A small company from New Zealand dubbed Rodin Cars
is working on an extreme road-legal hypercar which could be as fast as a
Formula 1 car. Dubbed the Rodin FZero, it is promising figures which would leave
even the insane Aston Martin Valkyrie in the dust. Moreover, unlike many other
aspiring manufacturers, Rodin actually has a lot of money behind it, as
Australian owner David Dicker has built up a multi-billion dollar software in
recent decades and wants to turn his automotive dream into a reality.
The FZero will be built in two different forms. The
entry-level model will be powered by a naturally-aspirated 4.0-liter V10 with
approximately 700 HP, while a twin-turbocharged variant will pump out no less
than 1,000 HP and could be upgraded to 1600 hp. Those are extraordinary
numbers, but they fade into insignificance when you consider the car’s weight
and huge amounts of downforce it will produce.
According to Which Car, the FZero will tip the
scales at a scarcely believable 605 kg, including the driver, and
produce an extraordinary 4,000 kg of downforce. To put that into
perspective, the track-only Valkyrie AMR Pro is tipped to generate about 1,800
kg of downforce. If such a remarkable figure is achieved, the FZero
will be capable of immense cornering forces.
Rodin has recruited a number of experts in the field
to make the FZero a reality: for instance, the eight-speed mechanical
sequential transmission is being developed by Ricardo and the engine will be
built by Neil Brown Engineering in the UK in a project overseen by former
Cosworth and Ford motorsport veteran Graham Dale-Jones. Velocity reports that the
renderings of the FZero are an accurate representation of the finished product.
While the vehicle depicted will be limited to track use, a road-legal version
is said to be in the works.
