Radical Sportscars
Radical is a British sports car brand. The company produces racing cars that can now Europe get a street legal under current EU law. Radical was founded in 1997 by Mick Hyde and Phil Abbott. The company has developed in the meantime by the small manufacturer of racing cars become a respected producer of specialized racing cars.
The concept of the car is based on a very compact and lightweight racing car chassis. These are equipped with engines of so-called super bikes. After the first racing successes in 1996 was followed by others after the company. In 1999, the first race was conducted at Donington Park, in which participated only 27 built by Radical vehicles. The first car was the Radical Clubsport. He was equipped with the engine of the Kawasaki ZZR 1100 and made about 120 kW. The SR 3 (2003) and SR4 (2004 ) are considered as further developments of the original Clubsport 1100.
Models
Radical SR3
Designed by the racing car designer Mike Pilbeam SR3 is 400 copies sold, the most successful model of Radical. The Radical SR3 is made in an extreme lightweight design and comes as a dead weight of 540 kg. This corresponds, depending on the engine variant with 151-185 kW ( 205-252 hp) a power to weight ratio of 2.6 kg / hp and 2.4 kg / hp. This accelerates the SR3 in three seconds from 0 to 100 km / h The aerodynamics and low weight of the carbon chassis allow a curve acceleration of up to 2 g to (For comparison, sports cars from Ferrari or Lamborghini allow a curve acceleration to 1.3 g). The Radical SR3 costs about 49,000 euros and must be ordered as a road-going version. This is equipped with a 2.0 -liter EcoBoost engine from Ford, who makes 224 kW ( 305 hp).
Radical SR8
The Radical SR8 is based on the chassis of the very successful SR3 and was first presented in 2005. In Radical SR8 a 2.6-liter V8 engine from two assembled Suzuki Hayabusa -1300 engines is installed, the 265 kW (360 hp) and speeds allowed to 10.500/min.
The weight of the Radical SR8 is 600 kg. This results in a power to weight ratio of 1.6 kg / hp. This extreme power to weight ratio allows an acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h in about 2.8 seconds. The aerodynamics allowed in conjunction with sports tires have a maximum cornering acceleration of up to 2.7 g On September 28, 2005 Michael Vergers drove on a Radical SR8 with 265 kW (360 hp ) on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in a round 6:56,01 minutes. Since this sports car had a UK license ( Single Vehicle Approval ), but no German street legal, the magazine sport auto has not awarded their trophy for the best performance of street-legal vehicles in Germany the Radical.
An upgraded version, the Radical SR8 LM is driven by a 2.8-liter V8 engine, the 331 kW (450 hp). ( Power to weight ratio 1.3 kg / hp). The Radical SR8 cost around 100,000, the SR8 LM 120,000 euros and is also with necessary for a British street legal accessories ( turn signals, hand brake, muffler with catalytic converter, etc. ) available.