Zinger 21C with a flat V8, three electric motors and 1,233 hp.
There is a new hypercar contender in town. It's called the Czinger 21C.
The stunning machine is the work of Los Angeles-based startup Czinger Vehicles and was unveiled Friday ahead of its world debut at the Geneva International Motor Show on March 3.
While Czinger is new, the people behind it have long been developing 21C technology; Czinger CEO and founder Kevin Zinger unveiled a vehicle called the Divergent Blade in 2015. The vehicle was a proof of concept for a new type of structure, in which 3D printed components are fused together in a patented process and reinforced with carbon fiber elements to form a strong yet very lightweight structure.
This technology is now also used in the 21C, reducing the body weight to only 2,755 pounds. But the similarities between the 21C and earlier blades go beyond that. The two cars share a tandem-style, two-person seat, with the passenger sitting directly behind the driver. This allowed Zinger to add a McLaren F1-style central driving position, thus keeping the body very narrow.
Power for the 21C comes from an in-house developed hybrid powertrain that delivers a total of 1,233 hp to all four wheels. The powertrain consists of a custom-built 2.88-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine boasting a flat-plane crank and three electric motors: two electric motors drive the front wheels, while the V-8 drives the rear wheels. The third electric motor, which functions as a generator, is combined with the V-8 cylinder and is located between the engine and the seven-speed sequential transmission to keep the vehicle's fast-charging lithium-titanate battery fully charged at all times. [The result is an astounding performance for a road car. According to Zinger, the 21C can go from 0-62 mph in 1.9 seconds, 0-186 mph in 15 seconds, and 0-248 mph in 29 seconds. Its top speed is 268 mph. The company also promises that the 21C will run the quarter-mile in 8.1 seconds, and Zinger worked closely with Michelin to ensure that the 21C tire would deliver this kind of performance.
The numbers listed are for the standard 21C; Czinger is also planning a circuit-specific version with slightly less weight and a high-downforce package. The circuit version will be able to generate 1,741 pounds of downforce at 155 mph, but will have a lower top speed of 236 mph.
Czinger has priced the 21C starting at $1.7 million, and only 80 will be built.
Czinger plans to unveil both a standard model and a track-focused version of the 21C at the upcoming Geneva Show. For more information on the Swiss show, please visit the dedicated hub.
