Czinger has hammered home its vision of producing the most driver-centric hypercar in the world by creating an even more extreme version of the 21C. The tandem two-seat model was launched last month with the world's most power dense engine, a 2.9-litre V8 that revs to 11,000rpm. But company chief commercial officer Jens Sverdrup has revealed to PH that a second, widebody version is already in the works with a combined output of 1,350hp.
"We always intended to reveal this track version with the 1,250hp car but actually ran out of time to finish it before Geneva," admits Jens, the former Koenigsegg and Rimac staffer we spoke to about synthetic fuels earlier this month. "Anybody who buys one of our 80 21Cs can tick for a widebody version on the options list, giving them a hypercar that might not be the best for narrow Scottish or Welsh roads, but will definitely be great for the race track."
Jens explained that the widebody 21C would get broader tracks thanks to a bespoke chassis setup, wider tyres and an increased surface area of bodywork to boost aerodynamic performance. The car's extra 100hp comes from a combined enhancement of both eight-cylinder engine and lithium-titanate-powered hybrid system, with no impact on the 450kg total combined powertrain weight. As such, the track-focussed version's power to weight should be around 1,080hp per tonne.
Czinger's CCO was at pains to explain that the 21C is first and foremost a driver's machine which prioritises approachability and tactility above outright performance. That might sound hard to believe given the stats, but Jens says the engine has been extensively tested so it's docile during low rev running. With all of the development work being in house, Czinger's small team of LA-based staffers have been in full control, giving the 2.9-litre "the tone of an old F1 engine once you hit 6,000rpm" but also a "totally normal idle speed" and "easy-to-operate characteristics" in a city.
"With the hybrid system you can lean more on the batteries at low revs for more refinement at low speed," explained Jens. "Believe me, the low rev running is at least as hard to sort as the high-rev stuff, so that's something we're focussing on between now and the building of the first customer cars. We know that in a car like this, refinement and smoothness [of operation] has to be really, really good. Anything less is just unacceptable these days."
With so much created specifically for the 21C and so few off the shelf parts - not to mention the healthy budget provided by the firm's backers - Jens reckons Czinger has a head start with all this stuff. Engineers are very much in the driving seat. This philosophy extends to the wider 21C build, with "Swiss watch quality" inside enabled by the technology of Czinger's main backer, Divergent 3D, and "hand fitting to achieve the best finish". Jens said that his own position on the advisory board for carbon fibre specialist Zenvo has emphasised the kind of calibre Czinger needs to achieve in its own machine, leading to around three to four-thousand man hours for the building of each car. Despite a £1.4 million starting price, Jens argues that in terms of the overall offering, the 21C provides "more bang for you buck" than any other hypercar out there.
Unsurprisingly, Czinger's technical efforts won't just be restricted to the 21C, as a trio of future models are due to follow from 2023. They are expected to be more practical than the original, although Jens suggests they will all be extremely high performance and use modular takes on the hybrid V8 powertrain in similarly lightweight monocoque bases. By then Czinger's models will be more accessible, too, thanks to a dealer network that will include 20 established supercar sellers in Europe by the end of 2020. The first UK dealer will be in London, but there'll be one or two more elsewhere later on; all of which will have trained technicians for customer car service and maintenance.
The firm is heavily invested in synthetic fuel technology, so expect it to continue using combustion engines at the heart of its machines. And what of profit-heavy SUVs? Jens' answer is pretty unambiguous: "I'm a hypercar person, so if I'm going to change the world it has to be through a hypercar brand."
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