Radical Sports Cars have been developing their fine reputation for a while now. Based in Peterborough, and founded in 1997, Radical utilised the idea concept of using superbike technology in a lightweight sports car, it was either going to be a spectacular success or a faceplant. Fortunately it was the former – and their reputation is still growing.
It was the Clubsport that first caught everyone’s attention, and it’s still being raced today. Always with their foot on the accelerator pedal rather than the brake, Radical introduced their most popular model so far in 2002 – the SR3. This car was a road legal 2-seater track-day car that received much critical acclaim.
Now, following on from a high profile launch at the Frankfurt Motor Show, we have the SR3 SL. While many of the Radical cars have been road legal, the SR3 SL has embraced the concept from the start, in fact, the SL stands for Street Legal. And with the design receiving European type approval (which means you get such comforts as a heater among other things), the door is wide open for sales across Europe.
Whereas other Radical sports cars have often been designed with a Suzuki superbike engine putting out between 1300-1500cc, the SR3 SL comes equipped with a Ford EcoBoost 2.0 litre direct fuel injected turbo motor, pushing out 240bhp.
The Ford unit meets Euro5 emission regulations, and with the high likelihood that this power unit will smoothly progress to Euro6 when required as well, this road legal track day car has been future-proofed for some time. A wise choice for a car that is likely to be knocking on the door of more European countries than previous Radical models.
The SL reaches 60mph from zero in a blistering 3.4 seconds – and 100mph in just 8.4 seconds. This car isn’t catering for the school run, and indeed shouldn’t be compared to your everyday ride at all. What such cars lack in home comforts (even with a heater), they make up for in the pure adrenalin rush of speed and handling.
Radical seem to court praise with consummate ease, and the SR3 SL has been voted EVO magazine’s Trackday Car of the Year and already achieved the fastest ever time around Autocar’s MIRA test track.
All pretty impressive stuff. In fact, Autocar described the SR3 SL as one of the most “intoxicating and appealing” track cars they have tested. If road legal track day cars are your bag, that sort of praise really counts.
For more information on the Radical SR3 SL, visit www.sr3sl.com
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