The New Zealand based Rodin FZero has been revealed and it comes with some pretty impressive stats. Best of all, a twin-turbocharged V10 motor propels the single-seater forward with the assistance of an electric motor – how does 10 000 rpm sound?
This looks like a combination of something that would compete in prototype racing and a machine would be at home in the Christopher Nolan hit movie; Batman Begins. Despite the digital renders, the Rodin FZero is real and some preliminary teaser images of its bare carbon fibre bodywork in production have also been revealed to prove this.
So what exactly is it then? A short answer is that the Rodin FZero is a single-seater, 698 kg, 4,0-litre V10 hybrid with a redline of 10 000 rpm and maximum outputs of 853 kW and 1 026 N.m. But as you could fathom, there is far more to this bespoke creation than just the numbers.
Rodin will manufacture only 27 of these models for the staggering price of £1,8 million – or around R35 million. They claim that they will have a fully working prototype by the end of the year to prove whether the track-car is capable of its 360 km/h top speed and claimed 4 000 kg of downforce. Rodin mention that there will be a market for a road-going version in the near future but there are no further details on that.
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The New Zealand based company has an existing portfolio of single seaters already, so there is some credibility to their claims and what it can achieve. There are several intriguing factors to the Rodin FZero. The first being that its dimensions of a 5 500 mm length, 2 200 mm width and 1 130 height equate to only 698 kg courtesy of extensive carbon fibre use. Every conceivable panel of the model is made up of the material with lightweight 18-inch forged OZ Racing rims concealing carbon-ceramic brakes on all corners. For context, a 2022-spec Formula 1 car tips the scales just under 800 kg.
The other is the twin-turbo 4,0-litre V10 which can push out 725 kW and 910 N.m on its own. The “revolutionary” engine has been co-developed with Neil Brown Engineering and is paired to an eight-speed Ricardo gearbox, sending each bit of power and torque to the rear wheels.
Considering the GT-R powered Nissan Navara also has ancestry in New Zealand, it is safe to say the island nation can boast some bragging rights.
