A Le Mans car for the road. That, in a nutshell, was what Radical set out to create when designing the extraordinary new Radical RXC, and in a nutshell that’s exactly what they have built.
The RXC may look a touch barking when encountered amongst ordinary, everyday traffic – to a point where people stare at it in complete bewilderment when they see it rumbling along the public road.
But beneath its Le Mans prototype-like bodywork, complete with full GT3 specification multi-adjustable rear wing, it’s actually a rather good sports car, albeit one that’s a touch more extreme in its delivery compared with, say, a Volkswagen Golf GTi.
At its heart, just behind its two racing bucket seats, sits a 3.7-litre Ford V6 that produces either 350bhp in standard tune or 380bhp with a bit of tweakery to its throttle system. In both cases it's mated to a seven-speed sequential paddle shift gearbox built specifically for the car by Quaife, who also make the torque-sensing differential that’s fitted to the car.
All up, the RXC weighs just 900kg, which means it isn’t just quick but crackers fast in a straight line. Radical claims a 0-60mph time of just 2.8sec with a top speed limited by the relatively short gearing in seventh to “just” 175mph.
They don’t quote a 0-100mph time just yet, but having spent a day howling around the Yorkshire moors in it I’d guess it could hit three figures in a fair bit less than seven seconds. Which puts it very much in the premier league when it comes to outright acceleration.
But it’s what the RXC does around corners and under brakes that will at first fray and then obliterate the outer edges of your imagination, and the reason why is because it produces downforce. Lots and lots of downforce, to the extent that – in theory – it could be driven upside down through a tunnel without falling off the ceiling.
Yup, at 175mph Radical claims the RXC produces its own weight in downforce – a full 900kg – and on the road what that translates to is a level of high speed grip that will reduce most passengers to a gibbering wreck, and leave most drivers giggling in disbelief.
At low speeds, so let’s say anything under 50mph, you can’t really feel that prodigious downforce. Instead, all you notice is how relatively un-dreadful the ride is and how crisp the steering seems; Radical worked hard to get the damping of the all-round double wishbone suspension to a level that would ensure the car had a half decent ride quality, and I’d say they hit the bullseye on that one – because amazingly it rides pretty well.
