Radical Sportscars has blurred the lines between road and race performance with the introduction of its new flagship road-legal sports car, the Rapture, unveiled in a live-streamed launch today at the world-famous Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The Rapture is the latest road-legal model from one of the world’s most successful racing car manufacturers. It has been designed to bring unparalleled performance to the street by building on the British marque’s extensive experience of top-level motorsport engineering and design.
When simply defined, Rapture essentially means a feeling of intense pleasure or joy. And therein lies both the car’s selling point, and its primary mission: To deliver an emotive driving experience like no other across both road and race track.
No other street-legal car available today offers the same percentage of race-bred DNA as the Rapture, making it the ideal choice for customers seeking a raw, exhilarating driving experience – the Rapture can deliver an unapologetic assault on the senses.
Driven by demand from both its existing customer base and the potential to expand its market boundaries, the Rapture is built in accordance with the UK’s Individual Vehicle Approval framework to ensure its road-legal nature. It is also intended for European markets from launch, with homologation for worldwide territories to follow. The Rapture will also be a timely boost for British industry, being solely built, engineered and designed at the company’s Peterborough (Cambridgeshire) production facility.
True to its format as a race car for the road, the Rapture follows Radical’s ethos of generating extreme performance via lightweight construction combined with aerodynamic efficiency, instead of relying solely on headline-chasing power and top speed figures.
The Rapture boasts a lightweight spaceframe chassis with FIA-compliant safety cell and crash structure, and features high-downforce composite bodywork, complete with bi-plane rear wing and double-tunnel diffuser.
At the heart of the Rapture is a 2261cc turbocharged EcoBoost engine, supplied by Ford and reworked by Radical Performance Engines, featuring an all-new turbo architecture and air induction system. The unit produces 350bhp and 320lb/ft of torque. Drive comes through a six-speed paddle-shift gearbox.
Drawing on Radical’s past experience with both the road-going SR3 SL and RXC Coupe, the Rapture features an enhanced version of the firm’s proven Nik-link suspension system, optimised for both road and track use, and is complete with adjustable dampers.
For driver comfort, the Rapture’s cockpit incorporates two moulded racing seats, with integral headrests and multi-point harnesses. The sculpted dash offers an LCD display with data-logging functions as well as heating and a multi-function digital steering wheel.
While the Rapture is a high-performance product, the car remains accessible to both experienced drivers and novices alike, and each Rapture customer will benefit from a tailored track tuition package to ensure each gets the most out of the new machine.
All of the engineering has been closely assessed for its fitness for purpose, for both regular road and track use. From the bespoke and functional layout of the driver controls, to the level of setup adjustability, or the careful assembly to ensure trackside checks and modifications can be undertaken easily and swiftly. Only a firm with world-class motorsport experience could create a road car offering these unique characteristics.
In a market heavy with diluted track-orientated products, the Rapture stands apart as a credible race-focused machine. The driver input required for peak performance is the same as it would be in the class-leading SR1 or SR3 sports prototypes, putting a Rapture driver firmly in the same league as Radical’s global motorsport community.
Radical Sportscars CEO, Joe Anwyll said: “Radical has always been a business to push the boundaries; in developing Rapture, we listened carefully to our global customer base to ensure that whilst road legal, the Rapture remains an undiluted, out-and-out track car at its core.
“We’ve distilled over two decades of motorsport heritage into the most focused, open sportscar possible. In Rapture, cutting edge direct-injection turbocharged powertrain technology and advanced underbody aerodynamics contribute to a unique package with electrifying performance.”
The order books for the Rapture will open imminently, and Radical has already received pre-orders from both France and Germany. Subject to availability, early build slots are now available, with the first deliveries scheduled for the beginning of August.
If you think you’ve felt the pinnacle of race-bred performance on the road before, you’ve yet to experience the Rapture.
