One of the supercar highlights at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2012 was the Arash AF-10 LM, a car you may also know by the name Farboud GT! It’s a magnificent machine, built in 2002 and modified slightly before it went on display this year. We managed to get footage from inside the car on one of its six runs up the Goodwood hillclimb. You can see that below.
The Arash AF-10 LM is about as unique as supercars get. It features a 2.6 liter Audi V6 engine lifted from the second generation Audi S4. Arash then fitted twin turbochargers for a total power output of 650hp. Theoretically, this should allow the car to break the 200mph mark, however, this remains untested. 0 to 60mph should come in around the 3.3 second mark!
The engine sits in the middle of the car with power sent to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual transmission. In terms of practicality, it really isn’t at all! The doors open just enough to be contort yourself in and the setup is very race oriented. It suits the design brief of the car perfectly though. The owner, Arash Farboud, simply wanted the most extreme sports car he could make at the time! Hence the AF-10 LM cost around £1.8 million to make.
As the Arash AF-10 LM will never be offered for sale, it’s at this point that we should start talking about the models Arash will be producing! To start with, we have the Arash AF-10. A car that made its official debut back in 2009 and has been in development since.
The Arash AF-10 features a 5.5 liter V10 engine producing 850 horsepower at 8,000rpm and 530lb-ft of torque at 8,000rpm. This should be enough for an estimate 205mph top speed and a 3.5 second 0 to 60mph time. Arash have design a custom carbon intake system to help cool the engine. The transmission is a six-speed Graziano GT-ME1 gearbox with a pressure fed lubrication system and a separate oil cooling circuit with independent oil cooler.
Arash has patented the unique carbon fiber chassis. It features aluminium honeycombs, steel sub-frames at the front and rear and a full steel roll cage. Attatched to this is a double wishbone suspension setup with fully adjustable dampers. Wheels are two piece with a staggered setup measuring 19×9.5 inches at the front and 20×12.5 inches at the rear. In all honesty, it looks like a highly desirable package.
Expected price projections for the Arash AF10 were £320,000, €355.000 or $534.000 for each of the 70 cars at the time of release. If that’s too much for you though. Company owner, Arash Farboud revealed at Goodwood that the company will produce a cheaper, volume model code named the AF-8 for the moment. You’ll have to wait to hear details of that project though!
Having just finished work on building a company workshop, Arash are set to take their cars to the mass market. We wish them every success!
