If you look back at the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed, VUHL (Vehicles of Ultra-lightweight and High-performance) debuted something interesting – the 2014 VUHL 05. It was a lightweight, road-legal “supercar” with 285 horsepower and 209 pound-feet of torque from a 2.0-liter Ford EcoBoost. This year, VUHL has returned to the GFoS, and it has brought a new version of the 05, dubbed the 05RR. According to the company, who sells its cars through Bespoke Performance in the U.K., the 05RR is lighter and has more power. This year, it will be piloted at Goodwood by Manor Racing F1 reserve driver Jordan King, who intends to push the new 05RR beyond the limits of the previous model.

Iker Echeverria, VUHL’s Technical Director, said, “The Goodwood Festival of Speed is a Mecca for performance car aficionados and the perfect place to reveal the stunning new 05RR. We’ve upgraded this car in every area to make it faster, more engaging and more aggressive.” Jordan King, the man who will be driving the new 05RR, said, “There’s usually a big difference between what people consider a supercar and what is a proper racing car. I’m really excited to drive the Vuhl 05RR because it has the perfect recipe: lightweight to the core, huge power-to-weight, and it looks incredible. Goodwood is going to be a ton of fun.”

The 05RR will take part in Goodwood’s Michelin Supercar Paddock. We’ve received some decent images of the new car and some information about it, so let’s take a closer look at this Mexican “supercar.”

Continue reading to learn more about the VUHL 05RR.

2017 VUHL 05RR

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2017 VUHL 05RR
  • Horsepower: 385
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array
Pros
Cons

Exterior

The 05RR has shown up at Goodwood in a yellow livery with white accents on the front end and some black on the front and sides. As I expected, the 05RR isn’t really all that different from the original 05 that debuted three years ago. In fact, you’ll find the same front profile from the headlight units to the air dam, corner air inlets, and front spoiler. The car is also identical on the sides. The long upper body extends from the front wheel arch to the rear quarters, and the lower body panel even has the same character lines. It isn't a bad design by any means, and should channel more than enough air into the engine, while providing some downforce on the sides of the car. The downside is that nothing has changed.

VUHL hasn’t provided any full shots of the rear, so we can’t make out the whole story back there, but I’m willing to bet it hasn’t changed much. The car did receive a new, full-width spoiler that's significantly different from the original model. This model also sports a single exhaust outlet as opposed to the dual outlet of the original. That said, the exhaust outlet is also surrounded by a V-shaped cutout that includes honeycomb mesh, which does identify at least some change in the rear. It’s about time something on the car changed, right?

For what it's worth, the 05RR has a full carbon fiber body and a hybrid aluminum-carbon monocoque that dropped its overall weight to 1,411 pounds. So, while the overall look hasn’t changed, there have been some changes under the skin.

Interior

VUHL hasn’t released a full shot of the interior, but it has released several images that give us a split view of what's inside. There's plenty of carbon fiber on the dash and around the edges, but for the most part, the interior has carried over unchanged. It still sports the same carbon fiber bucket seats and a flat-bottom, three-spoke steering wheel wrapped in Alcantara. There's no carpeting or amenities to speak of, and the center console/stack still features a host of buttons and switches arranged in a dual-column layout ahead of the shifter. Speaking of the shifter – it appears to be the only real change inside, as it now featuring a square bottom and a top that looks similar to the top of a bowling pin.

Drivetrain

The drivetrain department is where VUHL really put in some work. The 2.0-liter of the original model has been replaced by a 2.3-liter EcoBoost that delivers 385 horsepower -- 100 horsepower more than the 2013 model. With a dry weight of 1,411 pounds, that computers to a 600-horsepower-per-ton power-to-weight ratio, which according to VUHL, is better than the Ferrari F12tdf, McLaren P1, and Bugatti Veyron. The car has a center of gravity that sits at 50 mm, which is lower than the previous model, and a high-speed steering rack that VUHL says makes the 05 RR the “ultimate race car for the road.” 62 mph is said to arrive in 2.7 seconds, while top speed sits at 160 mph.

Prices

Pricing for the 05RR has yet to be released, but the standard 05 starts out at £55,000, which is about $81,454 at current exchange rates (06/23/2016). Despite the same look, the 05RR does have more power on tap, so expect the 05RR to claim closer to $95,000.

Competition

KTM X-Bow GT

The KTM X-bow, like the 05RR, is designed with power and speed in mind. On top of that, it features the same track-oriented layout. It has a carbon fiber monocoque body and is designed to create a large amount of downforce. It's powered by a 2.0-liter TFSI four-cylinder that delivers 281 horsepower and 209 pound-feet of torque. As such, the X-Bow GT can hit 62 mph in 4.1 seconds, and tops out at 144 mph. Fuel consumption clocks in at 28 mpg. Prices for the standard X-Bow start out at $88,500 here in the U.S., which should place the GT somewhere closer to the $95,000 range.

Read our full review on the KTM X-Bow GT here.

BAC Mono

The Mono was updated for the 2016 model year with a small decrease in weight and a little more power. It comes at a much higher price – estimated to be somewhere around $140,000 – but the cockpit is actually custom designed around each customer’s body style and size, so the extra money actually means something. For 2016, the Mono is powered by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder that was prepped by Mountune. It delivers 205 horsepower, which with a curb weight of 1,278 pounds computers to 526 horsepower-per-ton. BAC has never revealed performance specs for its updated Mono, but we suspect the extra power should drop the 62-mph sprint to around 2.6 seconds (down from 2.8 in the previous model), and top speed should remain at 170 mph.

Read our full review on the BAC Mono here.

Conclusion

I really like track-oriented cars like this – especially the ones that are road legal. But, I think VUHL could have put more effort into this model. I love the fact that it got a pretty big power update, but for a car the brand boasts as a “supercar,” I think it still falls a little short. Not to mention the fact that the brand literally did almost nothing to the exterior appearance. It’s almost enough to make you wonder if VUHL wasn’t planning to show up at Goodwood until the beginning of this month, at which point it crammed a new engine into the body and threw on a new spoiler and fresh paint. Okay, maybe I’m being a little rough, but when I heard the VUHL was coming back to Goodwood, I was hoping to see the 05 undergo some creative and iconic changes. I guess we’ll just have to wait another three years for that. Of course, I have yet to see how the car actually performs, so maybe I’ll be a little happier after indulging in a little footage.