Tuesday 17th February 2015
Radical RXC Turbo 500 confirmed for Geneva
537hp evolution of the Radical RXC to show at Geneva; next stop a 918 Spyder bothering 'ring lap
It sometimes a little easy to become blase about Nurburgring lap times. This car has done that, this car is a few seconds faster, that SUV has gone under eight minutes. It becomes easy to forget that anything that can lap in less than nine minutes is pretty fast.
Y'know, in case this was a bit sluggish
And despite the arrival of the hybrid hypercar trio, Radical's stunning 2009 production car record hasn't been surpassed. That was
a 6:48 lap in an SR8 LM (which beat the 2005 Radical record of 6:55), or nine seconds faster than a
Porsche 918 Spyder. So obviously it needs to go quicker...
The RXC Turbo 500 doesn't make 500hp. Where would that get you? It makes 537hp (530bhp) and 481lb ft. This results in 468hp per tonne, 0-100mph in 6.8 seconds and 40-80mph in three seconds. There are new Garrett GT28 turbos, an upgraded intake manifold (also being used on the Ford GT), Ni-Resist exhaust manifolds to reduce lag and mapping tweaks amongst many other modifications.
Radical has some previous here...
Radical claims this power combined with its advanced aero "has resulted in a road car with performance capabilities that exceed those of dedicated racing cars." There will be three tyres used at the Nordschleife in August to maximise that too. It will be driven across from the UK on Dunlop SportMaxx, which will also be used for one lap. Dunlop Direzza D03Gs were used for the 2009 record and will again be used for the fastest lap. They will also have a go on slicks too.
And the road legalness? The RXC Turbo has Full European Type Approval so can be registered in any European Community member state. The Turbo upgrade package is available to order now on RXCs (RRP on that 'standard' car is £129,000). Expect prices to follow with the full release at Geneva.
