This 852-HP Pagani Huayra Epitome Is The Only Example To Feature A Manual
This one-off Huayra was the result of a special client who wouldn’t settle for an automatic.
It almost seems that the Pagani Huayra won’t die. While the Utopia arrived as the replacement for this $3 million hypercar back in 2022, the Italian marque’s ultra-exclusive Grandi Complicazioni division continues to produce bespoke examples of the Huayra at the request of its very wealthy clientele. The latest project is the Huayra Epitome, which hooks a manual transmission up to the AMG-derived, 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 engine for the first time ever. Because when you have enough cash to bend a company like Pagani to your will, why settle for an automatic?
The customer behind this Huayra Epitome had a vision to take the hypercar “to its highest expression,” and bringing that vision to life took the Grandi Complicazioni division (the name is “grand complication” in English, referring to expensive timepieces) nine months to formulate the general design of the car, and an additional ten months was spent finalizing the details of this special Huayra.
And the result is a work of art, as with every Pagani. The Epitome features entirely new front and rear bumpers, with sharp LED lighting elements marking each side intake up front. The actual headlight pieces are adorned with gold frames, and several inlets have been cut into the front wheel arches to improve aerodynamics. The rear end of the car dons a wide rear wing, and there is a rear cover on the taillights to combat drag. The entirety of the car is draped in a beautiful carbon fiber body, which is finished in a sparkling shade of blue.
As usual, a 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 engine sits behind the driver, and it pumps out a total of 852 hp and 811 lb-ft of torque. However, a new seven-speed manual transmission from Xtrac takes the place of the usual six- and seven-speed sequential transmissions, which makes this the first Huayra to let the driver shift it themselves. The manual is assisted by an electronically controlled differential with a racing-inspired tripod driveshaft in sending those ponies to the rear wheels, and it also uses a triple clutch for quicker torque transmission and snappier responses from the V12.
A six-way titanium exhaust system sends the V12’s blaring soundtrack through four tips finished in blue, along with another two housed in the diffuser to create additional downforce. Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires keep this Pagani attached to the road, and they’re wrapped around a set of intricately-designed, seven-spoke wheels. When pushed to its limits, the Epitome boasts a top speed of 217.5 mph.
Pagani has also refined the suspension to reduce body movement, and there’s a “super soft” mode for the adaptive suspension that, well, softens the ride on the roughest of roads. The dampers return to their normal setting when the speedometer exceeds 93 mph.
Pagani isn’t telling us how much that owner spent on their one-of-a-kind Huayra, but we’re willing to bet that it was way higher than the “standard” hypercar’s $3 million sticker.
Image Credits: Pagani
2025 Toyota Supra Ditches Four-Cylinder Option, Gets Pricier In The Process
Now you get an inline-six with either an auto or manual, but it costs $10K more to start.
The current-generation Toyota GR Supra went on sale in late 2019 with a choice of two engines, but now things are being narrowed down to a single option. For 2025, the sports car is losing its base-level, automatic-only four-cylinder engine, which means the 3.0 liter turbocharged inline-six with either an automatic or a manual will be the only way to go from now on. While you can now in theory get a manual Supra at MSRP, and with a more powerful engine to boot, the absence of the four-cylinder narrows things down to two trims while raising the base price by roughly $10,000.
While Toyota didn’t exactly tell us why it decided to drop the 2.0 liter four-cylinder from the Supra lineup, slow sales could be the culprit. The sports car only sold 2,652 units last year, and sales dropped by nearly 50% last year compared to 2022. While we don’t know how many of these units packed a four-cylinder under the hood, we’re willing to guess that it wasn’t a large number.
Paired with its sluggish sales performance, the GR Supra also faces pressure with the existence of the smaller GR86, which arguably offers more driving pleasure at a far more affordable price. Then you have to factor in that time is limited for both the Supra and its BMW Z4 cousin, as both are scheduled to reach the chopping block when production ends in March 2026.
Engine and trim reshuffling aside, another change for 2025 addresses power oversteer on manual-equipped Supra models, with revised programming for the sports car’s traction control system to keep things in check when the vehicle is accelerating out of a corner.
In addition, the Supra is cutting things down to the 3.0 and 3.0 Premium trims this year, and either one will come with a full-year membership for the National Auto Sport Association, which lets new owners enjoy a single High Performance Driving Event for free with their own GR Supras.
Even after that membership expires, the new entry-level 3.0 will include power-adjustable sport seats with Alcantara and leather-trimmed upholstery as standard, along with a 10-speaker sound system, an 8.8-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay, and a standard wireless smartphone charger on models with the manual.
Moving up to the 3.0 Premium will add black and hazelnut upholstery options for the leather-trimmed seats, an upgraded 12-speaker JBL Hi-Fi sound system, and full-speed adaptive cruise control for sports cars with the automatic (the manual downgrades to traditional cruise control).
Buyers with the base 3.0 can get the upgraded sound system and the wireless charger for their automatic cars (strangely, it’s only standard on the manual 3.0) as long as they opt for the Safety and Technology Plus JBL Package.
As for what hasn’t changed, the Supra’s inline-six engine continues to send 382 hp and 368 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels. Since the auto-only four-cylinder is now gone, every new Supra can be optioned with a manual instead of the standard eight-speed automatic. The latter gearbox brings the sports car from 0-60 mph in a swift 3.9 seconds, while the shift-it-yourself manual slows things down to 4.2.
Now for the bad news––the 2025 Toyota GR Supra now starts at $57,345 for the 3.0 trim, up from $46,440 for last year’s four-cylinder 2.0 model. That’s a rather steep increase of about $10,000, and you’ll have to give up even more cash for the 3.0 Premium, which costs $60,495 before options. The lightly updated Supra will hit dealers this fall, which means you still have a few more months to secure one of the cheaper four-cylinder models.
Image Credits: Toyota
BMW Doesn’t Plan To Build A Next-Gen XM, Though It Wants You To Believe It Will
While there is reportedly no successor planned, BMW won’t confirm anything right now.
BMW’s design direction as of late isn’t sitting well with many, but nothing else holds a candle to the radical design of the XM. As the flagship of both the SUV and M performance lineups, its sole purpose is to make a statement––and with those inflated kidney grilles and split headlights, it’s a rather controversial one. While the 644 horsepower pushed out by the hybrid-assisted, twin-turbo V8 is sort of a saving grace, a lot of criticism has been drawn from both its styling and its rather clumsy driving manners. With all of that being said, it comes as no surprise to hear from Automotive News that the performance SUV won’t be with us forever.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, the XM is here to stay for now. A potential successor was theoretically supposed to hit dealers around 2028 or 2029, though with automakers usually thinking far ahead on their product portfolios, BMW is already considering what it wants to do with its flagship SUV. And that’s nothing––once its time is up, there will be no successor in line to replace it.
Again, the final model year for the XM is still quite far off. With production allegedly coming to an end at BMW’s Spartanburg, South Carolina factory in November 2028, the flagship crossover won’t be leaving the lineup until somewhere near the 2029 model year. The automaker originally had plans to launch a second-generation model in late 2028 with a fully-electric powertrain, but the project, codenamed G79, was later sent to the chopping block.
While it makes sense that a niche model like the XM won’t be returning for a second generation, especially since the V8 hybrid powertrain it introduced is now available on the new M5 sedan as well, BMW would rather you not think about the model’s future. In statements to curious media outlets, the automaker essentially denied the reports that the XM’s time here is short-lived. This has come alongside the automaker’s firm rebuttal against a future 6-Series.
Here’s what BMW said, according to Road and Track: “While as a matter of policy BMW does not comment on third-party speculation regarding future product development, given the attention recent stories have received, we feel it necessary to clarify that […] BMW has made no official statement on the future of a successor to the BMW XM.”
With a new BMW M5 on the way and a focus on expanding its electrified reach, BMW isn’t stagnating in the 21st Century, instead choosing to grow with it. While the end of XM production will be met with mixed reactions, a streamlined, new set of performance-oriented coupes and sedans — electrified or not — could be true to the BMW we’ve known and loved.
