The Elemental RP1 sports car is a track-focused but road legal car heading for a debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and promising extreme performance.
The Elemental RP1 teased ahead of Goodwood
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Everyone and their dog thinks they can build the perfect road-legal track day car, and most of what we see as promising turns out to be little more than a set of CAD drawings and mountain of hope.
A carbon fibre and composite tub is at the heart of the Elemental RP1 which goes a long way to explaining the very low weight – just 450kg – as well as interchangeable body panels for track and road.
Power comes from a familiar Ford EcoBoost 2.0 litre delivering around 240bhp, which means a power to weight ratio of something around 500bhp per tonne and will no doubt offer stunning performance (Elemental aren’t making any claims on that front yet).
Suspension settings are said to be easily configured by owners and there are plans for cassette engine swap ability will mean a more powerful engine will be a possibility.
John Begley, Technical Director at Elemental, said:
…a car that can be easily configured by the driver for their driving style and the driving environment. A car that brings modern motorsport thinking and materials to the widest possible audience. The quality of the design and construction is evident from the first time you see the car and even more when you drive it.
I’m sure you’ll agree when you have the chance to try it yourself.
It all sounds very promising, and Elemental plan to have the RP1 in production before the end of the year in a new facility in Surrey, and prices are expected to start around £50k.
We should find out more, including confirmation of price and some proper performance specs, when the RP1 debut at Goodwood.
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