Don’t drive into flood waters. It’s foundational advice for motorists, no matter what sort of car you’re driving.
It’s especially pertinent if you’re behind the wheel of a one-in-99 hypercar in Dubai.
This Pagani Utopia owner clearly knew better. Stuck in the deadly floods that recently hit the UAE, the owner of this multi-million-dollar V12 hypercar tiptoed bravely through in the wake of a Nissan Patrol.
Behind the passenger cell in the Utopia is a twin-turbo V12 engine Pagani “developed on a bespoke basis” by Mercedes-AMG. The 12-cylinder engine develops 635kW at 6000rpm, and 1100Nm between 2800 and 5900rpm.
It drives the rear wheels via a seven-speed transversely-mounted automated manual transmission. Pagani points out it decided not to go with a dual-clutch gearbox as it is heavier and “robs the driver of the ability to set the pace of the car’s acceleration”.
A seven-speed manual transmission specially developed to handle the engine’s mountain of torque is also available.
