New Zealand’s Rodin Cars has unveiled an extreme new hypercar, due to enter production in 2023.
Called the FZero, the 1,176hp V10-engined hybrid is intended to offer unbeatable performance around a race track.
Rodin has no plans to race the FZero, however. With no compromises to make it road-legal, this is the ultimate track-day toy for its owners. We’re promised an ‘intense driving experience… aligned with being behind the wheel of a modern Formula One car’.
Magic from Middle Earth
The FZero certainly looks radical, its aero-sculpted styling somewhere between the Batmobile and a Can-Am racer. A comparison with the latter seems apt, given that New Zealand’s most famous motorsport hero, Bruce McLaren, found fame in the Can-Am series.
The single-seat FZero is built around a carbon fibre monocoque chassis. The use of lightweight materials results in the Kiwi hypercar tipping the scales at less than 700kg. By way of contrast, the gigantic rear wing and flat floor can see it generate 4,000kg of downforce.
Rodin’s pièce de résistance is the FZero’s engine. This combines a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V10 with a hybrid electric motor, resulting in that near-1,200hp output, plus 757lb ft of torque.
The engine is built in collaboration with UK-based Neil Brown Engineering, and revs to a heady 10,000rpm.
Pushing the laws of physics
A bespoke eight-speed gearbox has been developed by Ricardo UK, and adds just 66kg to the FZero’s weight. Carbon-ceramic brake discs with titanium callipers offer regenerative braking for the hybrid system.
Only 27 cars will be made, with each customer able to tailor the handling of their FZero to their particular driving style. Rodin owners will gain access to the company’s numerous test-tracks, located on New Zealand’s picturesque South Island.
David Dicker, founder of Rodin Cars, said: “The Rodin FZero is the physical representation of the ultimate heights in vehicle performance. Without the restrictions of building to a set of rules, we are able to make the car lighter, more powerful, and produce significantly more downforce.
“The only real restrictions we face are the laws of physics, and we have even pushed those to the absolute limit.”
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