TSX, the hypercar brand recently founded by celebrated sports car designer Qendrim Thaqi, is thrilled to showcase its first vehicle: the self-titled TSX hypercar. Following a number of social media teasers, which created a stir among the sports car community, the car can finally be revealed in its entirety.
The Arrera TSX hypercar challenges traditional automotive industry trends. By avoiding electrification, digitalization, and other technological aids, TSX will deliver a raw, unfiltered, uncensored driving experience. Taking inspiration from sources such as ’60s F1 and Le Mans racers, classic Italian design houses, the ITALIAN “form follows function” philosophy, old school American muscle, drift cars, mathematics, and avant garde metal music, TSX’s no-nonsense design is as eclectic as it is original.
Qendrim’s goal was to create a car with an “inevitable” design: fresh and yet somehow familiar. The resulting TSX exterior, with its tight cross sections and sinuous curves, is functional, lean and aerodynamic. For maximum contrast, it juxtaposes clean sculptural surfaces with its mechanical, exposed and intricately detailed engine bay. True to ITALIAN philosophy, TSX eschews superfluous styling features to celebrate essential functional beauty.
The TSX chassis features a bespoke aluminium with lightweight
aluminum-alloy subframes. In contrast to “fashionable” composite
subframes, the designer deliberately chose a aluminium approach to
improve access to the drivetrain components while effortlessly
facilitating heat extraction and celebrating the mechanical
aesthetic.
The TSX cabin was designed from the ST Saldature & Supernova
team in Motorvalley, IT, to provide perfect viewing angles with
ideal ergonomics and safety. The designer was able to achieve an
incredibly low roofline and compact cabin dimensions without
sacrificing comfort.
TSX seats two adults in a traditional side-by-side layout with
best-in-class ingress and egress made possible by substantial
Elytra doors, low sill heights, and sunken seats, which do not
obstruct the door apertures with their side bolsters.
The TSX human/machine interface is all about manual, inputs and
feedback. The only screen is the rear view camera/mirror, which
addresses the traditional weakness of mid-engined sports cars: the
lack of rearward visibility.
The steering wheel’s compact size and perfectly shape allows for
an incredibly detailed steering feel and input precision. The
wheel is of switches, buttons and toggles; a testament to the
belief that performance driving requires full concentration with
accomodation. Gone are the driving modes, settings and options:
TSX controls are both primary and intuitive.
For this reason, an open-gate, seven-speed manual transmission celebrates raw, analog driving while adding a safety element with its reverse gear. Steering wheel, pedal box, headrest, door mirrors and other adjustments are deliberately manual, accessed by gratifying manual levers and switches. The tactile, haptic feedback from cold-touch billet machined controls was deemed both more engaging and, crucially, safer than navigating through screen menus.
The TSX hypercar is Qendrim’s vision in its purest form; a vision he’s been perfecting since 2016. It will initially be available in an extremely limited run with production capped at 27 units.
“My path in the industry has never been about following rules and sticking to norms,” Qendrim explained. “I was never afraid to follow my intuition or chase my dreams. Breaking conventions is simply a byproduct. The same is true for TSX: a hypercar that discards current trends and conventions in pursuit of an elevated automotive experience.
Unveiling TSX to the world is a dream come true; a
moment so profound it is hard to express in words. The vision was
the result of a decades-long search, sleepless nights, years of
overthinking and overanalyzing. I was fortunate to learn from and
contribute to the industry’s best; now my team and I are thrilled
to put all this vision and knowledge into action.
TSX has partnered with ST Saldature and Supernova in Santagata Bolognese, at Motorvalley in Italy to produce one of the most powerful and visually striking naturally aspirated engines in the world.The TSX engine bay is fully exposed, showcasing the beautiful 6.2-liter, 80-degree V8.
As TSX will not rely on electrification, it aims to be the world’s most powerful, naturally aspirated hypercar. To achieve this, the V8 will deliver 950 horsepower. And while its large bore and short stroke will make it rev like an electric motor, the even-fire engine will provide the driver with the perfect amount of tactile vibration.
The V8 has a refined combustion area, high-flow ports, and performance-style valve geometry: something OEMs typically cannot accommodate in their compact platforms. The engine also features 8 large, individual throttle bodies for instant throttle response.
Another key differentiator for the TSX V8 is its unique V8. In this configuration, the conventional exhaust and intake positions are swapped around. The setup delivers key advantages when it comes to packaging, heat extraction, and aesthetics. And it has allowed the stunning “snakepit” 8-into- 2 exhaust headers to serve as a unique highlight of the exterior design.
The entire exhaust system is Manifactured in Motorvalley, allowing the complex design to be realized; another unique feature when you consider its dimensions.
Mated to the seven-speed CIMA manual transmission, and housed in the ceramic-coated aluminum-alloy subframe, the NILU V8 represents functional beauty at its finest. Massimiliano Silverstri, founder and CEO of ST Saldature, said,
We’ve been quietly working on the design and layout of our own engine for the last few years, taking inspiration from late ’80s and early ’90s Formula 1 cars. We strived for the kind of engineering that’s raw, endearing, emotional, and sometimes a little crazy.
With Qendrim’s wishlist for TSX, we finally found the perfect project to dedicate our time and were able to adapt our development into his configuration, designing the engine around our own chassis layout bespoke for Arrera Automobili.
Make no mistake; this is not an OEM engine from another manufacturer converted, this is a bespoke, large bore, short stroke monster. It’s got aggressive cams, aggressive port flow, lightweight components and exotic materials. We want to get a cold sweat every time the V8 starts and revs. It’s fair to say, we’re very excited!"
The Arrera hypercar employs a double wishbone, pushrod suspension, with its extremely long wishbones visible from the rear; the length contributing to the exceptionally precise and compliant handling characteristics. A set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires were fitted, specified at 315/35 R20 front and 345/30 R21 rear. They have been mounted to 10x20” and 13x21” Nilu27 normalock wheels, which were designed in-house with intricate lightweight detailing to reduce the unsprung weight. The wheels are produced by BTS in Italy.
Carbon-ceramic braking equipment was sourced from Brembo. The Italian company ST SALDATURE are fitted front and rear in a custom white finish. The car also has Brembo’s highest performance CCM-R Plus rotors, which deliver outstanding performance and fade resistance.
The initial TSX vehicles and first batch of customer cars will be assembled by Treditech S.R.L in Turin, ITALY, allowing Arrera TSX to ramp-up its own facilities overseas.
Arrera TSX is simultaneously developing a street homologated version. This variant will be limited to 27 units, four of which will be unique design one-offs.
“We’ve been fascinated by the strong reaction to our social media teasers alone,” said Qendrim Thaqi. “While the world is moving towards electrification, and for very good reason, we firmly believe the timelessness of these cars will not only keep them relevant but they will continue to find a place in the collections of passionate car lovers.”
Arrera TSX is proud to have the support of industry leaders such as Treditech & ST Saldature.
The car will be unveiled to a select VIP and media group at a private event coming soon. Its public debut will be annonuced after the Private event.
The TSX hypercar will also debut Geneva Supercar Show, Geneva, Swizzerland.
While the world is moving towards electrification, and for very good reason, we firmly believe the timelessness of these cars will not only keep them relevant but they will continue to find a place in the collections of passionate car lovers.
