Radical’s Technical Director Phil Abbott and Sir Chris Hoy were on hand to unveil latest prototypes from the longstanding British marque, the SR3 RSX and SR8 RSX at Barcelona on October 31st ahead of their release in 2015.
The new SR3 looks to set the new standard for cost effective race and track prototypes with the new RPE Generation 3 engine, a larger-bore exhaust, bigger throttle bodies and revised mapping resulting the best-ever power and torque delivery seen in an SR3.It also features a hardline braking system as standard for the first time and an AIM MXL2 LCD dash. It’ll do 0-60 in just 3.1 seconds manage a top speed of 155 mph.
“There’s been 12 years of SR3, with three incarnations of this one,” explains Abbott. “We’ve sold almost a thousand worldwide, with over 500 of the last model. This new model is about marginal gains like the diffuser tunnels on the nose keeping the air energised in the front end and the lowered wheel arches which reduce drag.”
Starting at just £66,958 plus local taxes, the new RS3 will be cheaper to run than ever before.
The other model shown off by Radical was the SR8 RSC, which will be ready for delivery in Q1 of 2015, it’s the most advanced open racing car to come from the Peterborough based manufacturer’s headquarters. A new seven- speed paddleshift gearbox, coupled with variable-assistance power steering and a larger wheel base, the SR8 RSX has a more spacious cockpit than any Radical prototype before it. The marque have also placed emphasis on a greater variety of driving aids.
“People will notice immediately that it resembles are new RXC, and it shares many existing components which have been developed on the RXC,” said Abbott. “The chassis is 90% from the RXC it will race next year, and be available later on with turbo motors – the first incarnation will have the RPE V8.”
The SR8 is eligible to compete in the 2015 Radical European Masters championship and Radical’s premier pan-European racing series, racing alongside Radical’s existing SR3 RS, SR8 RX and the new SR3 RSX models.
The SR8 RSX will retail at £109,950 +VAT at launch in January, a range of bespoke racing a performance options will be immediately available.
