Collection Gift Guide: Pedal to the Metal
December 1, 2004
RADICAL SR3 SUPERSPORT
When track-day enthusiasts modify their everyday cars for weekend fun, they
often face a quandary. The penalties for marginal performance gains on the track typically include compromises on both street usability and collector value.
And so many drivers have decided that the best route to ultimate track
performance is acquiring a dedicated racing car such as the Radical SR3 Supersport.
A sports racing car has a purity of design. There are no ride/handling compromises, no styling exercises to enhance marketing appeal, and no comfort
and convenience options. Without having to retain parts, forms, or measurements
from a production-based vehicle, the sports racing car designer is free to pursue speed through innovation. The British have long been the dominant manufacturers–if not the inventors–of small-displacement sports racing cars,
and they have a thriving industry. Among these manufacturers is Radical Extreme Sports Cars, manufacturer of the SR3.
The SR3 is a two-seat, open-cockpit, 1,100-pound sports racer, built around a rigid tube frame and a suspension that uses “floating” coil shock units and
an antiroll linkage to ensure a tenacious grip on the road. A dedicated racecar,
the Radical has had success in SCCA C sports racing classes and endurance events
here and in Europe, while becoming the darling of track-day participants. To date, more than 400 of the type have been delivered.; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
The engine comes from the 1,300 cc Suzuki Hayabusa sportbike, a twin-cam, 16-valve fuel-injected four producing over 170 hp. Enlarged to 1,500 cc, it produces 225 hp, giving the Radical sports racer a power-to-weight ratio of nearly 450 hp per ton of neck-straining, eyeball-flattening performance.
The engine and its sequentially shifted gearbox are mated to a quick-change final drive and Quaife torque-biasing differential. This engine/transmission
package is powerful, extremely reliable, and simple to maintain. (Click image to enlarge)
The performance is not like that of the best track-worthy road cars, such as
the Ferrari F360 Stradale, Porsche GT2, Viper, or Corvette Z06. It is of a
magnitude higher. In a six-lap demonstration at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, John
Morris, proprietor of Anaheim dealer Radical West, gave this writer a fine
demonstration of the difference between a purpose-built sports racer and any modified road
car. Starting behind a line of competently driven Vipers, Corvettes, an F360, and
a Porsche GT2, the Radical lapped the entire field in only five laps,
giving the 225 hp Radical an advantage of more than 25 seconds per lap while carrying a passenger weighing 170 lbs. Yes, the car could have gone faster. Fast enough,
in fact, for the Radical SR3 to hold the lap record at the legendary, ultralong
and fast Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. In short, to challenge a Radical with
a 500 hp road car would be to walk into a gunfight armed with nothing more than
a basket of fresh fruit.
Although lightweight and powerful, the Radical’s purpose is not acceleration
or straight-line speed. Mick Hyde, cofounder of Radical Extreme Sports Cars,
says, “The fun is going around corners. The car is designed to carry more of its straightaway speed into the corners, and its design allows even midcorner
gear changes without disturbing the car.”
Going from a 3,300-pound production car with standard H-pattern shifting and
a driving position that places the eye more than a yard above the road to a 1,100-pound, sequential-shift, 2-foot-high sports racer on slick race tires
is not something to be taken lightly. Unless you have substantial experience
with those manic shifter karts, driving a Radical will be a learning curve.
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