Introduction
Lately I’ve been thinking about where the automotive industry is heading, and what horrors the future may hold for automotive enthusiasts. I will admit that recent developments do show signs of a better future, with companies pushing back against electrification and smaller engines. It is nice to see AMG bringing the V8s back, Ford refusing to stop making V8s and BMW firing their designers. However, the walls are still closing in, stricter and stricter laws are being put in place both against emissions and driving. Both the manufacturers and enthusiasts are being pressed, and it seems like although the culture will not die, it will not flourish either. Because of this, I began to wonder if we would ever see cars as great as the Holy Trinity ever be produced again, cars that are performance monsters with such personality and presence. But then I also realized, in more recent history, that there have been some damn good cars. Now these cars aren’t anywhere close to the level of the Holy Trinity, but they are impressive enough to be mentioned. I am dubbing these cars as the Unholy Quartet.
What is the Holy Trinity?
If you’ve been into cars for any amount of time, chances are that you have heard the Holy Trinity mentioned before. The Holy Trinity is a trio of cars that are considered to be nearly godlike in both their performance and impact they’ve had on the automotive industry. These 3 automobiles are no other than the: McLaren P1, Ferrari LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder. Now in this blog post I will not go in-depth on these cars, instead I will likely create an entirely different blog post dedicated to the Holy Trinity. All I will say is that each of these cars are true achievements of greatness, and there exists very few cars that can hold a candle to them.
What is the Unholy Quartet?
The Unholy Quartet is a group of 4 cars that have come out in recent years which I think are quite impressive and deserve to be recognized. I have selected these cars not based solely on their performance, but also my personal opinion of their presence and impact that they have had on the automotive industry and car culture. Without further ado, here are the 4 cars (in no particular order):
- Lamborghini Huracan STO
- Mercedes AMG GT R
- Porsche 911 GT3 RS
- Dodge Viper ACR
When any of these cars pull up to a car meet, or is mentioned during a debate, an immediate hush falls over the crowd. These cars are nearly universally respected, appreciated and sometimes feared, across the automotive industry. They are all unquestionably high performers, but they also have a sort of presence and personality about them, a presence I feel is similar in nature to that exhibited by the Holy Trinity.
I also feel obligated to mention the McLaren Senna here. It is a car I initially included but removed for 2 reasons, the first is that I wanted to include something American (hence the Viper), and the second is that I feel the Senna is far above the other cars on this list. The Senna isn’t in the same class as the Unholy Quartet, nor is it in the same class as the Holy Trinity. It has far more presence, prestige and performance than the quartet, but not nearly as much as the trinity. Therefore, I found myself forced to instead list it as an honourable mention. I must say that I think it is one of the few cars that could be argued to be on the same level as those in the Holy Trinity.
Lamborghini Huracan STO
The Huracan STO was a car that stunned reviewers and the entire automotive industry with its capabilities. In fact, MotorTrend reported that most of their reviewers needed more time with the car to find its limits, and mind you these are people who review performance cars for a living. The only thing that reviewers could find to complain about on the car was that its drive modes were hard to understand. This alone speaks volumes about the capabilities of this car. The original Huracan was already a great car, but Lamborghini wanted more so they enhanced it to produce the Huracan Performante, which was a special car, but Lamborghini still wanted more; so, they produced the Huracan STO. A nearly perfect car. The STO beat the Performate’s lap time by nearly 3 seconds at the Daytona International Speedway.
It is powered by a naturally aspirated 5.2L V10 producing 630 horsepower and 417 lb-ft of toque, mated to a 7-speed automatic transmission. This allows the STO to get from 0 – 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds, which is blisteringly fast even for cars in this class. Although the STO is rear-wheel drive, it doesn’t feel like that, in fact it handles more like an all-wheel drive vehicle, having staggering amounts of grip in corners it shouldn’t be able to handle. What people found more impressive was the consistency with which it could achieve this, the car performed almost the same every single run. The brakes are tuned to perfection and will stop this 3400lb car with ease. It doesn’t stop at the brakes, the entire car was tuned perfectly, Lamborghini left no stone unturned; every component of this car was perfected.
Most reviewers compared it to the Aventador SVJ, a car that has 2 more cylinders, all wheel drive and is in a different price class altogether. Lamborghini has created a monster here, that nearly outperforms their most performance-oriented vehicle.
Mercedes AMG GT R
This is a car that was built to take on the best that Porsche has to offer, and that is no small feat to attempt. When this car came out it served as a reminder to the entire industry how great AMG can be, and what they are capable of. It also reminded Porsche that they aren’t invincible, and someone is right on their heels, and of course competition is great for us (the consumer) because it forces manufacturers to innovate. Its main target is actually a car on this list, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS.
Following a similar path to Lamborghini, the AMG GT S was already a fast and respected car, but Mercedes wasn’t satisfied, so they produced the AMG GT R, one of the scariest things to come out of Germany since Hitler.
This car brought forth several interesting innovations, all of which I cannot name here. But one that I find particularly interesting is its four-wheel steering, now of course four wheel steering has been around since the 90s but AMG has done something cool here. Above 62 miles per hour, the rear wheels turn in the same direction as the fronts, and below 62 miles per hour, the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction from the fronts. At high speeds this helps take the braking load off of the front wheels when turning, this helps prevent the front brakes from overheating.
This AMG GT R is powered by a 4L twin-turbo V8 that produces 577 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque. It is running nearly 3 pounds more boost, lower compression, ported heads and retuned gear ratios over the GT S. This rear-wheel-drive beast can move from 0 – 60 miles per hour in 2.9 seconds, due in no small part to its 7-speed automatic transmission. Although on paper this seems like a car that would be quite rowdy, several reviewers have praised its control. And although AMG is known for producing over-powered and poorly handling vehicles, the AMG GT R is quite refined and was truly capable of challenging Porsche.
The impact that the AMG GT R had on the automotive industry is clear, it served as a clear reminder of what AMG is capable of.
Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Nearly every automotive enthusiast has heard of the GT3 RS, it is renowned for its exceptional capabilities and is known for being one of the best all around cars ever produced. Reviewers have been regularly surprised by the amount of grip and control the chassis offers, as has been customary for Porsche. Porsche has never offered the largest power numbers or engines, they’ve never had the loudest exhausts, but they have always had great handling. The GT3 RS is the pinnacle of control and grip, the product of Porsche’s years of experience.
The precision that this car offers is unmatched, all of the driver inputs have been perfected and respond almost immediately. The brakes are of course more than powerful enough to stop this car, with 16-inch rotors in the front. The transmission is a 7-speed automatic, a PDK, of course it shifts nearly immediately. This is a true driver’s car, in fact most drivers lack the skill required to push this car to its limits. This is a testament to the capabilities of this car, it is so great and competent that only skilled drivers can find its limits.
In typical Porsche fashion it is powered a naturally aspirated by 4L flat 6 producing 518 horsepower, that has a limiter set at 9000rpm. This car can move from 0 – 60 miles per hour in 2.7 seconds. The aerodynamics and suspension of the GT3 RS are a thing of beauty, they produce so much downforce and grip that it takes real effort to break this car lose. I believe that of all the impressive cars on this list, the GT3 RS has the fastest Nürburgring lap time, though I suspect the STO could give it a run for its money.
Dodge Viper ACR
Some people may feel that the Viper doesn’t quite deserve to be on this list, I respectfully disagree. My reasons for including the Viper on this list go deeper than just wanting to give the Americans some representation. It is perhaps the only car that is feared not only by its competitors, but also its owners. Several owners have stated that the Viper is a car that feels like it wants to kill you, several owners have severe burns on their calves from the side exit exhaust that is right outside the door. It has little to no safety features to save you when you choose to drive dangerously, it only wants to go as fast as possible. This car changed the way American cars were viewed, I feel that it has always been looked at as America’s exotic car.
It is quite a shame that Dodge had to discontinue the Viper, growing up it was one of my favourite cars. I really thought it was the definition of badass. The corvette has always been great and an American beast, but I’ve found it to be almost too common and overdone (they are still of course great cars), the Ford GT is less common, but I find is not beastly enough (again, still a great car). The Viper strikes a perfect balance to be America’s exotic, is does have that supercar look to it, and is rowdy and loud and obnoxious – everything you’d expect from an American. Dodge built the Viper ACR to be fiercer than any of the Vipers before it, because it would be the last hurrah of the Viper family. I believe that to this day it holds the fastest lap time on the Nürburgring of all production manual cars.
If everything I’ve said above hasn’t proven to you that Viper ACR has had a great impact on the automotive industry, let me throw some of its performance stats at you. It’s powered by a massive 8.4L V10 producing 645 horsepower and 600 lb-ft of torque, mind you all from a naturally aspirated engine, which means that this power curve would be something insane to experience. It is of course rear wheel drive and has a 6-speed manual transmission, all of which propels the ACR from 0 – 60 miles per hour in 3.3 seconds. I’ll give you second to digest those astounding numbers, keep in mind this is all from a stock, street-legal car. And if that’s not impressive enough, back in 2017 this car held more track records than any other production car, ever. If after reading all this, you’re not impressed, then I really don’t know what to tell you. This one of the best American cars, scratch that, one of the best cars ever produced, period.
Conclusion
As I had stated earlier, each of the cars in the Unholy Quartet commands a certain level of respect, debates tend to quiet down when one of them are mentioned. If you’ve ever been at a car meet and one of these pulls in, people usually stop what they’re doing and watch. These cars have a level of presence that few others can match. Again, they don’t have the same level of presence as the Holy Trinity, but they certainly have more than your average sports car.
Sources: Car and Driver, MotorTrend, Dodge Forum, F1rst Motors
