New Zealand isn't particularly known for manufacturing products, except chocolates, jelly beans, bicycles and all kinds of chips, and when news of a track-car being made by the Kiwis came about, we were shocked. David Dicker, the founder of Rodin Cars, seemed ambitious about making a very fast car, but one that's track-specific. It's taken years to complete the Rodin FZero project - and the company paid from its own pocket to make this happen. The engineering team began working on it since 2016, in the South Island of New Zealand.
After having acquired the Lotus T125 program, the FZero project expanded. Rodin Cars was left perfecting the open-wheeler concept - and as things stand today - we now see it as a heavily redesigned and re-engineered Rodin FZed. With the introduction of the FZed, a new category in high-performance driving opened up. One that was solely for high-performance open-wheel track cars.
Rodin Cars is committed to engineer cars that are hand-crafted, made of high-performance components with one goal in mind: to tear up the track. Their ultimate track cars are tailor-made for some of the world's best race car drivers. The FZero was a plan all the while, until recently, when it was officially announced that the track-specific hypercar will be heading for production and is said to lap a circuit faster than a Formula 1 Grand Prix car. The company also has a showroom set up in Donington Park.
The FZero is the company's most awaited model, and it aims to do exactly what the FZed did, but by taking things up a notch. The goal is to be the most extreme track car ever made. Rodin Cars have pushed the limits with the FZero, because it's no road car, meaning, it comes with no road laws or regulations. Rodin Cars wants the FZero to be the fastest track car in the world - and this is no marketing jargon. The car is said to be lighter, more powerful, producing lesser downforce, because there were absolutely no restrictions when designing and developing the car. David says that the only restrictions they've had to put up with were the laws of physics, and according to him, he's pushed it to the limit even in that regard.
Rodin FZero Shows Off A Unique Design
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The Rodin FZero looks unlike anything you've seen before; there's a lot of aero in the details; in fact, it reminds us of a car out of a Hot Wheels collection. The middle includes a fighter jet-like canopy for the driver. The front fenders curve all the way to the bottom of the front splitter - it's probably one of the largest we've seen. The up-sweeping curves on the sides flow all the way to the back, with an additional fin on top that further merges with a wing at the rear. This is a race car clearly shaped to slice through wind, at least that's what its design conveys. The tyres are seemingly racing slicks, but what you see isn't the actual car being photographed, but computer-generated images, giving us an idea of what to expect. The 18-inch forged magnesium rims have been made in partnership with OZ Racing.
The gold-and-black detailing is a signature Rodin Cars color theme, and it looks cool, but maybe the gold could've been less flashy. Since the car has been designed to chase lap times, the emphasis during development was on the weight and aerodynamics. The entire chassis, from the pointy nose to the tail, is made of carbon fiber composite, with everything manufactured in-house. The huge wings and floor of the FZero have been claimed to produce 8818 lbs of downforce - and that's an eye-opener considering the car weighs in at just 1538 lbs!
V10 Power For The Rodin FZero Race Car
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The engine has been design and developed from scratch by Neil Brown Engineering. The Rodin FZero is powered by a 4.0-liter V10 twin-turbo engine with additional power coming in from an electric power unit. The RCTEN engine weighs in at just 291 lbs, making it the lightest and most compact V10 ever developed.
It produces a combined, whopping 1159hp and 756 lb-ft of torque, and can rev all the way up to 10,000rpm. Paired to the engine is an 8-speed bespoke transmission that was developed in partnership with Ricardo UK, which again, is lightweight. The gearbox is enclosed in a titanium 3D printed case, printed in Rodin Cars' 3D printing facility. The differential is said to be hydraulic and computer controlled.
Rodin claims the car will be super-responsive to minimal braking force because of its light frame. The front and rear feature PFC Carbon-Carbon brakes with Titanium calipers. The braking system comprises ABS and traction control. The brakes also provide regenerative braking from the hybrid system.
Only 27 Rodin FZeros Will Be Made
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Customers are allowed to configure their FZeros to suit their taste, which lets them customize certain aspects of the car, based on how they drive, and the track on which it will be used. Rodin Cars' owners will also have exclusive access to the full driver training as well.
Source: Rodin Cars