► One-off car celebrates 20th anniversary
► 650bhp, 2.7sec to 60mph – and road-registered!
► It’s Radical’s 2000th car in 20 years
British racing, track-day and road car specialist manufacturer Radical celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2017, and to celebrate it has wheeled out this one-off special edition version of its RXC Coupe, called the Radical RXC Turbo 600R.
The 2000th car Radical has produced, the RXC Turbo 600R was officially revealed at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
It scorched up the hill in the festival’s Race Cars for the Road class in 50.83sec on Dunlop road tyres – that’s Very Quick, given the all-time course record is 41.6sec, set by Nick Heidfeld in a Formula 1 McLaren.
You can watch the on-board video of driver Tom Ashton’s run above – it’s a committed drive, with plenty of oversteer.
Ashton was CAR’s guide when we first tested our long-term Radical SR1 racing car in 2016, which you can read about here.
Happy birthday Radical
Founded in 1997, the Peterborough-based company has specialised in lightweight prototype-style racing cars, trackday cars and road-legal models.
Today its line-up includes the entry-level SR1 aimed at novice racers and the Nurburgring record-beating V8-engined SR8 – both of which models have been updated and relaunched for 2017.
Its most popular model is the 225bhp SR3, of which 1100 examples have been produced, and the RXC is its flagship model, along with the open-roofed Spyder version.
‘Producing the 2000th car in our 20th year of operation is an incredible achievement for Radical,’ says Nigel Land, Radical Sportscars’ Marketing Director. ‘In celebration of these milestones, we decided to produce a special project car to debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The teams at our Peterborough HQ that have designed, engineered and manufactured this special car can take immense pride in their achievements, not only today but over the last two decades.’
What makes the RXC Turbo 600R anniversary car a one-off?
The unique spec includes bodywork entirely in exposed-weave carbonfibre, with yellow 20th anniversary graphics and an alcantara interior with grey stitching and leather seats.
There’s more power too, with the twin-turbocharged and intercooled 3.5-litre Ford EcoBoost V6 wound up to 650bhp by Radical’s RPE (Radical Performance Engines) division.
It’s still road-registered, making it one of the most extreme road-legal cars anywhere in the world. It’s certainly one of the fastest cars we’ve reviewed; you can read Chris Chilton’s review of the original RXC here, and James Taylor’s drive from Peterborough to Le Mans in one here.
Radical RXC Turbo 600R: key stats
- Six-speed paddleshift Quaife gearbox
- 900kg of downforce (the car itself weighs 1130kg)
- Top speed 180mph
- 2.7sec 0-60mph
- 575bhp/tonne power-to-weight ratio
- 1.9g lateral cornering force
