Pagani Huayra Codalunga v Huayra Roadster BC – car pictures of the week
In the latest issue of evo, we test two of Pagani’s most spectacular creations side by side in Italy – these are our favourite shots
Driving a Pagani is a rarified opportunity that very few will get to experience in their lifetime. Driving two of its most special models on the same day, however, is truly the stuff of dreams, and a dream that became reality when we tested the Huayra Codalunga alongside the Roadster BC for issue 330 of evo. To read the full test, pick up a copy of the magazine in-store or online via the evo shop.
evo’s link to Pagani stretches back to the first Zonda, which was unveiled to the world a year after our first issue went to press. This exquisite new player in the supercar space captured our attention immediately, and we’ve closely followed its story – from more extreme versions of the Zonda to the Huayra and now the Utopia – ever since.
The Codalunga and Roadster BC are both radical evolutions of the Huayra, which we first drove well over a decade ago. Its runaway-train performance, fanatical attention to detail and extraterrestrial styling made our jaws drop back then, and these rarified special versions turn things up several notches.
The Roadster BC was one of Pagani’s most hardcore creations ever when it launched in 2019. Its twin-turbo V12 delivers massive peaks of 791bhp and 774lb ft, it’s covered in intricate aero adornments, while a Carbo-Titanium and Carbo-Triax construction helped keep weight down to just 1250kg.
The Codalunga, on the other hand, uses similar ingredients but in a long-tail, low-drag package that’s less outwardly aggressive and track-focused. Having said that, it produces an even punchier 829bhp, and it’s even more exclusive – just 5 were built, compared to 40 Roadster BCs. As our man Dickie Meaden found out, there’s a clear contrast in character between the two.
‘You definitely attack the road more in the BC. Not because the Codalunga is any less capable, but because the BC is somehow urging you on that little bit more. The gearbox gets better the harder you accelerate and the higher the rpm when you pull for an upshift. As you might imagine this takes considerable commitment when you’re extending an 800bhp, 1250kg hypercar. Wind up to the redline and it’s an explosive, borderline violent process, but one that gives you a huge adrenalin rush.’
To read the full feature, pick up a copy of evo 330 in-store or online.
