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

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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.

[alexpa]

Thankfully a full picture, not just a headlight! or top of a gas strut..

[RAClNG SNAKE]

That looks superb!

[kambites]

I didn't realise it was fully type approved. Fabulous.

[Krikkit]

That sounds absolutely bloody mental.

[Asterix]

Krikkit said:

That sounds absolutely bloody mental.

Yes it does and I would kill for a blat in one.

[EricE]

But what are the residuals like?
I'm looking for a new daily driver and need to know!

[kambites]

Article said:

It makes 537hp (530bhp) and 481lb ft. This results in 468hp per tonne

Am I reading this right? It weighs 1.2 tonnes?

[bertie]

kambites said:

Am I reading this right? It weighs 1.2 tonnes?

I thought that too, surely that can't be right?

[xRIEx]

kambites said:

Article said:

It makes 537hp (530bhp) and 481lb ft. This results in 468hp per tonne

Am I reading this right? It weighs 1.2 tonnes?

I wonder if it's the other way round, 468bhp to give 530bhp/tonne.

[kambites]

bertie said:

kambites said:

Am I reading this right? It weighs 1.2 tonnes?

I thought that too, surely that can't be right?

It looks like the figures are the wrong way around. The car is 468bhp and 940kg, so 530bhp/tonne.

I'm still faintly surprised by the weight. I'm not sure why but I was expecting it to weigh less than that.

[bertie]

kambites said:

bertie said:

kambites said:

Am I reading this right? It weighs 1.2 tonnes?

I thought that too, surely that can't be right?

It looks like the figures are the wrong way around. The car is 468bhp and 940kg, so 530bhp/tonne.

I'm still faintly surprised by the weight. I'm not sure why but I was expecting it to weigh less than that.

Ah, yes that makes much more sense!

Yes, me too, I had SR3s in my head at sub 500kg so I'm most surprised it's nearly doubled!

[dinkel]

A killer.

https://www.radicalsportscars.com/uk/readnews.aspx...

[bertie]

dinkel said:

A killer.

https://www.radicalsportscars.com/uk/readnews.aspx...

So the press release does indeed say 530bhp, which brings it back to looking like ~1200kg.

[dinkel]

I sent a mail to Radical to clear this out.

[mattmurdock]

The 'normal' RXC weighs 940kg.

So I think the problem is not switching the numbers around, but that the 462bhp/ton is a typo and should say 562bhp/ton.

That would make sense, as 530/940 comes to 0.563, suspect the turbos add a kilo or two to make up the difference.

[kambites]

The press release on the radical website says 460PS.

[mattmurdock]

kambites said:

The radical website says 460PS, though.

That is the 'normal' RXC Turbo, this one has been tweaked to make 530bhp.

[kambites]

mattmurdock said:

kambites said:

The radical website says 460PS, though.

That is the 'normal' RXC Turbo, this one has been tweaked to make 530bhp.

Ah so they've increased power but increased weight so much that power to weight has fallen.

As you say, they've probably just got the power to weight ratio wrong.

[bertie]

kambites said:

The press release on the radical website says 460PS.

http://www.radicalsportscars.com/global/press/RXC_...

That was the old car as it says launched at Autosport 2014.

The new car in the link says...

"The RXC Turbo 500 is the culmination of five years’ development to create a road-legal track car unlike any other. The latest engine management and forced induction technology has been utilised to raise the performance bar even higher, with the new model delivering over 530bhp at 6,100rpm and an incredible 481lbft at 5,000rpm, endowing the car with a power-to-weight ratio of over 462bhp per tonne – well in excess of established supercar models."

[anonymous-user]

I don't know why but this does abslultely nothing for me. Its one purpose is to go round a track as fast possible yet if I had the choice there are many many other cars I would rather take to a track