British boutique carmaker Trident launches diesel supercar

Big power. Outrageous speed. Unbeatable efficiency. It’s the holy grail of automotive trifectas, and British boutique carmaker Trident claims to have achieved it with the stunning diesel-powered Iceni.

After years of being considered smelly and slow, diesels are having a bit of a renaissance these days, winning the hearts of everyday motorists thanks to improved injection and emissions technology that allows them to deliver tremendous efficiency while achieving emissions on par with their gasoline-powered counterparts.

They are also quietly winning converts among enthusiast drivers who appreciate the immense torque that diesels typically offer on tap.

Trident has taken these two characteristics – superior efficiency and tremendous torque – and developed an automatic transmission that capitalizes on them to deliver what it claims is the punch of a supercar with the efficiency of a hybrid.

It’s certainly easy to see where the Iceni gets its power: under the hood sits a big 6.6-litre turbo diesel V8, developing a respectable 395 horsepower and an awesome 700 lb-ft of torque.

The engine is hooked up to a six-speed automatic transmission, and it’s here that Trident has focused it’s effort, claiming to have refined the basic torque multiplication technology commonly used in automatic transmissions to make the most efficient possible use of the engine’s twist, so that at highway speeds the car can tick along sipping fuel at just 980 rpm, and deliver fuel economy of 68.9 miles per Imperial gallon in the process. That’s 4.1 L/100km.

Rev the engine up to its full potential and the Iceni will slingshot from 0-100 km/h in under four seconds and hit a top speed of 305 km/h. With a big 182-litre fuel tank (actually three tanks connected together) a road trip of up to 3,200 kilometres is theoretically possible without refueling.

Trident is only just now taking orders for its diesel models – there’s an open top original model and a Iceni Magna coupe – so it’s a bit early to tell if the real-world performance will live up to the company’s claims.

It is clear, however, that the car’s bodywork stands up to Trident’s supercar claims: Its sensuous curves evoke some of the most sought-after sports cars of the early 1960s, and the chassis is formed of stainless steel. In addition to the custom made gearbox and differential, the Iceni features more than 39 bespoke components designed and manufactured exclusively by Trident, including the wheels, seats, instruments, air vents, door pulls and occulight roof panels.

All Iceni models start at £96K ($177,650 Canadian). The Iceni will be offered in both right-hand and left-hand drive, and Trident plans on putting the car through the U.S. federal approval process this summer in order to be able to offer it for sale in North America.

©(Copyright Canadian Auto Press)