Deronda F400
Autosport Debut for new Track Car
Amongst the debuts at January's Autosport show will be the Deronda F400.
Very much in the mould of the Ariel Atom, the F400 is comes with a with turbocharged 1.8 litre Audi motor pumping out 210bhp. Couple to an unladen weight of just 500kg that makes about 400bhp per tonne, hence the '400' name.
The car is made on a tubular steel chassis including double side impact bars and double roll over hoops. Six point FIA approved harnesses come as standard.
Deronda claim styling cues from F1 cars include the shark nose, rear undertray venturi and side pods. The central nose, wind deflector and rear aerodynamics are said to be inspired by Le Mans style sports cars.
The manufacturers are keen to justify the quality of the end product - perhaps to justify the £26K price tag - and draw attention to the fact that all in house fabrication and assembly is done to ISO9002 standards. In conjunction with the Audi engine and transmission, the brakes are from AP Racing and the suspension is from Ohlins.
You can see it at the show in January.
Links
The open wheels were one of my questions to Andy, and he assures me that the car has been designed with cycle wings, they are just not been shown with them here.
I was drawn to the car because of its likeness to the Atom, so I do agree with you that there are definite similarities. But that is where the similarities stop. On closer inspection, the car is skies ahead. And I feel that I have a little bit of experience of this.
The engine layout is more akin to the traditional mid-engined car. They haven’t cobbled a front-engined design and thrown it in the back. Yes the V-Tec engine is a screaming engine, but that’s just it, you have to grab it by the neck and wring it hard!
The power outputs are very similar at about 210-220 bhp. But look at the torque figures. The V-Tec engine is 144ftlbs at 6000rpm as opposed to the 1.8T being 225ftlbs, and much lower down.
Also for those that would look to gain a little more power from their engines, there are many more routes with the 1.8T than with the V-Tec. For less than £8000 you can get a reliable 420bhp, nothing less than impossible with the V-Tec.
They weigh pretty much the same give or take 40kgs, but when there are tuning capabilities of 420 horsepower I think they will be long forgotten.
Then there is the standard kit that comes with the car:
Ohlins shocks. And they are not just re-valved ones, nope, they’re genuine guy comes over from sweeden and designs specifically for the car.
Front and REAR AP brakes, with adjustable bias.
Body-work!!!! There is nothing more fun than driving with a degree of exposure to the elements. But most people choose leathers over shorts and Tee-shirt when riding a bike. Having sat in an Atom going down Dottinger-Hohe straight at the Nurburgring in the pouring rain, I can safely say funny yes, fun NO!!!
There are little extras as well, that just made it different. And different in a pleasing kind of way. The lights aren’t held on by a couple of bits of string. They are purposely moulded to the car, and might actually be of use at night! Double roll over hoops, and that extra bit of side impact protection. My worry has always been foreign debris coming in through the side.
The car was designed from a fresh sheet of paper. I think in some ways Andy is going to be plagued for many years to the comparisons between the two. But if the Atom had been finished I think it would look similar to the Deronda. The Atom has always been the jigsaw with the missing piece, it may have been a bit of sky, but it was crucial. In some ways its minimalist attitude was its appeal, but now with this new kid on the block I think that piece has been found.
It looks gorgeous (far better than the photo)and the quality of the build and components is very high. While I was on the stand, two punters commented that the build quality was streets ahead of the Atom - I haven't seen one in the flesh myself I don't know - but I loved it.
Secondly there is clear blue sky between this car and other high performance cars:
1.The Deronda is a road car for the race track, the Atom/Radical/XR4 bunch are all track cars made road legal.
2.The Deronda has a weather pack option - wipers, roof etc. Ask anyone at Radical for one of those and they will look very sniffily at you.
3. The Deronda has a road car engine not a peeky, fragile, highly tuned motorbike engine.
4. The Deronda has a heater/ventilation and excellent lights and clusters.
5. It has strong side-impact protection - to my mind absolutely essential when you are mixing it with lorries rather than light race cars.
I see this car as a straight competitor to the Vauxhall VX220 Turbo but with a target weight of only 500kgs it should blow even that into the weeds.
This is a very decent bit of kit and I wish Andy all the best - it deserves to succeed.
fuoriserie said:
What happened to this sportscar? are they still in business ?
Web site still exists.
www.deronda.co.uk/news.htm
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