RE: New 380hp Radical coupe revealed
Discussion
Fury1630 said:
......... Sorry, I thought this was Pistonheads, I must've wandered into "what school run car" by accident. Most of the threads bemoan modern cars for being too heavy / insulating / automated, Someone makes a hard-core racer, that can be street legal & everyone slates it because - it's not very pretty, or states that a caterham is more practical! Jees! I'm waiting for someone to complain about the lack of reversing sensors or mountings for a tow ball.
No-one's going to be parking this in Tescos while they do the weekly shop.
No-one's going to be commuting in it.
No-one's going to be taking the kids to the south of France in it.
What people might do, is drive to track days.
What people might do, is enter a street-legal race series.
What people might do, is enjoy the pin-sharp focus of the experience.
What people might do, is park it in thier big garage with all the other exotics - which would be a shame.
Yes, it's expensive, but still in these hard-up times, less than a tenth of a banker's bonus. 50 a year world wide? I see no reason why not.
.... and to those who say "kit car styling", I say show me an attractive race car designed in the last 20 years. I also say "BMW's flame surface styling", as well as the generic, over-sculpted dross in showrooms the length & breadth of the country. The "professionals" don't do any better these days. The Radical looks purposeful. If I was choosing a car based on it's looks I'd not be drawn to it sure, but any 12 year old boy seeing it WILL stop dead in his tracks. Styling? Job done I'd say.
well said that man, this is a flame spitting race car for a well heeled chap who; like me enjoys the drive to the track and then pootling about at 50% of the cars capability while feeling like a cross between lauda/senna and james bond. No-one's going to be parking this in Tescos while they do the weekly shop.
No-one's going to be commuting in it.
No-one's going to be taking the kids to the south of France in it.
What people might do, is drive to track days.
What people might do, is enter a street-legal race series.
What people might do, is enjoy the pin-sharp focus of the experience.
What people might do, is park it in thier big garage with all the other exotics - which would be a shame.
Yes, it's expensive, but still in these hard-up times, less than a tenth of a banker's bonus. 50 a year world wide? I see no reason why not.
.... and to those who say "kit car styling", I say show me an attractive race car designed in the last 20 years. I also say "BMW's flame surface styling", as well as the generic, over-sculpted dross in showrooms the length & breadth of the country. The "professionals" don't do any better these days. The Radical looks purposeful. If I was choosing a car based on it's looks I'd not be drawn to it sure, but any 12 year old boy seeing it WILL stop dead in his tracks. Styling? Job done I'd say.
Edited by Fury1630 on Thursday 13th December 11:24
bottom line is? you're going to end up in the gravel, with a roof your just not going to get gravel spray and with all that downforce you'll be heading into the gravel at some rate of knots!
kambites said:
Krikkit said:
It might not be pretty, but with the race-proven skills of Radical it should be a hoot.
"Race proven" means fast, not fun. I'd bet on a 25k Caterham being the more entertaining road car. As far as price goes there's a lot of gear in there that will be seriously expensive. I bet the gearbox runs up to 15k before you start on anything else.
Fury1630 said:
......... Sorry, I thought this was Pistonheads, I must've wandered into "what school run car" by accident. Most of the threads bemoan modern cars for being too heavy / insulating / automated, Someone makes a hard-core racer, that can be street legal & everyone slates it because - it's not very pretty, or states that a caterham is more practical! Jees! I'm waiting for someone to complain about the lack of reversing sensors or mountings for a tow ball.
No-one's going to be parking this in Tescos while they do the weekly shop.
No-one's going to be commuting in it.
No-one's going to be taking the kids to the south of France in it.
What people might do, is drive to track days.
What people might do, is enter a street-legal race series.
What people might do, is enjoy the pin-sharp focus of the experience.
What people might do, is park it in thier big garage with all the other exotics - which would be a shame.
Yes, it's expensive, but still in these hard-up times, less than a tenth of a banker's bonus. 50 a year world wide? I see no reason why not.
.... and to those who say "kit car styling", I say show me an attractive race car designed in the last 20 years. I also say "BMW's flame surface styling", as well as the generic, over-sculpted dross in showrooms the length & breadth of the country. The "professionals" don't do any better these days. The Radical looks purposeful. If I was choosing a car based on it's looks I'd not be drawn to it sure, but any 12 year old boy seeing it WILL stop dead in his tracks. Styling? Job done I'd say.
No-one's going to be parking this in Tescos while they do the weekly shop.
No-one's going to be commuting in it.
No-one's going to be taking the kids to the south of France in it.
What people might do, is drive to track days.
What people might do, is enter a street-legal race series.
What people might do, is enjoy the pin-sharp focus of the experience.
What people might do, is park it in thier big garage with all the other exotics - which would be a shame.
Yes, it's expensive, but still in these hard-up times, less than a tenth of a banker's bonus. 50 a year world wide? I see no reason why not.
.... and to those who say "kit car styling", I say show me an attractive race car designed in the last 20 years. I also say "BMW's flame surface styling", as well as the generic, over-sculpted dross in showrooms the length & breadth of the country. The "professionals" don't do any better these days. The Radical looks purposeful. If I was choosing a car based on it's looks I'd not be drawn to it sure, but any 12 year old boy seeing it WILL stop dead in his tracks. Styling? Job done I'd say.
Edited by Fury1630 on Thursday 13th December 11:24
There are loads of cool looking racing cars.
I personally hoped it would look like the LMP1 cars, but it's just too tall, too narrow and too dumpy looking.
Shame.
Krikkit said:
kambites said:
Krikkit said:
It might not be pretty, but with the race-proven skills of Radical it should be a hoot.
"Race proven" means fast, not fun. I'd bet on a 25k Caterham being the more entertaining road car. 
That's how I see it too - a track car that's just about capable enough on the road to get you to the track rather than someone you'd drive on the road for the pleasure of driving it on the road. My god that's in with a serious shout.... of winning ugliest car of the decade. Sure it'll be fast, and those that want to race it won't care what it looks like as long as it's able to spank the competition, but track day enthusiasts don't think that way. Anyone dropping £120k on a track day toy to drive on the road will place aesthetics near the top of the requirements list and this hound will not cut it. This one has debacle written all over it. The end of Radical? Quite possibly if this is where they are spending their precious dev dollars.
If you care about aesthetics on a track car then any Radical wouldn't be your target, they're not really handsome things (although they look good in a purposeful way imo).
Why does spending your R&D budget on something mean the end of the company? Surely it means they're in rude enough health to think about expanding their operation?
Why does spending your R&D budget on something mean the end of the company? Surely it means they're in rude enough health to think about expanding their operation?
I see all the nay-sayers are coming out and knocking a highly sucessful British company.
Yes, the Ultima is a much prettier car, because it was styled to be. The Radial was 'styled' to weigh 900kg and produce 900kg of downforce, put the pair of them on a circuit and the Ultima won't see which way it went...
Which is, after all, the whole purpose of the Radial, yes, it might be street legal, but only to allow it to be driven to circuits and for the occasional blast.
To put some numbers around it, Steffan Bellof lapped the Nurburgring in a Porsche 956 6m 11s a Radical SR8LM can get round in 6m 48s after being driven to the circuit from Peterborough! This has way more down force than an SR8LM, and I guess will lap in ~6m 20s something.
That is a hugely impressive acheivement.
Yes, the Ultima is a much prettier car, because it was styled to be. The Radial was 'styled' to weigh 900kg and produce 900kg of downforce, put the pair of them on a circuit and the Ultima won't see which way it went...
Which is, after all, the whole purpose of the Radial, yes, it might be street legal, but only to allow it to be driven to circuits and for the occasional blast.
To put some numbers around it, Steffan Bellof lapped the Nurburgring in a Porsche 956 6m 11s a Radical SR8LM can get round in 6m 48s after being driven to the circuit from Peterborough! This has way more down force than an SR8LM, and I guess will lap in ~6m 20s something.
That is a hugely impressive acheivement.
subirg said:
My god that's in with a serious shout.... of winning ugliest car of the decade. Sure it'll be fast, and those that want to race it won't care what it looks like as long as it's able to spank the competition, but track day enthusiasts don't think that way. Anyone dropping £120k on a track day toy to drive on the road will place aesthetics near the top of the requirements list and this hound will not cut it. This one has debacle written all over it. The end of Radical? Quite possibly if this is where they are spending their precious dev dollars.
Sir, you are very much under valuing the ability of a man who created a company from scratch and turned it into the huge sucess that it is today in the space of ~15 years.The Abbott's are very nice people and very shrewd, if Phil has designed and produced this, I am not going to bet against him.
I don't think it's looks are relevant.
If I went out in one it would look very different within minutes, just as soon as it had come to rest in a living room half a mile away from the circuit.
Radical are simply a superb company with amazing products.
My sadness is that I can't see myself having anywhere near the ability to use something like this without being a danger to everyone around me.
If I went out in one it would look very different within minutes, just as soon as it had come to rest in a living room half a mile away from the circuit.
Radical are simply a superb company with amazing products.
My sadness is that I can't see myself having anywhere near the ability to use something like this without being a danger to everyone around me.
Megaflow said:
I see all the nay-sayers are coming out and knocking a highly sucessful British company.
Yes, the Ultima is a much prettier car, because it was styled to be. The Radial was 'styled' to weigh 900kg and produce 900kg of downforce, put the pair of them on a circuit and the Ultima won't see which way it went...
Which is, after all, the whole purpose of the Radial, yes, it might be street legal, but only to allow it to be driven to circuits and for the occasional blast.
To put some numbers around it, Steffan Bellof lapped the Nurburgring in a Porsche 956 6m 11s a Radical SR8LM can get round in 6m 48s after being driven to the circuit from Peterborough! This has way more down force than an SR8LM, and I guess will lap in ~6m 20s something.
That is a hugely impressive acheivement.
The Ultima isn’t exactly a slow car.Yes, the Ultima is a much prettier car, because it was styled to be. The Radial was 'styled' to weigh 900kg and produce 900kg of downforce, put the pair of them on a circuit and the Ultima won't see which way it went...
Which is, after all, the whole purpose of the Radial, yes, it might be street legal, but only to allow it to be driven to circuits and for the occasional blast.
To put some numbers around it, Steffan Bellof lapped the Nurburgring in a Porsche 956 6m 11s a Radical SR8LM can get round in 6m 48s after being driven to the circuit from Peterborough! This has way more down force than an SR8LM, and I guess will lap in ~6m 20s something.
That is a hugely impressive acheivement.
1min9.9secs around the top gear track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoigMFX2ivM
Ultima GTR720- 720bhp/625ftlbs torque and 950kgs
Radical RXC- 380bhp/320ftlbs torque and 900kgs
Go figure………….
Edited by Beretta1 on Thursday 13th December 13:04
Megaflow said:
I see all the nay-sayers are coming out and knocking a highly sucessful British company.
Yes, the Ultima is a much prettier car, because it was styled to be. The Radial was 'styled' to weigh 900kg and produce 900kg of downforce, put the pair of them on a circuit and the Ultima won't see which way it went...
Which is, after all, the whole purpose of the Radial, yes, it might be street legal, but only to allow it to be driven to circuits and for the occasional blast.
To put some numbers around it, Steffan Bellof lapped the Nurburgring in a Porsche 956 6m 11s a Radical SR8LM can get round in 6m 48s after being driven to the circuit from Peterborough! This has way more down force than an SR8LM, and I guess will lap in ~6m 20s something.
That is a hugely impressive acheivement.
Aero has got fYes, the Ultima is a much prettier car, because it was styled to be. The Radial was 'styled' to weigh 900kg and produce 900kg of downforce, put the pair of them on a circuit and the Ultima won't see which way it went...
Which is, after all, the whole purpose of the Radial, yes, it might be street legal, but only to allow it to be driven to circuits and for the occasional blast.
To put some numbers around it, Steffan Bellof lapped the Nurburgring in a Porsche 956 6m 11s a Radical SR8LM can get round in 6m 48s after being driven to the circuit from Peterborough! This has way more down force than an SR8LM, and I guess will lap in ~6m 20s something.
That is a hugely impressive acheivement.
k all to do with how high the roof is. Make the roof lower, give the screen a greater rake, and it's not suddenly going to be considerably worse. So that's b
ks for a start. The "naysayers" are coming out because it's f
king ugly, it has nothing to do with the fact it's a British company. robinessex said:
Great, except it looks ugly like the Ultima. Aerodynamics rules ok. Or does it?? Now if it resembled the XJ13, wow !!! Or the Yamaha OX99-11 Wow Wow
You think the Ultima is ugly? I puts all supercars to shame not only in speed terms but looks as well, amazing looking machine the old ultima and I would have one over this.Edited by robinessex on Thursday 13th December 08:41
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