Content area
Full Text
1.10.13, Yorkshire Hardcore race and sports car maker delivers its most outrageous offering yet
ALE MANS car for the road. That, in a nutshell, was what Radical set out to create when designing the extraordinary RXC, and, in a nutshell, that's exactly what it has built.
The RXC may look completely barking when encountered among ordinary, everyday traffic - to the point where people stare at it in complete bewilderment when they see it rumbling along the public road. But beneath its Le Mans prototype-like bodywork, complete with full GT3-specification multi-adjustable rear wing, it's actually a rather good sports car, albeit one that's a touch more extreme in its delivery than, say, a Volkswagen Golf GTI.
At its heart, just behind its two racing bucket seats, sits a 3.7-litre Ford V6 that produces either 350bhp in standard tune or 380bhp with a bit of tweaking to its throttle system. In both cases this is mated to a seven-speed sequential paddle-shift gearbox built specifically for the car by Quaife, which also makes the torque-sensing differential that's fitted to the car.
All up, the RXC weighs just 900kg, which means it isn't just quick but crackers fast in a straight line. Radical claims a 0-60mph time of just 2.8sec, with a top speed limited by the relatively short gearing in seventh to ?just' 175mph. They don't quote a 0-100mph time yet, but having spent a day howling around the Yorkshire moors in it, I'd guess it could hit three figures in a fair bit less than seven seconds. Which puts it very much in the premier league when it comes to outright acceleration.
But it's what the RXC does around comers and under brakes that will at first fray and then obliterate the outer edges of your imagination, and the reason why is because it produces downforce. Lots and lots of downforce, to the extent that -in theory - it could be driven upside down through a tunnel without falling off the ceiling.
That's right: at its maximum 175mph, Radical claims the RXC produces its own weight...