From energy drinks to V10 hypercars
As the world falls further away from petrol-powered cars, a few brands refuse to let crazy combustion cars die. The T50 has recently been all over social media with its high-revving V12, but Red Bull is the latest brand to join the craze of capturing the spirit of old F1 cars with its new and seemingly insane hypercar.
Adrian Newey, the Red Bull F1 team's chief technical officer, is in charge of the project and has confirmed that it is underway, with mind-blowing statistics.
The Red Bull RB17 hypercar will be powered by a 746kW naturally aspirated V10, and to add a cherry on top, it redlines at 15,000r/min. Given that the V10 F1 cars from the past served as inspiration for this hypercar, I can just imagine the noise and driving sensation it will provide. Red Bull plans to equip its vehicle with a 149-kilowatt electric engine to help with smoother gear changes and make both the first and reverse gears more managable.
What makes this project even more kooky is that the car is expected to weigh only 900kg. Lightness and power are the age-old formula to follow when making a car fast, and the RB17 ticks and exceeds these boxes.
At this point, there isn’t much more you can do to a car to make it any more mad. Well, how about adding 1.7 tonnes of downforce with the possibility of producing its own weight in downforce at only 193km/h? Well, that's just what Red Bull hopes to achieve.
Michelin has joined the project to produce a performance tyre that can withstand the immense downward pressure. It will be one of the most aerodynamically efficient cars of all time, too, thanks to a blown diffuser and active suspension.
The goal of such a car is to match F1 lap times, and I can't imagine a better man than Adrian Newey to produce a car with such capabilities. It will also be more comfortable than F1 and LMP1 race cars, and legroom has been considered for taller customers.
To ensure that buyers are geared up to drive their Red Bull RB17s, RB will provide customers with training and simulator sessions to fine-tune their skills and familiarity before receiving the vehicle. Its launch is also not far off, with production set to begin in 2025 and the first models expected to be sold in 2026. Unfortunately, though, there will only be a production run of 50 units.
At this time, it is believed that the Red Bull RB17 will be a track-day car with a similar ownership experience to that of the Ferrari XX cars. But only time will tell. Until then, we can only wait in anticipation for a car, which could well be the most insane motoring tool ever created.
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