Ginetta G40 video review

British manufacturer Ginetta is making a comeback with the new Ginetta G40R, a 2.0-litre 175bhp rear-wheel drive sports car. At £30k its closest rival is the more powerful Nissan 370Z, but the lightweight Ginetta offers a very different, club sport experience. Read the review at www.autocar.co....

[@BriskBounty7]

I wish I could buy this in America this would be my absolute first pick for a new car. Saw it for the first time in grid legends and I can’t stop admiring it now

[@Subparanon]

Project Cars 2 has dozens and dozens of the top cars in the automotive world, so why is it that out of all of them, the G40 is the one that wakes me up and has me googling it to find out more? I need to get in the real thing and see if the right foot steering feels as good as it does in the game. Instead of inspiring terror it inspires giddy delight and confidence.

[@lawrenceinsley4114]

Same here, I got the game a day ago and have never heard of this car but have fallen in love with it.

[@masterchief8042]

me too, i only saw this car in the game before, and i absolutely hate it, it handles like a refrigerator

[@npne1253]

@@masterchief8042 what? it handles kinda like a mx5 but sure understeer in the longer corners

[@Luki-xr2ih]

@@lawrenceinsley4114 Same

[@jamiesandero2276]

I drove that car ina race series last year. Its such a hands on race car. All the right smells and sounds and it handles very well aswell easy to feel when the car is beginning to let go which makes corrections a dream overall such a good car. Just impossible to get in and out of without looking like an idiot the thing is only 1 meter tall

[@KingHaggis]

These cars are just magically awesome.

[@hosrom]

"You come out of the car, with a big smile on you're face". That is something that is rare in cars!

[@14478johnny]

Does anyone else see the Viper, GTR, Miata mixed look?

[@bighands69]

+John Besson I see classic British sports cars like the E type and 1965 Ginetta.

[@thehotshotcentral1221]

bighands69 noble m600 rear design cue.

[@myotherusername9224]

I see it, totally.

[@givemeajackson]

seems to be a closed caterham. i like the concept, i like the look, i bet it feels awesome!

[@Rafagafanhotobra]

Put it against the GT86 on the next videos!! It would be awesome!

[@rootsmanuva82]

My sharp eyes are telling me those are MINI R56 side-view mirrors...

[@FizzyMotors]

I am in love with this car.

[@begood4000]

brilliant car. LOVE IT. This should be indeed sold in the US.

[@RACERULER247]

I drive the race car version of this car the junior, and I love the car it is amazing to drive whatever weather, and in the junior race car only has 100bhp as it's limited so this must be amazing.

[@TerenceChan89]

It would be a complete beast with either: 1. 2.3L 280HP Cosworth Engine or 2. 300HP tuned K20 engine from a Civic Type R. This car would destroy GT3s, M3s, Lotus', etc. A 800kg body with 300HP plus rear wheel drive at about 30,000. Definitely my dream car. So sad that they are only manufacturing 100 a year.

[@ginettachipuli6782]

That's me!

[@rourkeyliiid4769]

Whilst I understand where you're coming from man, fitting carpets and making it less hardcore would completely go against what this car is all about. Maybe a custom option to make it more of an everyday driver would make it more appealing to some, however one of the sole reasons I (and presumably others) would buy it is because of just how raw it is!

[@Petriefied0246]

I love this car! I have a Clio 172 as my weekend car and this is the only thing I'd trade it in for...

[@TurboLag23]

PLEASE bring this to the US. It will sell brilliantly here. I would actually ditch my plans of buying an STI and just buy one of these and keep my Outback as a daily driver. I'm not kidding. Autocar, if you're reading this and if you have you have an inside line to Ginetta, tell them to start US testing on the double. There's a lot of people like me who want fast, inexpensive, reliable weekend racers, and this car looks to fit the bill PERFECTLY.

[@BlatentlyFakeName]

I daily a GT86 at the moment and I'd have no problem dailying one of these :D

[@JohnDoe-nu6si]

I love the lotus inspired tail light design very nice touch

[@Jona7Fer]

love the interior

[@colin5577]

Drove one of these at the Ascari circuit last week - it was a race G40 rather than a road-going one and came wiith the push-pull sequential box. Spot-on balance and very nice to drive. Felt terribly underpowered on the circuit, mind. I quite seriously fancy one for the road, but would definitely want the wick turned up on the 175 BHP standard state of tune. 220-240 sounds about right.

[@saverioaureli]

How sad they stopped producing this road version :(

[@ruthlesschoy]

Can this come to Canada please

[@AccordGTR]

@flawns its a road car. the race car is a lot stiffer. But at only 800 kg you don't really need stiff suspension

[@FordMustangYT]

Nice! This is the 1st time I ever heard of this car!

[@shadmonk]

@ScLeCo no, it only shares engine/box with the miata. its a new car design, with spaceframe chassis

[@themorganator]

really like this... way more than I thought I would

[@Scotracer1987]

@Verification11 Well have you driven a normal Exige? They have roughly 200BHP/tonne...a little more, but they feel perfectly balanced in terms of pace and handling and cost. So that's a good price point to aim for. 280BHP in a 800kg is A LOT of performance and not everyone needs or wants that power. Remember, more power doesn't always mean more fun :)

[@Law19157]

$29.000 is the UK pounds or American dollars? I thought I heard him say grand

[@OwenK66]

@MrCooltoni it has a race series or 2 a junior one and an adult one used to make cars in the 70's or somethin, theres one of them in grand turismo 3

[@MotorsportMonkey]

MX5 on an Atkins diet with a 200hp 4pot ford engine mixed in and its built and designed in the UK im sold

[@Ghostintheshell3551]

wow ive never heard of this car i live in california i wonder why they dont have these cars out here

[@oOoironhideoOo]

looks really good, simple design reminiscent to old school british coupes...

[@Sam_Fairbairn08]

Looks like a good car and at £29k it's pretty cheap considering you get around 180bhp and of course it only weighs 800kg so probs goes like hell

[@joemplascencia]

The underdog building a proper roadster. Cheers

[@michaelwoodsdale460]

Simple sporty fun to drive - cars are not an accessory, this car should start a revolution for drivers

[@phantomloita]

@luedriver yeah the current M3 weighs 1680kg dry with the convertible coming in at 1880kg.

[@AccordGTR]

@TurboLag23 Yup I know, I went to school and worked there for 10 years. I learned a lot about engines and drag racing and joined some parking lot slaloms. Then I returned to the my country and took racing lessons from a Pro. I found out I was doing everything wrong! In the US everything is so expensive so kids take the cheapest way out which is drag racing. But circuit racing takes a whole different set of skills, braking and cornering and suspension set-up.

[@MrMarkwmolloy]

In my dreams, this would be in my garage. car is not even that impractical. You could have this serviced and MOT's for about £150 all inc. spark plugs, brake pads, clutch all mainstream items.

[@xluigix333]

I got to order on of these, but i dont think they would sent it to the US :/

[@Molo9000]

@Lolzilol123 The Elise is going out of production soon. Lotus has bigger, heavier replacement in the pipeline for 2013. The Elise SC is probably a much better road-car, but personal taste also comes into the buying decision and the Ginetta is a more serious track car. It's more than 100kg lighter and comes with a FIA approved roll cage and fuel tank.

[@jasonsong86]

I looked at the shifter I was like hummm, this looks like a new MX5 shifter cuz non of the current cars have reverse left to 1st. my RX8 is the same.

[@Verification11]

yes i'm aware of all that, exept for the ideal for the market.. can u explain further ??? anyway with that low curb weight every hp is a huge gain.... and i would like to see that. hope we see 280hp on this car soon :)

[@Pietervdv]

@mercedescl why compare it to a Corvette? Totally different cars!

[@slobdog21]

I'll second Mr. TurboLag. Do please bring it to America and I'll do a sb100 registration for California. Bet the mileage is quite good too. I'll end up with a "Porker" if it doesn't come soon.

[@TheSuperMotoHooligan]

Cool car. Good work Ginetta.

[@Scotracer1987]

@Verification11 There's no need for that much power as standard. This thing has around 200BHP/tonne...which is ideal for the market.

[@luedriver]

@TheKrauti that is so true, shame Lotus never made a real successor to the old elan, but this comes pretty damn close... ...also on a side note I never knew a 3 series weighed 1.6 tons :P thats more than a 80's M6

[@Fertro]

@dantehallJr92 Is Power to Weight a new concept for you? If you look below, I asked what the hp/tonne the max power output would be, which they say is 280hp with all the upgrades. The answer was 350hp/tonne, and a Ferrari 458 works out at 385hp/tonne. The Ginetta costs about $38,000, whereas the Ferrari is $255,000 (Both at entry level). You can get something that will be very quick, very well designed, for probably less than 1/6th of the price (Not sure what top spec costs)

[@n9athan]

I want this, if its anything like the Subaru brz in terms of price (brz is 26k Pounds) which in America its being sold for 25.5k base 27.5k limited I would be really happy with this at 30k even 35k would be a steal.

[@gthausde]

more reviews from this car please!!

[@Verification11]

they should make it stock stander 280hp with 800kg and good handling+manual (stick)+280hp.... a true car enthusiast dream!

[@MrMuzace]

@TurboLag23 Sorry the G40R won't make it to the US as a road car - only way this makes it onto UK roads is a special law for single vehicle approval (SVA) which allows small manufacturers like Ginetta to put together a max I think of 100 road cars per annum without conforming to the usual UK and European approval and crash rating testing requirements. As far as I know no US Federal or State legislation exists which would allow this car to be imported into the US and legally used on the road.

[@nbrigdan]

Well this thing would probably be around 47,000 here in the states if we just go with a direct conversion but everything is always cheaper here so I'd bet it would go for around 40,000

[@SwPiotrek]

I love it!!

[@Fertro]

800kgs, and if it has (around) 280hp... Good God. What would be the ratio on that? Saying that, how would one even work out what a car's power/tonne is?

[@luedriver]

@phantomloita that's unbelievably heavy and its only got a 4 lt v8 that supposedly weighs less than the previous M3 L6, but I guess its true all the same...

[@TurboLag23]

@Lolzilol123 It'll all depend on how the next-gen Elise/Exige is. They just stopped making this generation of Elise in preparation for the new Lotus models due out in the next few years (including a new Elise).

[@BfmvOwnz1]

in other words, it would be like "Is it possible to buy a car that is faster than most Ferraris on most race tracks and only costs about 29.000 pounds? Yes, with the new Ginetta G40R"

[@myke6699]

@TurboLag23 Can you even bring a car in US (or North America) that has no air bag. I remember one of my ex brought a Lotus Seven (aka Caterham 7) into Canada but it had to be in kit form and had to built it himself in order for it to be street legal. But that was like in the late 1990s and wonder if the same rule applies now.

[@DocWolph]

Also are much power, weighs 800Kg/1760lbs, and actually made for running a race, not drifting like a fool. The G40R wins on all points but the price. But then the Ginetta G40R is a rare case of getting what you pay for.

[@92AOK]

IS THIS COMING TO THE US??!?

[@KuostA]

@giovanni09pso umm..i don't get your joke. a great driving position, a nice steering wheel, and perfectly located pedals (3) equals to = 5.

[@kippo]

I like the mx5 just the way it is, this having more power would make me love the g40.

[@madogblue]

Suspension looks a bit bouncy based on the video, may be needs a bit or refinement for the road

[@gregaperkin]

@Lloydo46 I wouldn't. The RS would be quicker of course, but I'd much rather have have the lightweight rear drive entertainment every day.

[@Countrysideboy247]

Dislikes are from people who drive uncontrollable muscle cars ,just because it has a 5 cylinder inline ,not a v8 !

[@TheKrauti]

correct me if im wrong, but i have a feeling this is what lotus should be more like.

[@celt67]

140 mph and 29 mpg. ( for the 175bhp version ) according to their own website.

[@acalthu]

It isn't. He meant to say Duratec.

[@BETNCORT]

@seanwfd true, but it'd be a lot more expensive as well

[@typhoon5000]

I have those gunmetal Team Dynamics wheels on my Taurus SHO :D

[@Lolzilol123]

@TurboLag23 If this type of car is so attractive, why not just get a Lotus? An Exige/Elise weighs about the same with about the same amount of power for about the same price.

[@ostfahrstreifen8421]

2:37 correct me, if i'm wrong, but do i hear a turbo? That'd be even better in this car

[@xebek]

In this car, you're wrong. 180ish bhp is what an N/A 2.0L Ford engine is capable of, quite happily.

[@MikeMcLarenDrumming]

great review

[@luedriver]

this has become my dream car, if only it had a small v8 it would be more of a fantasy car, I wouldn't mind even if it was 2.0lt V8... (even ferrari had one back at one point)...

[@roydied15]

i actually think it sounds pretty sick!

[@yo93yeah]

soooo how do you check the engine if it has no bonnet??

[@MrNoahthefox95]

@TheKrauti yes, but I think the lotus is a bit better looking...

[@DocWolph]

I think I'm in love with Ginetta. Prices are a bit steep, but I've seen far worse of less good cars. Actually in those terms, they are actually cheap. My heart swoons more. I'd take the G60 though.

[@spencerleeb]

Wow this car sounds great for America! It could be the next mgb or spitfire only way more fun and reliable, just put some carpets in it, maybe even make a less hardcore, plusher version

[@chris2586]

@TurboLag23 doubt it will come to US. Have to pass emissions, safety regulations etc. Too expensive for most niche car companies.

[@Law19157]

I know what I want for Christmas :D

[@its2realj]

WOAH THAT IS A SPEED6/ SPEED3 GEAR KNOB!

[@AccordGTR]

@flawns Ah I see. But I think you do not get it. There are so many "aggressive-looking" sports cars today but they all weigh 1000-2000 lbs more than this car. I think this car is perfect for a sports car, under $30,000, 800kg. RWD except it is RHD. It even has a rear diffuser and central muffler. Yeah, no wings and fake scoops but look how low it is with really big tires. I can imagine this will out-corner or out-brake anything on the road that will come across it.

[@youremostwelcome]

Sortof makes you wonder why you'd opt for the BRZ....

[@sheepborg]

@Razor4ever well for one it would be heavier, but it scares me thinking about it (in the best way of course)

[@BlurringCars]

@CochiTravels Urm, exactly?

[@adcuz]

Looks good!

[@den_525]

a pumped up mx5.... it should drive really well though

[@livefrom615]

really good driver.

[@rosenfeld8]

Nothing quite like it?? What about the lotus Elise? On paper they're near as the same!

[@AlumarsX]

@dbauernf Any current Toyota would do.

[@PepegaPig]

for this price you could buy an elise supercharged which is quicker, on the road and probably on the track, and i'd hasten to say more reliable. still looks ok i guess.

[@JanMichaelFranklin]

If we could just get this over here as a kit car like we got the Noble!

[@ARCHERLM]

@MrCooltoni Ginetta is a company more to do with racing then building road cars there best racing car is the Ginetta G50 and there Ginetta G55

[@thebossisheretostay]

i want one more than anything now, in realistic terms

[@allyc85]

I want one!

[@BlatentlyFakeName]

I'd daily drive one of these all year round. Fun > fancy dashboard

[@ShermanMR2]

Nice review but why not buy a LOTUS. I really love mine. And it very FAST.

[@the26thhour]

5 stars again mate