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Czinger 21C VMax: A Glimpse into the Future of Automotive Performance For years, the automotive world has been watching Czinger. This Los Angeles-based company has been silently developing a hypercar that’s unlike anything else on the road. Now, we’ve finally had the chance to experience it firsthand on a 500-mile road rally through Northern California’s wine country. While the technical specifications alone are enough to raise eyebrows, the question everyone is asking is: How does this 3D-printed, seven-figure hypercar perform in the real world? Factory Fresh: Behind the Scenes with Divergent Technologies My journey into the world of Czinger began at their parent company, Divergent Technologies. This is where the magic happens. Divergent uses advanced AI-driven design software and massive 3D printers to create some of the lightest, strongest mechanical components on the planet. In fact, I had to show my passport to enter the facility, as Divergent also supplies parts to the Department of Defense. While the military hardware was kept under wraps, I was given a tour by CEO Lukas Czinger, and what I saw was mind-blowing. Inside the massive 3D printers, lasers were zapping powdered aluminum into automotive parts that looked like bird bones. It was like watching the future being built right in front of me. Czinger’s approach is all about “Pareto optimality,” which means they’re trying to find the absolute sweet spot between weight and strength. For example, they’ll design a suspension damper reservoir that fits in a specific space and withstands extreme forces. Using AI, the software iterates through hundreds of thousands of designs to find the strongest, lightest shape. It’s like evolution on fast-forward. Aside from the DOD, nine automotive OEMs use Divergent’s 3D-printed parts. Three of these are Aston Martin, Bugatti, and McLaren, and rumors suggest Ferrari’s F80 also uses their tech. Under the Carbon Fiber: The 21C VMax Hybrid System Czinger builds two versions of what is essentially the same car: the high-downforce track monster known as the 21C and the wingless, long-tailed VMax. For this inaugural Velocity Tour, a 500-mile road rally through Central and Northern California, I found myself behind the wheel of the silver VMax. I say “piloting” on purpose, as the cabin feels much more like a jet fighter canopy than a traditional car interior. The glass is less than a foot from your head, and the visibility is incredible. Getting in and out, however, is a bit ridiculous. You have to sit with your legs facing out on the massive sill, pull your knees up and spin on your butt as you tuck your feet into the footwell, and then slide your head under the roof. It’s a workout, but it’s part of the experience. One reason the sills are so large is that they are packed with batteries. The 21C VMax is a hybrid hypercar, with each sill housing 2.2 kWh of battery power for a total of 4.4 kWh. The car isn’t a plug-in hybrid, so a motor powered by the mid-mounted V-8 engine keeps the pack charged. These batteries can deliver 500 horsepower to the front axle, which has one motor per wheel. The combustion engine is a Czinger-designed 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 that produces 750 horsepower on California’s 91-octane premium fuel. If you pour 100-octane race fuel into the tank, the horsepower increases to 850. The engine can also run on ethanol and make even more power, but Czinger hasn’t released those figures yet (we’re guessing around 10 percent more). The gas engine powers the rear wheels via an Xtrac single-clutch automated semi-sequential gearbox. This is similar to the seven-speed Xtrac transmission Pagani uses in the Utopia, but Czinger not only 3D prints the transmission case but also uses small 48-volt electric motors to facilitate faster shifts at low speeds. This eliminates the jerky, surging feeling that all other automated single-clutch transmissions exhibit at low speeds. The twin-barrel actuators work exactly as advertised in low-speed situations, which I was thankful to discover. Navigating to gas stations, restaurants, and hotel parking lots felt almost normal. Seriously, bravo. Track Time: Taking the VMax to Its Limits What never felt normal was the driver sitting behind me for the entire day. As is common practice with certain high-dollar hypercars, Czinger assigned a pro driver (Evan Jacobs) to make sure I didn’t drive the $2.5 million car off a cliff. Thankfully, later that night, Jacobs assured the Czinger team that I was no threat to the car and allowed me to drive solo for the rest of the rally. We stopped by Laguna Seca for some parade laps, but for whatever reason, non-Czinger employees aren’t allowed to drive the VMax on racetracks, even at the extremely slow pace the rally participants were restricted to. As I have learned the hard way, even if you can’t drive, you can still enjoy the ride. I scrambled into the bizarre rear seat, and the first thing to note is that if you have big calves or feet, the back-seat experience isn’t great. My XXL calves were literally wedged between the carbon fiber tub and the carbon fiber seat, and my feet didn’t fit well, either. However, the visibility through the side glass is incredible. Again, it reminded me of a stunt plane, and it was a refreshingly novel way to experience riding around a track—something I’ve done thousands of times. This was especially true when Jacobs and I convinced the Skip Barber Racing School staff (whose track day we crashed) to let him take the VMax for a couple of “6/10ths” hot laps. The most impressive hot lap I’ve ever experienced was riding shotgun in an Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH race car, during which I could feel the blood pooling in my extremities under braking. The Czinger VMax is now second, and remember, Jacobs didn’t go full tilt. Even at something less than the limit and without the big-downforce rear wing, it was easy to understand how a Czinger 21C pulled off what the brand calls the California Gold Rush. That means it set five production car track records at Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and the Thermal Club in five days and drove from each track to the next. Later, Czinger returned to Laguna Seca to not only beat its own record but to reclaim the throne from a track-special Koenigsegg Jesko Sadair’s Spear. That lap time, a ridiculous 1 minute, 22.30 seconds, is quicker than the fastest MotoAmerica Superbike lap ever recorded at Laguna, a 1:22.56. Czinger claims a vehicle weight of approximately 3,600 pounds, which is pretty light for a 1,250-hp hybrid vehicle. To give you a bit of context, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale Asseto Fiorano—the highest-performance version of a three-motor twin-turbo V-8 PHEV that only makes 986 hp—weighs 3,839 pounds. The new Lamborghini Temerario is another three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 (that again makes less power, but you get the comparison) that pushes past the two-ton mark, coming in at 4,185 chunky pounds. Now’s a good time to mention that the SF90 and Temerario are the two quickest-accelerating gasoline-powered cars MotorTrend has ever tested (the Ferrari for 0–60 mph and the Lambo for the quarter mile). If Czinger’s weight claim turns out to be true, the unorthodox California startup has managed to beat two Italian legends with job one. That’s remarkable on its own but especially noteworthy considering that while Southern California is known for many things, there isn’t a huge pool of supercar building expertise to draw from. In other words, L.A. isn’t exactly Modena. On the Road: Navigating California with the Czinger 21C VMax The route chosen for the rally consisted mostly of true back roads. Tight, winding, lousy, weather-beaten pavement—not the type of asphalt hypercar dream trips are made of. Plus, there was a lot of following the pack, navigating to lunch and coffee stops, and hanging with the camera car. I was perhaps a bit disappointed at the time, but in retrospect, what I got out of the experience is something akin to what most owners will experience while living with a Czinger. To my surprise, the VMax was mostly like driving any other hyper-exotic. Take everything out of your pockets as the seats are tight, drink your water before you get in as there aren’t any cupholders, and numb yourself to the fact that almost everyone else on the road, especially males between the ages of 16 and 24, will be looking at you, following you, waving at you, and revving at you, all while (probably) screaming friendly obscenities. Regardless, the Czinger rides much better than I figured it would; the team deserves applause for not making it overly stiff. Even the air conditioning works well. If I have any complaint about the “just driving around doing normal stuff