Automobile Magazine - "The Radical Solution"

An upstart British racing-car manufacturer provides the ultimate in track-day performance

Nobody's going to confuse former advertising agency owner Mick Hyde and tanning and beauty entrepreneur Phil Abbott wit Enzo Ferreri and Colin Chapman. Yet the two Brits behind Radical Sportscars are among the world's most prolific and successful racing car manufacturers - ever.

Hyde and Abbott sold nearly 150 cars last year. Since going into business in 1997, they've built nearly 400 Radicals featuring lightweight tube-frame chassis supporting swoopy fibreglass bodywork inspired by Le Mans prototypes. Power comes from high revving superbike engines running through slick-shifting six-speed sequential gearboxes. Can you say sweet?

The Radical was originally conceived as a racing car. And, in fact, it still competes here and aboard in club races and several one-make series. But Hyde and Abbott quickly capitalised on the burgeoning track-day scene by fashioning a two-seat version that's perfect for driver instruction and thrill rides - two track day staples - and it was this car that transformed the Radical from a capable club racer into a world-wide phenomenon.

"Our customer base tends to be self-made businessmen who want to turn up and have fun driving something reliable that looks, sounds and performs like a proper race car" Hyde says. "From a track-day perspective, we don't have any real competition. We created a niche market, and within the niche, we rule the roost".

Radicals come in three flavours: the single-seat DSR; the larger two-seat SR4; and the larger still SR3. Powerplants range from a 1000cc-motorcycle engine generating 180 horsepower to a 1.5 litre turbo rated at 320 horses. A Radical V8 based on a superbike technology is on the drawing board. "That will put us in the big time" Hyde says.

Radical is already a player here in the states, which is home to about 100 cars. Thanks to John Morris of Radical West, the Southern California distributor that has sold twenty-four cars since October, we recently sampled two of the most popular track-day SR3's: one fitted with a 1300cc Suzuki Hayabusa engine and a second with a @Busa punched out of a 1500cc.

Retailing for $65,000 and $75,000, respectively, the cars aren't cheap. But at Buttonwillow Raceway Park near L.A. they effortlessly turned laps quickly enough to make even the most capable production cars look clumsy. To trackday denizens accustomed to blunt instruments such as Vipers and Corvettes, the scalpel-like precision of the Radical will be a revelation.

With Dunlop slicks, a giant rear wing, prominent front splitter, cool-looking airbox and a roll bar arching over the open cockpit, the SR3 does indeed look like "a proper race car." A steel spaceframe incorporates an integral roll cage and creates attachment points for double control arms front and rear and a mid-mounted engine.

You climb into the car like a hero driver - over the top - and wriggle into the moulded seat. From this comfy vantage point, you confront a carbon-fibre instrument panel with lots of nifty digital readouts, plenty of gauges, and a series of shift lights that make you half expect to hear Ross Brawn barking instructions over the radio.

Crank the master switch, arm the ignition and fuel pump, punch the starter, engage first gear, and away you go. Pull back on the gearshift lever to go up a gear. No clutch required; just ease off the throttle to relieve strain on the drivetrain. On downshifts, on the other hand, a heel-and-toe blip is recommended.

On the track, the Radical immediately impresses you with its agility no surprise, since the SR3 weighs only 1100 pounds. Steering response is accurate and instantaneous. With four-pot calipers at all four corners and not much mass to stop, deceleration is so abrupt that you've got to hurry to get all the downshifts done in the braking zone. In short, the Radical feels a lot like a full-bodied, well-mannered formula car.

The 1300cc engine makes 205 horsepower, which is impressive, but the 1500cc job is even stronger - try 252 horsepower, which translates into a power-to-weight ratio in Ferrari Enzo territory. Nothing much happens below 7000 rpm. But when the first of the three green shift lights comes on at 8500 rpm, the car gets your undivided attention. By the time the second of the two red shift lights winks at 10,500 rpm, the engine is screaming to the tune of 0 to 60 mph in three seconds and 0 to 100 mph in less than seven.

Drivers without any experience in ground-effects cars might have trouble taking full advantage of the great gobs of available grip. Although the Radical is more forgiving at the limit than most wings-and-slicks vehicles, we're talking about serious lateral loads, and you're carrying so much speed in fast corners that mistakes are not to be taken lightly. That said, the SR3 is so capable that it's an E-ticket ride even for drivers who aren't willing or able to explore the outer edges of the performance envelope.

And that, ultimately, is what makes the Radical such an appealing trackday vehicle. Remember, these events aren't races, so the object of the exercise isn't to go faster than the competition. The point is to go as fast as you can go, safely and comfortably, without putting yourself or the car at risk.

The beauty of the Radical is that even if you're eons off the pace, it still provides the exhilarating sensory cures we expect form a thoroughbred racing car - not just performance but also the intoxicating wail of the engine, the satisfaction of a well-executed downshift, and the feel of air rushing over the open cockpit. Chances are we'll never get an opportunity to squire an Audi R8 around Le Mans, but the Radical gives us an inkling of what the experience might be like.