Just when you thought the year’s big news was done, track car maker Rodin has confirmed to PH that it’s developing an 800hp V10 engine to power an upcoming 1,000kg supercar. The Kiwi firm has teamed up with UK motorsport specialist Neil Brown Engineering to create the all-new 4.0-litre motor, using direct injection and mild hybrid power in the carbon fibre single-seater to provide what Rodin boss David Dicker describes as, “Formula 1 car performance” in a road legal machine.
If that sounds a bit pie in the sky, know that billionaire businessman Dicker has already funded Rodin’s conversion of Lotus’s old T125 into an amateur-friendly, Cosworth V8-powered track car you can order for just over £600k. His firm’s Lyford base has two test tracks at its disposal and 15 employees are already working on the early stages of the new project. The ambition is to finish a track-only version of the car, named the FZero, in a couple of years, before the street version is created. An all-electric version is also in the pipeline.
“We’ve opted to use a V10 engine that’s designed from scratch because we wanted it to be both easy to drive and fast,” said Dicker during an exclusive interview with PH. “It’ll have lots of torque as well as that peak power at 10,000rpm. Plus, with banks set at 72 degrees it’ll allow for tight bodywork and a lower centre of gravity so the performance can be maximised. The gearbox it’ll work with is an eight-speed mechanical sequential supplied by Ricardo, so it’ll be easy to drive on the road.”
If you think that setup sounds exotic, Dicker explained that the car itself would be made entirely from carbon fibre and use carbon wheels. The suspension and surrounding components are to be made in house from titanium, while the carbon skin will feature active aerodynamics. With no championship regulations to conform to, Dicker intends for the track car to lap a circuit faster than the latest crop of Formula 1 cars. That’s about as bold as automotive pledges come these days…
Whether that ambitious target to shame the world’s best is do-able or not, we reckon Dicker’s intention to produce a car that’s rewarding to drive on the road is what matters most. Our recent drive in the brilliant but brutal Radical Rapture confirmed that there’s space for something just as extreme, but a little more forgiving out in public. So Rodin’s aims to create a canopy covered machine like this – even one that’s set to cost a fair chunk more than half a million quid – are at least driven by a vacancy in the market.
Long term, Rodin intends to become a full-time maker of low volume performance machinery like this, with plans to one day handle a 50-unit annual production that’s split between its road and track products. No doubt those familiar with the automotive industry’s long list of failed supercar ventures will instantly dismiss those ambitions. But don’t be so quick to judge. As a racer in Ferrari’s Challenge series and owner of classic Formula 1 cars, Dicker is the sort of proper car nut with the bank balance capable of funding such an obsession. We’re crossing our fingers that this one comes to life.
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