CompleteCar

542hp pickup nearly ready

It's no BMW M3 pickup, but the LupiniPower SuperUte is actually real. No,seriously.

If BMW's April Fool's Day M3 pickup left your appetite whetted for an interesting blend of performance and practicality, then South African tuner  LupiniPower may have  the, er... car for you.

Appropriately christened the SuperUte, and based on a Holden design, it offers 535bhp and 590lb.ft of torque, thanks to a 6.0-litre supercharged V8 engine.  It's capable of 0-60mph in 4.8 seconds and 0-150mph in 22.9 seconds - over two seconds quicker than the M3, as it cranks up to its 175mph top speed.

To cope with all this power, the SuperUte's brakes have been upgraded with bigger race-specification front discs and upgraded callipers, and the car now features 20-inch wheels shod in Goodyear Potenzas.  The suspension's also been tweaked, although a full Bilstein setup is optional, as is a limited-slip differential.
LupiniPower founder Michele Lupini said:  "It is hugely gratifying to note that (BMW) M has taken note of a need for such top-end pick-up vehicles, although we do also need to point out that SuperUte is certainly no joke - our development cycle is now close to being completed and we'll soon be ready to deliver."

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Published on April 5, 2011