Radical RXC - the ultimate British supercar

Radical are due to launch their supercar, the RXC, at next year’s Autosport in January 2013. It is one of the most hotly anticipated cars of the new year and here at Motor Vision we simply cannot wait to get our hands on one.

Once upon a time (don’t worry, this isn’t a bedtime story) Britain was the envy of the world due to it’s advanced manufacturing and engineering industry. This included a car industry worthy of national pride. When the E-Type Jaguar was unleashed upon the world it shook Ferrari and other premium manufacturers to their very foundations. How could a British car manufacturer produce a Ferrari beater for less money and that looked much better than its Italian counterpart?

The E-Type is still considered one of the most important and beautiful cars ever produced. Those days have gradually disappeared along famous British car marques such as Rover, Austin, TVR, Triumph, and there is of course a rather large question mark hanging over the head of Lotus which hasn’t been British owned for some time anyway. While the Jaguar and Aston Martin brands are still thriving on overseas sales they are sadly not under British control.

I have often wondered if we’d ever see another British built Ferrari eater. Something to make the Italians wonder if they’ve missed the point. So it with an immense amount of pleasure that I find myself discussing the British built Radical RXC. Radical already have a reputation for creating some of the best track focused cars available anywhere in the world. Each time they take one of their road legal track-day cars over to the Nurburgring they have the habit of smashing the lap record by such an amount that it makes it look as though the other cars weren’t really trying. Michael Vergers has recorded lap record times of 6:48 and 6:55 in the Radical SR8 Road Legal car. The next quickest lap recorded was in a Gumpert Apollo Sport which lagged behind the Radical by 16 seconds. Radical simply outclass everyone at the ‘ring.

I am glad that they have now focused their engineering excellence on building a British supercar, particularly because what they have come up with is such an exciting prospect. At the heart of the RXC lies a 3.7 litre Ford V6, 24 valve engine which spits out its power via a 7-speed transverse, paddle-shift gearbox. The chassis is made from a high tensile CDS carbon and tubular steel spaceframe with FIA specification crash boxes at the front and rear. Radical have used their aerodynamic expertise in creating the body, adding front and rear diffusers, a full width carbon bi-plane rear wing and the sort of wonderfully ostentatious gullwing styled doors that are worthy of a supercar. LED running lights add a nice modern touch to the finish.

Inside the car you’ll be strapped in via a 6 point harness to the FIA compliant seat and luxuries include power steering, electrically adjustable and heated wing mirrors, air conditioning, heated front screen, an adjustable pedal box and a single windscreen wiper – yes, Radical Sportscars are normally so race focused that a single windscreen wiper can be considered a luxury.

Suspension is handled by a bespoke double wishbone Intrax system and braking is covered off by fully floating disc brakes with six-pot callipers with an option to upgrade to carbon versions.

Put all this together and what you end up with is a car weighing only 900kg, producing 380bhp (6750rpm) and 320lb ft of torque (4250rpm) which will take this car from a standing start up to 62mph in an incredible 2.8seconds. The top speed is rated at 175mph which may fall below the usual supercar boast of over 200mph but with such little weight and such a massive power-to-weight ratio it is hard to think how many other supercars would keep up with this on any road or track with any sort of corners. Besides which, with a special launch price of £89,500 (+VAT) you could buy two RXC’s for the price of a Ferrari and race against your friends.

The Radical RXC has made 2013 a very interesting year to be involved with British motoring. As Radical founder Phil Abbott said: “In the whole history of Radical I don’t think I’ve been more excited about a new car than I am now with the RXC”