RE: Radical Rapture | Driven
Discussion
Price and styling aside, it’ll still be a great drive.
I did find the marketing film amusing though.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xZIQc0q239I
Two attractive 20 somethings wearing his and hers leather jackets driving the car around the lanes on the way to a trackday as part of their ‘lifestyle’.
Pure marketing nonsense.
The girl in the passenger seat, hiding behind her sunglasses looks like she’s hating every second.
It’ll be bought by middle-aged trackday bores (like me) whose wives refuse point blank to even sit in the thing.
I did find the marketing film amusing though.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xZIQc0q239I
Two attractive 20 somethings wearing his and hers leather jackets driving the car around the lanes on the way to a trackday as part of their ‘lifestyle’.
Pure marketing nonsense.
The girl in the passenger seat, hiding behind her sunglasses looks like she’s hating every second.
It’ll be bought by middle-aged trackday bores (like me) whose wives refuse point blank to even sit in the thing.
Maldini35 said:
I did find the marketing film amusing though.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xZIQc0q239I
Two attractive 20 somethings wearing his and hers leather jackets driving the car around the lanes on the way to a trackday as part of their ‘lifestyle’.
Pure marketing nonsense.
The girl in the passenger seat, hiding behind her sunglasses looks like she’s hating every second.
It’ll be bought by middle-aged trackday bores (like me) whose wives refuse point blank to even sit in the thing.
Marketing at Germany 7 years ago...https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xZIQc0q239I
Two attractive 20 somethings wearing his and hers leather jackets driving the car around the lanes on the way to a trackday as part of their ‘lifestyle’.
Pure marketing nonsense.
The girl in the passenger seat, hiding behind her sunglasses looks like she’s hating every second.
It’ll be bought by middle-aged trackday bores (like me) whose wives refuse point blank to even sit in the thing.
https://youtu.be/d6fQaBdZrg0
Marketing at Germany 6 years ago...
https://youtu.be/wL5njWvP1mA
Maldini35 said:
Price and styling aside, it’ll still be a great drive.
I did find the marketing film amusing though.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xZIQc0q239I
Two attractive 20 somethings wearing his and hers leather jackets driving the car around the lanes on the way to a trackday as part of their ‘lifestyle’.
Pure marketing nonsense.
The girl in the passenger seat, hiding behind her sunglasses looks like she’s hating every second.
It’ll be bought by middle-aged trackday bores (like me) whose wives refuse point blank to even sit in the thing.
Yep I saw that...this is the life of a Radical driver. Looking good with a hot girl in the passenger seat...I did find the marketing film amusing though.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xZIQc0q239I
Two attractive 20 somethings wearing his and hers leather jackets driving the car around the lanes on the way to a trackday as part of their ‘lifestyle’.
Pure marketing nonsense.
The girl in the passenger seat, hiding behind her sunglasses looks like she’s hating every second.
It’ll be bought by middle-aged trackday bores (like me) whose wives refuse point blank to even sit in the thing.
Sergilol said:
Maldini35 said:
Marketing at Germany 7 years ago...https://youtu.be/d6fQaBdZrg0
Marketing at Germany 6 years ago...
https://youtu.be/wL5njWvP1mA
JxJ Jr. said:
It could be suggested that Radical's greatest area of expertise is in marketing.
Bit harsh 
The cars? I can only go from personal experience in terms of driving one and it was so, so good on track.
The marketing? It appears they desperately need some help as they seem stuck in a 1970’s time vortex.
Shame as it’s a great British success story and the product is so authentic it really deserves the marketing to reflect it.
Then again perhaps they don’t want to grow much and are happy selling at their current volumes? It works for Morgan, Ariel etc.
KEF said:
This is the first car of interest I’ve seen here for a long time. I think the combination of road legal plus massive track ability is very desirable.
In days gone by I had a road legal(ish) busa engined XTR2.... having it road legal meant that I could work away with the spanner’s then take it straight out for a shake down, or if the sun appeared I could head out at a moments notice. With high revs, low weight and sharp steering it was a blast around the local B roads, even at 8 tenths (I’m sure the radical would be a thrill at 4 tenths!)
The other side of the ownership prospect was track days, I didn’t ever consider driving it to one, it was always taken in a trailer - how else can you carry the tools, track tyres, fluids and in scotland, the wet weather gear you need for car and driver.
Having one of these Radicals in the garage (with the intercom option) would be a dream come true. Yes it’s expensive but there’s no shortage of expensive metal on this site. While I have a soft spot for Sevens this is a very different prospect.
I had a road legal(ish) SR3, it was terrible on the roads. Didn't stop me driving it around mind you. It was constantly trying to kill you by following camber changes and lurching toward hedges. You cannot even get the tyres reliably warm on public roads, for that you needed to go to the track. After saying all that, turning up to the pub in that was always a crowd pleaser, least of all when it stalled making a grand car park exit.. Doh!In days gone by I had a road legal(ish) busa engined XTR2.... having it road legal meant that I could work away with the spanner’s then take it straight out for a shake down, or if the sun appeared I could head out at a moments notice. With high revs, low weight and sharp steering it was a blast around the local B roads, even at 8 tenths (I’m sure the radical would be a thrill at 4 tenths!)
The other side of the ownership prospect was track days, I didn’t ever consider driving it to one, it was always taken in a trailer - how else can you carry the tools, track tyres, fluids and in scotland, the wet weather gear you need for car and driver.
Having one of these Radicals in the garage (with the intercom option) would be a dream come true. Yes it’s expensive but there’s no shortage of expensive metal on this site. While I have a soft spot for Sevens this is a very different prospect.
When going to the track, which I did, you take it on a trailer as you mentioned, so you can take all the clobber and slicks with you. That let's you bring it all home if something fails. I ended up racing Radicals after I'd been on a few track days in it. Learning the downforce envelope of performance is a very rewarding driving experience, and this for me could only be fully exploited whilst racing. Impossible to comprehend how fast these are around the corners until you experience it. Makes you respect the F1 driver skills very much.
As for this new Radical offering.. the styling for me is not good. Beady eye'd and forcably edged. In my eyes it has lost the lovely clean form of the race car, to it's detriment. If I had space and a lot of cash would I make room for one? Possibly yes, as a road legal / track experience that can be shared, it does not get better than this.
Given less than unlimited resources, then an SR3 race car for 30k will do the track bit, and a racing bit too if you put your big boy trousers on... That leaves quite a lot for those occasional sunny afternoon blasts..
Interesting proposition.
I’ve driven an SR1 and SR3 and they are incredible on a track. I’ve also had several laps in a RXC.
I’ve done dozens of motorbike track days on a litre sports bike so I found them slower in a straight line but the braking and cornering speeds are in another league.
I’m certainly no driving expert and had never been around Silverstone before, as a guide to the cars potential, by my second stint I was passing just about every fast road car on circuit - 911s, Astons, RS6 etc etc.
They are simply in another league entirely.
However Radicals are also struggling on some circuits due to noise issues and engine rebuild costs (just regular maintenance) aren’t that wallet friendly.
I also understand in some countries you can’t buy a non road legal track car unless you have a race licence, which might limit sales.
It is expensive though but then getting it road legal won’t be cheap.
I think I’d rather have the RXC in my fantasy garage though. That was almost bike quick on the straights and has some weather protection.
Nice to be able to choose though.
I really would like anything they make as a track toy. Caterhams and Atoms might be better for the road (driven both on track) but the radicals are super friendly track focused cars that are the best things I’ve driven from a performance perspective.
Check out the evo mag video review of the RXC spider and tell me that doesn’t make you want a go :-).
I’ve driven an SR1 and SR3 and they are incredible on a track. I’ve also had several laps in a RXC.
I’ve done dozens of motorbike track days on a litre sports bike so I found them slower in a straight line but the braking and cornering speeds are in another league.
I’m certainly no driving expert and had never been around Silverstone before, as a guide to the cars potential, by my second stint I was passing just about every fast road car on circuit - 911s, Astons, RS6 etc etc.
They are simply in another league entirely.
However Radicals are also struggling on some circuits due to noise issues and engine rebuild costs (just regular maintenance) aren’t that wallet friendly.
I also understand in some countries you can’t buy a non road legal track car unless you have a race licence, which might limit sales.
It is expensive though but then getting it road legal won’t be cheap.
I think I’d rather have the RXC in my fantasy garage though. That was almost bike quick on the straights and has some weather protection.
Nice to be able to choose though.
I really would like anything they make as a track toy. Caterhams and Atoms might be better for the road (driven both on track) but the radicals are super friendly track focused cars that are the best things I’ve driven from a performance perspective.
Check out the evo mag video review of the RXC spider and tell me that doesn’t make you want a go :-).
Edited by SM1 on Tuesday 29th September 20:25
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