There’s a new player in the hypercar game and its name is Red Bull Advanced Technologies. If that doesn’t sound familiar, RBAT is the engineering arm of Red Bull Racing Group and is planning to take on the likes of Aston Martin Valkyrie and Mercedes-AMG One with the RB17. Speaking of the automaker from Gaydon and its electrified machine, the upcoming rival is also penned by F1 designer Adrian Newey.
We only get this vague design sketch for the time being, but RBAT is sharing some juicy preliminary specifications. At the heart of the RB17 hypercar will be a twin-turbo V8 hybrid powertrain producing in excess of 1,100 horsepower. The backbone will be represented by a carbon-composite tub wrapped around a body featuring “the most advanced ground effect package available in a series production car.”
Aston Martin Valkyrie At Silverstone
The plan is to assemble just 50 vehicles at a rate of 15 per year, starting in 2025. Autocar has it on good authority most of them have already been spoken for. As far as pricing is concerned, you’d better sit down for this one as RBAT is asking £5 million before local taxes. That works out to approximately $6.13M or €5.79M at current exchange rates for a car that owners won’t be able to drive on public roads.
However, the two-seater machine is being developed to support a conversion to a street-legal hypercar should customers wish to slap a license plate on the RB17. As far as the moniker is concerned, it effectively fills a gap in how Red Bull Racing names its F1 cars since the RB16 used during the 2020 season was followed by the RB16B in 2021 before this year’s RB18.
Adrian Newey told Autocar that work on the RB17 commenced at the end of 2020 and it’s being developed with a targeted weight of just 900 kilograms (1,984 pounds) without the driver. It will be a tad bigger than the Valkyrie, with a longer wheelbase and larger tires. We also get to find out that the electrified hypercar will boast a closed roof, flexible side skirts, and an active suspension. Naturally, a lot of F1 trickery will be implemented, including an energy recovery system to virtually eliminate turbo lag.
Those 50 people who will sign their names on the dotted line will have access to the development phase as well as simulators. In addition, the RB17 will come bundled with dedicated on-track training sessions.
Sources: Red Bull Advanced Technologies, Autocar, Autocar (2)
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