Ever get the fear that the hypercar market is now thoroughly oversaturated with borderline predictable models? Yeah, same here. Earlier this week, McLaren unveiled the W1 and while it is impressive, it just didn’t hit like the P1 did. Thankfully, the establishment aren’t the only ones making hypercars. This is the Oilstainlab HF-11, and it might be the most bonkers hypercar of 2024. We’re talking about an ultra-lightweight machine with either a howling tribute to internal combustion under its rear clamshell, or silence. Let me explain.
The roots of this car trace back to 2019, when Iliya and Nikita Bridan established Oilstainlab and cooked up a 911-inspired prototype with its own alternative history. In a plume of cheeky mythology, the half-11 prototype won hearts from Goodwood to Monterey to Instagram with its Porsche-inspired styling and sheer audacity. It won so many hearts that people started asking to buy one.
Now, in 2024, the twin brothers behind one of the most fascinating hypercar companies on the planet have unveiled a production model. It’s called the HF-11, and it’s unlike pretty much every other hypercar you’ve ever seen.
If you’re interested in a hypercar you can drive in HOV lanes, you should be able to get the HF-11 with an 850-horsepower electric powertrain. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if most customers are more interested in experiencing the 650-horsepower, 12,000-rpm flat-six option. With the choice of a sequential gearbox or a traditional six-speed manual gearbox, that ought to be a riot.
However, here’s where it gets really insane — Oilstainlab can include one of each powertrain, swappable in a garage by dropping one subframe and installing another. Basically, the change involves splitting the entire car in half, and if that isn’t one of the most bonkers propositions in the world of hypercars, what is?
Alright, so 650 horsepower isn’t a lot by hypercar standards, but a target weight of 1,950 pounds also isn’t a lot. That’s three pounds per horsepower on the low-output flat-six, or a better power-to-weight ratio than a Bugatti Veyron. On the electric powertrain, that’s 2.29 pounds per horsepower, or a better power-to-weight ratio than a Koenigsegg Jesko running on pump gas. This all comes courtesy of a carbon tub, Docol R8 subframes, an entirely carbon fiber body, and a pathologic commitment to lightness.
So, all the ingredients for straight-line speed are here, but what about handling? Well, aside from the feathery curb weight, the HF-11 gets Ohlins dampers, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires, electric power steering you can turn off for a fully manual experience, and pushrod suspension geometry at all four corners. Despite the clean silhouette, Oilstainlab claims 1,298 pounds of downforce at 150 mph, more than half the curb weight of the car. Tantalizing, yeah?
Oh, and then there’s the styling. The HF-11 eschews the norm of aggression for aggression’s sake, instead looking like a blend of modern prototype racer and historic Group C car. While everything from the bottoms of the half-cut fender flares down looks right in line with today’s hypercar royalty, the surfaces above that division have a soft approachability. Rounded headlights, a bubbly canopy, and soft curves combine to create something studiously beautiful. It’s the sort of car whose styling you’ll want to discuss over a shot of espresso, rather than form a snap judgement on.
The result is a hypercar of two extremes, with one foot in the future and one foot in the past. It’s an analog high-RPM lightweight ripper and a silent apex assassin, depending on how you’re feeling and how good your wrenching skills are. As you can expect, pricing isn’t cheap, starting at $1,850,000 with a single powertrain included. However, compared to cars costing twice as much or more, it actually seems like a bargain. In any case, Oilstainlab is planning a production run of just 25 cars. If you’ve won the Powerball recently, you might want to get your order in now.
(Photo credits: Oilstainlab)
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Another stupid fucking vaporware hypercar.
Ugh.
Man, something like this with more attention to frontal area reduction and drag reduction and less on downforce(you only need enough to keep the car from going airborne or losing traction at top speed), built using inexpensive off-the-shelf parts, would be amazing.
This thing is half the way there. Which is well more than any other hypercar on the market. The comment about them being predictable is amusing, because whenever another hypercar is announced, 90%+ of the time another two-ton lardass built less for function and more for looks within the context of a preconceived downforce requirement, loaded with mass-adding profit-margin-padding luxury features completely extraneous to the track, costing $1 million or more.
The way to do this is to use readily available inexpensive components, design for efficiency over aesthetics, use components that keep operating costs down while also designing it to be easily repaired with basic tools, make it go as fast as possible with this constraint, and within that context, do everything possible to make it attainable to as many people as possible from a price standpoint.
Like it, but another superdupercar? If it was 60-80 k then it would be groundbreaking.
With EV drive systems, coupled with mass production of all of its parts, I think 1/4 that price range which you say is groundbreaking is in the realm of possibility. But it would be a bare-bones no-bullshit car designed to be used as a car, maybe even seating a single person.
I’ll reiterate, it’s a car, not a smartphone. It has roll-up windows. Radio and AC, optional. The only electronics are in the motor, controls, charger, and perhaps gauges. It would be made to go fast for as little recurring expenditure as possible, not to be some “exclusive” feature-laden luxury vehicle pretending to be a race car ultimately designed for 107 IQ dudebros to spend 7-figures on to impress dumb girls with. Mass reduction and CdA reduction would be overwhelming design considerations within the context of a low-cost package, in the interest of keeping the battery small(< 40 kWh) for an acceptable amount of range(> 250 miles in normal interstate driving). And it would be repairable with a Haynes manual specifically written for it plus a basic set of tools you could get at the local Harbor Freight or Walmart.
It should be little more complex than an electric golf cart, when all is said and done. Forget about the profit margins. If someone made such a thing, word would get around and demand would in the longer term grow into something monstrous.
Yikes. Please let Adrian have free reign to roast this thing.
Like, I guess this is pretty cool, but I just cannot bring myself to give a shit about yet another stupid hypercar.
The technology in this multimillion dollar vehicle is cool, for sure. I could also say that about a larger plane, or a techy mansion, or all sorts of things I’ll never own