A New Actress, Replacing Kirsten Storms, Plays Maxie’s Tragic Final Scene. GH Spoilers

How Much Is Too Much? A Deep Dive into the Czinger 21C VMax The pursuit of automotive perfection often leads designers and engineers down rabbit holes of extreme engineering, pushing the boundaries of what we once thought possible. Czinger, a Southern California-based automotive disruptor, has taken this philosophy to an apex. In the realm of hypercars, the Czinger 21C VMax represents a fusion of cutting-edge technology and raw performance that verges on the surreal. This isn’t just another supercar; it’s a statement about the future of automotive manufacturing, realized through the power of artificial intelligence and advanced 3D printing. My journey with the Czinger 21C VMax was born from years of watching the company ascend from a vision to a reality. Having featured Czinger founders Kevin and Lukas Czinger on The InEVitable podcast, the opportunity to experience their creation firsthand was more than just a drive—it was a pilgrimage into the heart of hypercar innovation. While the track credentials of the Czinger 21C are legendary, the real question was: what is this alien-tech, center-steer, seven-figure hypercar like on a 500-mile road rally? Factory Fresh: Entering the Future of Manufacturing Getting behind the wheel of a Czinger is an experience that begins long before you enter the cockpit. The parent company, Divergent Technologies, operates under a strict security regimen, requiring government-issued identification to access its manufacturing facility. Divergent is not just a supercar builder; it is a critical supplier of 3D-printed components for the U.S. Department of Defense, a testament to the precision and structural integrity of its proprietary technology. My tour of the facility was led by Lukas Czinger, the young and visionary CEO of both Divergent and Czinger Vehicles. Stepping inside one of the massive 3D printers felt like a glimpse into a sci-fi movie. Lasers zapped powdered aluminum into intricate components that bore a striking resemblance to lightweight, organic structures—like bird bones, but made of metal. It’s a wild, visceral reminder that we are witnessing a fundamental shift in how cars are built. Lukas explained that Divergent has reached what he calls “Pareto optimal,” the point where any modification, whether adding or subtracting weight, results in a net loss of performance. The software engineers use a process of radical iteration to design parts. Imagine an engineer specifying a rear suspension damper reservoir: the system receives the target space constraints and structural requirements (X and Y) and then iterates through hundreds of thousands of designs, each progressively refining the shape until it achieves maximum strength with minimal mass. This is evolutionary biology at hyperspeed. Beyond the DOD, nine automotive OEMs leverage Divergent’s advanced 3D printing capabilities. While the company is notoriously tight-lipped about its partnerships, Aston Martin (DBR22 Roadster), Bugatti (Tourbillon), and McLaren (W1) have publicly confirmed their collaboration. Given the otherworldly design of the Ferrari F80’s control arms, it would be safe to suspect that Maranello is also on the list. Under the Carbon Fiber: A Hybrid Masterpiece Czinger manufactures two distinct versions of this groundbreaking platform. The flagship is the Czinger 21C, a high-downforce, track-focused weapon named after the century it represents. Then there is the 21C VMax, the wingless, long-tail variant designed for road use. For the inaugural Velocity Tour, a 500-mile road rally winding through the vineyards of Central and Northern California, I had the privilege of piloting a silver VMax. The term “piloting” is used deliberately. The cabin of the 21C feels less like a car interior and more like a jet fighter cockpit. While I haven’t personally flown a fighter jet, I have been a passenger in an Extra 330LT stunt plane, and the similarity is uncanny. The glass sits mere inches from both sides of your head, offering an unparalleled sense of awareness. The visibility is remarkable, but the ingress and egress process is nothing short of theatrical: You position yourself with your legs splayed out onto the massive sill, pull your knees up and spin your body inward as you slide your feet into the footwell, and finally, carefully tuck your head under the roofline. One of the reasons for the voluminous side sills is that they are packed with batteries. The 21C VMax is a hybrid hypercar, with each sill housing 2.2 kWh of battery power, totaling 4.4 kWh. It is not a plug-in hybrid; a motor powered by the mid-mounted V-8 engine keeps the pack charged. These batteries can deliver a staggering 500 horsepower to the front axle, which features a motor for each wheel. The heart of the powertrain is a Czinger-designed 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 that generates 750 hp on California’s standard 91-octane premium unleaded gasoline. When fueled with 100-octane race fuel, the horsepower jumps to 850 hp. The engine is also capable of running on ethanol, which is expected to yield even greater power figures, although those remain undisclosed by the company. The internal combustion engine drives the rear wheels through an Xtrac single-clutch automated semi-sequential gearbox. This transmission is akin to the Xtrac seven-speed unit found in the Aston Martin Valkyrie. However, Czinger goes a step further: not only is the gearbox housing 3D-printed, but it also incorporates small 48-volt electric motors to execute shifts more rapidly at lower speeds. This innovation effectively eliminates the disconcerting surging and dipping characteristic of other automated single-clutch gearboxes at slow speeds. The twin-barrel actuators perform as advertised, a fact I was grateful to confirm while navigating gas stations, restaurants, and hotel parking lots. Pulling into tight spots felt almost civilized. Seriously, bravo. Track Time: Pushing the Limits What never felt normal was the presence of the “co-pilot” seated behind me for the entire first day. As is customary with many high-end hypercars, Czinger assigned a professional driver, Evan Jacobs, to ensure I didn’t inadvertently send the $2.5 million machine off a cliff. Thankfully, later that night, Jacobs assured the Czinger team that I posed no threat to the car, and I was subsequently cleared to drive solo for the remainder of the rally. We made a stop at Laguna Seca for some parade laps, but for reasons yet to be clarified, non-Czinger employees are not permitted to drive the VMax on racetracks, even at the deliberately slow pace set for the rally participants. As I have learned the hard way, even if you aren’t behind the wheel, you must take the ride. I scrambled into the unusual rear seat. The first thing to note is that if you have large calves or feet, the rear seat experience is not ideal. My XXL calves were literally wedged between the carbon-fiber tub and the carbon-fiber seat, and my feet struggled to find a comfortable position. However, the visibility through the side glass is incredible. It again reminded me of a stunt plane and was a profoundly novel way to experience a track session—an activity I’ve performed more than a thousand times. This perspective became even more apparent when Jacobs 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 visceral hot lap I’ve ever experienced was riding shotgun in an Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH race car, where I could physically feel the blood pooling in my extremities under extreme braking. The Czinger VMax now holds the second spot on that list. And remember, Jacobs wasn’t pushing the car to its absolute limit. Even at something less than full tilt and without the benefit of the large-downforce rear wing, it was easy to understand how the Czinger 21C achieved what the company calls the California Gold Rush. This involved setting five production car track records—at Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and the Thermal Club—in five days, driving between each track. Czinger later returned to Laguna Seca to not only beat its own record but to reclaim the throne from the Koenigsegg Jesko Sadair’s Spear, a track-specialized variant of the Koenigsegg Jesko. That lap time, a staggering 1 minute, 22.30 seconds, is faster than the fastest MotoAmerica Superbike lap ever recorded at Laguna Seca, which stands at 1:22.56. Czinger claims a vehicle weight of approximately 3,600 pounds, which is remarkably light for a 1,250-hp hybrid hypercar. For context, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale Asseto Fiorano—the highest-performance version of a three-motor twin-turbo V-8 PHEV that produces only 986 hp—weighs 3,839 pounds. The new Lamborghini Temerario, another three-motor twin-turbo V-8 (that produces even less power, but you get the point), pushes past the two-ton mark, tipping the scales at 4,185 pounds. Now is 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 Lamborghini for the quarter mile). If Czinger’s weight claim holds true, the unorthodox California startup has managed to outperform