with a host of combinations of options
available.
All-American Team
The Dagger GT will be produced by an All-American All-star team of existing,
experienced, proven race car builders, engine builders and racing parts
suppliers. Phil Frank, the designer of the former world record holder, the
Saleen S7, is on the team as Consulting Director of Design. Tom Nelson routinely
produces 2000 hp multi-fuel twin-turbo 572 cubic-inch racing engines. Mike
Mendeola will provide a custom, 6-speed, 300 mph transaxle and is the top US
transaxle fabricator. The team includes proven race car and show car winners and
racing chassis-builder. Dagger components are made in the USA and are
state-of-the-art, but proven, reliable, off-the-rack, low-risk technologies.
First Cars Expected Late 2011
TranStar Racing Team reports
that they are in the final design-development phase as of November 2010. Their
schedule calls for production and testing of the prototype in mid 2011 followed
by production of the first twelve production cars in the fourth quarter of 2011.
24 Daggers will roll out in 2012.
Headquarters in Florida
TranStar Racing has made preliminary
arrangements to assemble the Dagger GT in Lake Worth, Florida at a large
headquarters campus featuring executive and management offices, a showroom,
conference rooms, and a large assembly building.