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Man oh man, that's a fast machine!
I just drove the Radical around Buttonwillow and that was a major blast.
This is the view of the cockpit that I got to stare at for the whole day.
The Radical is an incredibly fast machine that handles like a go-kart. It's acceleration is as fast as you can yank the sequential shifter and the brakes powerful enough to launch you out of the seat.
They have many different versions, some single seaters and some are double seaters. They have both left hand drive and right hand drive available.
I spent most of the day behind a left hand twin seater, but set the fastest time in an old right hand drive single seater. That was a strange experience because I have never shifted with my left hand before!
It was also interesting to drive a high downforce car because it had to be driven a lot more neatly than I am used to flogging my S2K around. It was interesting to feel the car switch over from mechanical grip to aero grip. It's amazing how that stuff works. You could take lost hill almost flat. Another treat was the shifter. I must say, the sequential shifter is def. the way to go. Nothing like it! It makes shifting so easy, but you gotta be quick. If you are not in the right gear accelerating through the turn, you can spin. As a matter of fact, they spin pretty easily. They are so light that when you are off the gas, the back end is moving around.
Automobile magazine was there as well as some pro drivers from England. We did a photo-shoot and then got back to driving.
So anybody who wants to drive something FAST should check one of these things out. They will improve your driving skills and are way faster than a Formula Ford or a Formula 2000. They are even faster than some Atlantics!
I've driven Sports Racers, Formula Fords, own a Formula 2000, and I've driven an Atlantic that was converted into a V8 powered Formula S. You're very right, the cars are FAST and handle great. I would love to own a Radical, the cars are wonderful.
It's hard to explain how much more precise you have to drive this type of car. They handle so much better than a car like the S2000 but it will bite you in the ass a lot faster also. I wish I could have been there with you. BTW, I love downforce...
I talked to a couple of guys in England (sorry UK) who have Caterham 7's and they say it's downright scary when the VTEC comes in. That's why they are more keen on the K20 motor.
There are a couple of ways to fix this. One (the best prolly) would be to run VTEC killer cams or like Krazi said, tune the midrange slump out of the engine. Believe it or not it's not that hard to do. Requires a visit to Dr. VTEC aka UL.
As far as the transaxle, the LD200 would be my first choice. A thing of contention would be the ground clearance of the engine. The LD200 is physically very low to the ground when measured from the input shaft. In other words the shafts are stacked side by side as opposed to top and bottom. That enables the tranny to be mounted lower and still have plenty of ground clearance. When you mount a wet sump engine like the F20C up to it, the oil pan would be very low. So, to fix this, we would need a dry sump system. This would enable the engine to be mounted lower and you shouldn't have much problem.
Also, the Sports 2000 would have more room in the engine bay than a FFord which is what you need due to the much larger cylinder head.
When everything is said and done, you should have a monster of a race car that looks very cool and is fairly easy to maintain.
***WTB S2000 (Lola pref.) roller with plenty of spares***
Drove the Radical!
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