The new Pagani Imola is a special breed of Huayra. In fact, it’s so special that Pagani decided to change its name completely from Huayra to Imola, which is better than calling it ‘Huayra Imola Track Special’ or anything to that effect.
And in case you didn’t know, Horacio Pagani’s newest creation is named after the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari race circuit – more popularly known as Imola in Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Yes, it’s the very same racetrack where Ayrton Senna crashed to his death on May 1, 1994. Also, Imola circuit is known for having considerable safety issues since the first race in 1954. Choosing this type of racetrack as your new supercar’s namesake means something is afoot.
And surely, the new Pagani Imola is engineered to take the checkered flag not only in Imola but from other circuits around the world. In short, what you’re seeing here is the most track-focused version of the Huayra.
Wait, isn’t the BC Roadster the most extreme Huayra?
I admire your memory! And yes, the 2020 Pagani Huayra BC Roadster is the most extreme version of the Huayra, but that was last year. The Huayra BC Roadster has a tuned 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 from Mercedes-AMG pumping out 800-horsepower and 774 pound-feet of torque.
It also has six titanium exhaust pipes, a new seven-speed Xtrac automated-manual transmission, and a $3.5-million price tag. Oh, and only 40 examples were built, so you can’t blame anybody for declaring the BC Roadster is the ultimate Huayra.
But as we said, that was last year. With the arrival of Imola, it is now the most extreme Pagani Huayra, period.
Pagani Imola is all about power and speed
If you haven’t figured by now, the newest Pagani Imola is all about speed. With that, the focus was to keep the weight down while adding more power. Using a new Carbo-Titanium monocoque tub with around 770 components derived from forged or CNC-machined parts, Imola tips the scales at 2,747 pounds, which is 229 pounds lighter than a regular Huayra coupe.
In fact, even the paint is formulated to save 11 pounds. Pagani calls this new color Acquarello Light and is lighter than normal Huayra paint.
The same 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged AMG-sourced V12 motor from the Huayra BC Roadster still resides in the Imola. But this around, the motor is tuned to produce 827-horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque – more than you get in the ‘extreme’ Huayra BC Roadster.
All that tire-shredding power is routed exclusively to the rear wheels via a seven-speed Xtrac automatic with a triple-disc clutch and an electromechanical differential. In fact, Pagani went to the extent of developing a ‘Smart Gas’ system to boost shift times.
Surprisingly, Pagani didn’t bother in measuring the acceleration and lap time of the Imola. If we have to guess, the Imola rushes to 60 mph from rest in less than 3.0-seconds and has a top speed of over 200 mph, but those are not official numbers.
It looks ready to pounce at the next fast corner
The original Huayra is an elegant-looking thing. The Huayra BC Roadster is not bad-looking either. On the contrary, it’s a driver’s dream come true with a removable roof, a large rear spoiler, and a humongous V12 motor in the rear.
However, the Imola’s rebellious styling cues are very much welcome, thank you very much.
We love the obnoxious rear wing, the large diffuser, and the stingray-like front splitter. We also like the exposed roof scoop, the air fins, and the scoops littered around the exterior. It still has that active aero trickery of the Huayra, but the new body kit is hard to notice no matter where you look.
From the onset, Imola wasn’t supposed to be elegantly glorious since it has the legs of a track athlete.
It has redesigned suspension
In order to properly harness the Pagani Imola’s newfound sense of athleticism, Pagani redesigned the suspension system. This allows the car to deliver a taut yet mildly cosseting ride even when driven over poorly-maintained intercity road networks. The suspension has electronically controlled dampers that automatically adjusts the ride height and damping characteristics depending on the chosen drive setting.
Equipped with bespoke carbon-ceramic Brembo brakes (six pistons front and four pistons rear), 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels, and custom Pirelli Trofeo R tires, the new Pagani Imola is a boy racer’s dream come true.
The 2020 Pagani Imola has a pre-tax base price of $5.4-million. If you can afford it, here’s the bad news: Pagani is only building five examples of Imola, and all have been paid and spoken for.
Oh well, better luck next time.